Any fairly-priced cameras that have a good picture quality?

Bricks

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I'm new to reef photography so as of right now I'm just using my iPhone to take photos of my tank, but I don't like the quality of the photos. I don't want to spend too much on a camera, I'm just looking for some recommendations for a decent camera. Thanks!
 

maroun.c

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For a lower budget DSLR I would suggest the nihon d3500 with kit lense or for a bit more maybe the tamron or sigma 17-50 2.8 lense. And u can slowly build up urnlense collection as u feel the need.
 

abw75

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Or even cheaper (at least in Europe) - Canon EOS 2000D (and can find it already with a 18-55mm lens). Later can buy a cheap Tamron macro lens if really wanna go on polyps level photos...
I have a 10 year old Canon (cheapest one) + a Tamron macro

00003c.JPG
 

andrewkw

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Get a cheap body and a decent lens, even a used body or lens for that matter if budget is a concern. For low cost canon lens I like the 40mm 2.8 pancake lens. While more experienced photographers will have higher quality suggestions, I feel for the price it does a great job.
 

snowhite

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IMHO, the best inexpensive camera is current generation cell phones.
Unless wanting to invest $1,000 plus in decent but out of date body, and lenses.

The same rules apply to both... it's more about learning to use what you have than the gear itself.
 

SAWFISH

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Great thread idea, I have been looking to get a decent camera for taking pictures of my tank recently!
 

Steven Garland

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All these places I listed below have good used cameras and lenses. Facebook Marketplace has awesome deals too. My wife got me a Canon T3i with 3 lenses,3 batteries and a bag for $85. At 18mp it takes pretty good pictures on FB marketplace

Usedphotopro.com
Mpb.com
Keh.com
Adorama.com
 

andrewkw

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IMHO, the best inexpensive camera is current generation cell phones.
Unless wanting to invest $1,000 plus in decent but out of date body, and lenses.

The same rules apply to both... it's more about learning to use what you have than the gear itself.

I would say the exact opposite. A 10 year old dslr are superior to whatever the newest cell phone is maybe even a 15 year old dslr. Just look at all the blue blue blue pictures people are posting.
 

Steven Garland

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My T3i have no problem with blues,yeah the pic is still blue but they are crystal clear even with no brown or orange filters ,but not oversaturated like people using sell phones.

I thonk people drop a ton on camera set ups,thinking they need to but they don't.

My Nikon D3200 body I got for $35 from the pawn shop was BRAND NEW IN BOX and I paired with a Nikkor 50mm brand new from the same pawn shop manual lens and it was AMAZING. Under $100 and it was worth way more than I spent.
 

snowhite

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I would say the exact opposite. A 10 year old dslr are superior to whatever the newest cell phone is maybe even a 15 year old dslr. Just look at all the blue blue blue pictures people are posting.

The same people that don't figure out how to change the white balance on their phones will not figure out how to change the white balance on a DSLR.

Learn the gear's abilities no matter what you have. Same basic principles apply to either.
 

Jay Hemdal

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IMHO, the best inexpensive camera is current generation cell phones.
Unless wanting to invest $1,000 plus in decent but out of date body, and lenses.

The same rules apply to both... it's more about learning to use what you have than the gear itself.

I agree. I have a Nikon D800 and a ton of lens, probably $4k invested, and my staff photographer routinely gets better images on his cell phone - sigh.
Jay
 

92Miata

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The same people that don't figure out how to change the white balance on their phones will not figure out how to change the white balance on a DSLR.

Learn the gear's abilities no matter what you have. Same basic principles apply to either.
Many android phones either don't allow manual WB adjustment, or don't go past about 8k.

I can take fantastic photos on my wife's pixel, but my moto stylus is useless despite having 5 separate cameras and being able to shoot 4k60, I literally can't adjust the colors properly.

My 15 year old rebel is better.
 

abw75

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DSLR cameras allow to use a photo as reference as white balance; So, can take a photo of a white object lighted by aquarium lights and use it as reference for white balance - in this way, even under the blue leds pics will be "full" of color;
And then, the real power of DSLRs - the RAW files - allows tuning of white balance after, on your PC; This, combined with HDR method (not really applicable for always moving fishes, thou) can create stuning and detailed photos;

This picture is taken under heavy blue LEDs (see in the back the real color)
00014c.JPG
 

SAWFISH

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Another idea, if you are looking for the functionality of higher end cameras with out spending the extra money is CHDK.

If you are a bit tech savy you can buy some of Canon's cheaper cameras and load this new firmware into them. The firmware adds a lot of features such as RAW data output, manual exposure control, motion detection, zebra mode, etc. It is actually pretty easy to get started and I have a tutorial I can link if you are interested.

Here is a link to the CHDK's main wiki page.

Screen Shot 2020-09-08 at 10.17.39 AM.png
 

AZMSGT

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Set your budget, then go shopping and asking. Prices are all over the place. What I consider to be a fair price will be very different than what you consider a fair price. I shoot professionally and my budget and fair price is set accordingly.
 

Ef4life

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I recently bought myself a canon 800d with 18-55 kit lens ( Same camera as rebel t7i) it was cheaper because it is the international version sold over seas. Literally the same exact camera as the t7i just labeled 800d and it was cheaper than the t7i. I bought it on amazon for $650 New and it had a whole bunch of stuff with it - car charger, extra battery, cheap lense adapters, 128g sd card, back pack, really cheap tripod, etc. It’s been great so far and fun Learning how to use it better Every day.
 

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