Looking for the "right" camera for me???

[MoshJosh]

Hey photo people can you help me out.

Looking for a camera and here are my wants:

Budget friendly
Decent video
portable/smallish

I am open to DSLR, mirrorless, other?, and buying used.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

You have a lot of options

Phones can take good pictures and videos if you are not wanting to invest in a camera. I use an iPhone 16 and am somewhat amazed at the quality of photos it takes.

If you are not wanting to go the phone route I would get one of the following: Cannon EOS R7
Nikon Z6ii
Nikon Z 50
Sony A 6700
Sony 6400
OM System Tough TG7 (this is not an interchangeable lens camera)


I prefer Mirrorless cameras over DLSR nowadays. It's nice being able to see the photo before you hit your shutter, and generally they are faster. However, some people still prefer DLSR.

Those above are good mid range cameras with the Sony 6400 being on the cheaper side. Depending on your level of experience you can go cheaper or spend more money, but again, comes down to budget and how confident you are in your photography abilities

 

[MoshJosh]

You have a lot of options

Phones can take good pictures and videos if you are not wanting to invest in a camera. I use an iPhone 16 and am somewhat amazed at the quality of photos it takes.

If you are not wanting to go the phone route I would get one of the following: Cannon EOS R7
Nikon Z6ii
Nikon Z 50
Sony A 6700
Sony 6400
OM System Tough TG7 (this is not an interchangeable lens camera)

Those above are good mid range cameras with the Sony 6400 being on the cheaper side. Depending on your level of experience you can go cheaper or spend more money, but again, comes down to budget and how confident you are in your photography abilities

Thanks for the reply and all the great suggestions. . . though they are all outside of my budget haha!

I guess I should have specified that I am looking for something REALLY cheap even if it means buying used. $350 would probably be the MAX I could spend. I am not looking for anything crazy, just something to snap picks of the tank, MAYBE vlog some tank stuff, and take pictures of my kids.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Hey photo people can you help me out.

Looking for a camera and here are my wants:

Budget friendly
Decent video
portable/smallish

I am open to DSLR, mirrorless, other?, and buying used.

I recently purchased a used Nikon D810. You can see some pictures and my thoughts on it with a couple lenses here.
Thread 'Fish Pictures With My New Camera' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-pictures-with-my-new-camera.1077312/

I think it shoots video in only 1080, so it won't do 4k. My phone does 4k, so I wasn't too worried about that. Photos are 36.3 megapixels, so I think it holds up with more recent cameras. I paid $600 on ebay

 

[MoshJosh]

I recently purchased a used Nikon D810. You can see some pictures and my thoughts on it with a couple lenses here.
Thread 'Fish Pictures With My New Camera' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-pictures-with-my-new-camera.1077312/

I think it shoots video in only 1080, so it won't do 4k. My phone does 4k, so I wasn't too worried about that. Photos are 36.3 megapixels, so I think it holds up with more recent cameras. I paid $600 on ebay

Thank you for the suggestion, and awesome pictures!!!

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Thank you for the suggestion, and awesome pictures!!!

Whatever body you get I recommend that 50mm 1.8 lens. Dirt cheap, razor sharp, and lets in a ton of light.

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

Get an Olympus TG-6 (probably cheaper now that a new model is out) or TG-7. They're compact and extremely versatile. Just a few things to mention is that they can take videos and pictures in multiple formats, the white balance is easily set to take pictures without needing a filter, and you can send the pics or videos directly to your phone.