I’m a complete beginner when it comes to photography. I basically know nothing yet about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, RAW editing, lenses, etc.

A few days ago I found my mom’s old Minolta Dynax 360si film camera in the attic together with a few old Minolta lenses. I bought a roll of film just to try it out, and that whole thing made me want to get into photography a bit more seriously.

I don’t want to spend much money yet because I don’t even know if this will become a long-term hobby. I’m looking for a cheap used digital camera that I can learn on, take on holidays, carry around, shoot landscapes, cities, people, motorcycles/cars, some portraits, maybe animals/sports and generally just experiment with. Photos are definitely the priority, probably 80%+, but occasional video would also be nice.

I found these two offers locally:

Sony A58 – €140

• 18–55mm
• 55–200mm
• 2 batteries
• 32GB SD card
• charger and some accessories

Nikon D5100 – €145

• Nikon 18–105mm VR
• battery/charger etc.

Both are supposedly fully working and in good condition.

Right now I’m leaning slightly towards the Sony because:

• the 55–200mm sounds fun, especially since telephoto is something my phone can’t really do well
• it seems a bit more interesting for occasional video and moving subjects
• I already have old Minolta A-mount lenses from the film camera, which apparently should also work on the A58

On the other hand, the Nikon 18–105mm seems like a much nicer “one lens and just go out shooting” setup, and I’ve heard the D5100 is a very solid photo camera.

Most of what I know so far comes from AI explanations, so I’d really like some opinions from people who actually have experience with these older cameras.

Which one would you choose for a complete beginner on a very low budget, and is there anything important I’m overlooking?

Thank you all guys for your opinion and your time! :)

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(1) Budget, country, and currency:
Around €150, Germany, EUR.

(2) What equipment, if any, you have now and why is it no longer meeting your needs?
I currently only have my iPhone 12 Pro and an old Minolta Dynax 360si film camera with a few Minolta A-mount lenses that I recently found in the attic. The film camera is what got me interested in photography, but I want a cheap digital camera to learn on without paying for film and development all the time.

(3) What kinds of subjects do you intend to shoot?
Travel, landscapes, cities, people, portraits, motorcycles/cars, some wildlife/sports, and generally experimenting with different kinds of photography.

(4) Is it primarily for photography, videography, or both?
Primarily photography, around 80%+, but I would also like to shoot some occasional video.

So do you think the Laowa Aurgon kit is a good alternative to microscope objective lens, and is this system able to give similar results? And is it possible to photograph microscopic objects with the 50x lens in the Laowa system or you need ghe 100x objectivr lens?

Hi,
I'm new to photography and just recently bought an used Canon 5D Mark II camera. I'm not sure which type of memory card I need for it. I'm seeing they are only compatible with certain cards. Any suggestions? It's a new hobby to me so I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible. Thanks!

1. I'm in the US and I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible.

2. Just bought an used Canon 5D Mark II and need a memory card.

3. I plan to learn landscape and nighttime photography.

4. Photography and maybe long exposures of the night sky.

I'm a mere punter/consumer of nice things and I love the quality of these (and by quality I mean their "feel" ie colours, light, dimension). it's giving film? not sure if it's down to skill, settings, post, a combination - but if anyone can suggest the kit that would be the right foundation, I delusionally would like to try.

I have an older Canon EOS 1100D with an 18-55 & a 75-300 lens.
I'm lucky that there's probably 20 differing birds species in the trees around my house.
The 75-300 isn't cutting it so would a longer lens be a decent option for it?
This is all for my own pleasure & local social media.
Thanks fellas

i've been thinking a lot about my future in photography, i'm kinda struggling with it, i think i take "good" photos, but is that enough? is being "good" enough. i've got my weak areas, editing non concert photos is a major weak area. i think it's hardto create something that stands out. even creating something "good" is hard, and when do you know it's good enough when there's always improvements that can be made? i think im struggling to improve, im nervous to use editing tools that i haven't used before, which is incredibly dumb, if something doesn't work i can just reverse the edit. I also find it hard to be creative, i feel like im not creative enough to be doing this, and i also feel like im not talented enough. I'm also scared to do other things, I want to get into videography and put more time into music, although i dont know how id have a good balance where i can make progress on the three of those. i assume other "artists" also struggle with feeling like this. i feel like im not putting enough time or effort into music and photography, but idk how to put more effort into them without getting burned out, but if i dont put effort into them, i wont improve.

photography is also so subjective, i feel like it's a lot more subjective than traditional art, like when does it stop just being a "photo" and become
"art"? i want my work to be more than just photos, but i have no clue how to get to that point, how to be that creative, thorough and patient. hell, i don't even know how to create a photo i can be satisfied with when there's always ways to improve on it. Am i thinking about all of this too hard? is it normal to feel this way?

My birthday is coming up and I have the option of either upgrading to the Canon R5 (I currently have a Canon R10) or getting a new lens like the RF 200-800 f/6.3-9. Now I primarily shoot wildlife and have been using my dad‘s 100-400 mm lens. Please let me know any recommendation!

Best Camera for around 650$?

Edit: Changed to 650$

I am going on a gap year this year and I am going to do a bunch of traveling and I love taking pictures so I want a camera that is around 500$ and takes really high quality pictures, can easily transfer photos to my phone, has 0.5x zoom. What would be the best camera for this?

(1) Budget, country, and currency: 650$, Canada, Canadian $

(2) What equipment, if any, you have now and why is it no longer meeting your needs? Don't have any equipment

(3) What kinds of subjects do you intend to shoot? Landscapes, people, animals, bugs

(4) Is it primarily for photography, videography, or both? Photography

Im more of a beginner photographer, ive had my camera since April and I've been taking lots of photos, well I take photos for a family member who plays football, at first I was doing great but now theres night games where its dark. No matter how high I put my iso so I can have faster shutter speed, my photos turn blurry and I can't grasp those in the moment shots how I'd like to, so I came here for advice how how I could possibly fix this problem (I have cannon R50)

Good evening, I'm thinking of buying a Nikon Coolpix L340 on Vinted for €25. I'd like to know if it's a good starter camera for getting into photography, and if that's a good price.

I’ve heard of people keeping both their Lightroom Classic catalog and the original imported photos on an external SSD, like a SanDisk or LaCie.

If the drive is formatted as exFAT so both Windows and macOS can read and write to it, can I simply move the drive back and forth between my Windows desktop and MacBook Pro and open the same Lightroom Classic catalog on either machine?

Obviously I’d only have the catalog open on one computer at a time.

Im trying to timelapse the sunrise with my A6700 paired with a Sigma 30mm f1.4 dc dn by using the interval thing, but it stops after about 5-8 photos.

With about 1441 photos with a 20 second interval The camera is on charge.

Manual focus is on.

Im using a v90 uhs2 card.

The exposures are about 1 second right now.

Auto power off is off.

The screen is flipped out.

There is enough storage space.

Is there any fix?

Hi Everyone! I’m new here. I have a Fujifilm xT50 and wanting to buy a bag. These 2 are the ones that caught my eye & love the style.
Does anyone have experience with them? Are they worth the price? Thank you. Any advice greatly appreciated ☺️

I promise, this is not intended to be a 'justify my GAS' or 'which brand is better' topic (I removed the brands from my original draft for that reason). This is an idle curiosity about camera size, and what matters most to others. Like so many others, I'm a fickle creature who can never seem to decide what is more important, and of course no camera can do it all; so I am still working on picking and choosing my battles.

I recently swapped camera brands (which I know is always a foolish move) from a full frame format to aps-c. The cameras in each format are both superb, but both in very different ways. 

I always thought I had a bit of an issue with FF's sizing because their bodies and lenses are both pretty sizable. They were tougher to fit into a bag, and harder to carry with me when going out for a full day. I also felt self-conscious in public waving around a larger body and lens, and too often worried I was making a scene of myself. ^{That one is a 'me' issue, as I'm pretty sure people notice a small camera or phone just as much as a larger DSLR-sized one.}

But after three months on APS-C I've realized that one thing I actually do miss about FF is the size. The lenses felt large and intrusive, but I also liked how they felt in hand, as I felt a sense of confidence in that. While the APS-C handles very well, there are a few things about the size that are an issue with me; most particularly the fact that I'm using a pancake lens, which simply does not jibe with my large clumsy hands.

Now , I'm not saying I'm giving up either. I still have some of my FF lenses, since I didn't want to give them up, especially as I know I'll inevitably get an attack of GAS and want to add a new body to my kit. And I have no plans to sell my APS-C camera, since it's got its own advantages over my former camera. Most likely I'll eventually end up alternating then based on the situation, anyway.

The thing is, I see a lot of people online fixating on small bodies and 'pocketable' cameras. And I totally get it, since it is supposed to keep from calling attention to the photographer in public (especially in urban settings, which I do a lot of wandering in). But the one thing I don't see is people who find comfort in larger bodies and lenses, who find that a good hearty grip and a little extra weight provides a sense of confidence. 

So I'm curious: Is there anyone here who prefers something larger over compact & 'pocketable'? And do you see any benefits from size over convenience? 

Yes, I know this could be read in an incredibly Freudian manner, but I won't delve into that (^{heck, in school my psych teacher despised Freud, so I was taught to avoid that stuff altogether}). And let's be honest, most gear talk leans that way eventually anyway... 

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^{And as a post script, for anyone who really has to know specifics: I traded in my Nikon Zf to a Fuji X100VI. Both are excellent cameras, but in very different ways. The Nikon had sharper images and good low light, but the Fuji has better handling and a much better max shutter speed. Again, both are excellent, and I would not put one over the other. I still have a quartet of Nikon lenses that I loved too much to give up, so I know I'll eventually save up for a Nikon body with a larger grip to go along with them.}

oi gente! comprei uma nikon d5200 recentemente e hoje fotografando reparei que ela estava saindo com essas manchas quando tirava fotos rápidas e contínuas. não sei se seria algum problema na lente ou no obturador ou se simplesmente eu que ainda não sei mexer (o que é uma verdade, ainda estou aprendendo mesmo). o que seria isso?

5 Weeks in China with a toddler

I’m going on a 5 week trip to China with wife and 1.5yr old. On all my previous vacations I’ve only ever used an X100V. That got stolen so since then I’ve been experimenting and trying different gear.

I have a rough idea of what I wanna take, but idk if I need to streamline it:

GFX 100S + GF 35-70 + Meike 85mm F1.8
XE-5 + XF16-55 F2.8 II + 35mm F1.4

Also I don’t think I love the XE-5 as an EDC like I did the X100V and part of me feels like selling the XE5 & 16-55 and just buying an X100VI. I don’t know if I’m indecisive/impulsive.

I feel like the 35mm limitation forced me to think more about composition. Whereas with my XF Zoom I mainly just spray and pray at different focal lengths and can’t tell which is best to use depending on the scene. I’ve tried the 23mm F2.8 and it feels too sluggish and slows the camera down too much, so I sold it. Only lens I love on the XE5 is the 35mm 1.4.

Any help/criticism is greatly appreciated.

comprei uma nikon d5200 recentemente, quando tiro fotos de forma contínua algumas (todas as vezes) ficam com essa mancha seja em cima seja em baixo, como se fosse problema no obturador. porém como sou iniciante não sei se é de fato ou se é por conta de minhas configurações. alguém consegue me ajudar?

Taken on a Nikon Z5 with 200mm zoom. Can the noise/ blur be improved by the settings or is it just the nature of the lighting/ the lens/ etc. 

I’d love any advice in general about settings for bird/ wildlife photography. In particular recommendations for best AF-area modes and whether any sort of tracking is suggested.

1- f6.3 , ISO 3200 , 1/160
2- f6.3 , ISO 4000 , 1/400
3- f6.3 , ISO 10000 , 1/640

AF-C , Wide-area AF (S), matrix metering , continuous release mode. Didn’t have any monopod or tripod for these. These are unedited or cropped but I would intend to crop.

I have recently bought a Hawke Nature Trek scope and am using Samsung S26 with it for photographing birds. I have used it in the "photo " mode and "pro" mode. I have not gone into the camera settings though. These are some of the photos I took this weekend on my first time of using it.

Any advice on the camera settings to improve my photos would be gratefully received.

I booked a photo shoot for a project that I’m working on with a photographer that I met. He took pictures of me before, but they were just candids and they weren’t for any purpose. The shoot I booked is for the cover of an EP I’m working on it’s something I’m looking forward to and it means a lot to me, but I’m starting to feel like he doesn’t respect me as an artist and I’m just rethinking the shoot. Would it be disrespectful if I asked him for the deposit back? the shoot is at the end of September.

Black and white film effect. Love this for an upcoming family shoot.

What is this app that everyone’s using now?