Time for a new camera

Posted by: Richard Dane on 19 May 2013

Well, my 8 year old digital camera has finally curled up its toes so I'm on the hunt for something new.  Things seem to have progressed a bit and there's a ton of choices out there.   I'm not really looking for a point and shoot.  I have an Iphone 4 that I use for that and it's not at all bad.  Since giving away all my old Nikon film camera gear a few years back, I'm not sure I want to go back to an SLR. For all that, I am tempted by a new Nikon SLR such as the D3100, but after a trip to the shops and a look at what's out there, having picked them up, fiddled with dials, weighed them up in the hand etc.. I feel that a CSC or rangefinder style camera will best fit my needs. 

 

I like the feel of the Canon G15 and Nikon 7700, but wonder whether the small sized sensor is a limiting factor.  There's the G1X of course, and that's definitely on the shortlist.    I didn't like any of the Olympus cameras, despite their good rep for picture quality.  Sadly they all felt a bit cheap in the hand.  The Lumix GX1 was nice and has a rather amazing zoom that's tiny in size.  Sadly, although the camera itself feels good, the lens feels awful, like the first tiny knock will kill it dead.  The Lumix LX7 feels like a compact and is just a bit too small.  The Canon S110 feels lovely but again is just too small in the hand.   And then there's the Fuji X10/X20...  well, this one looks and, most importantly, feels great.  Very tempted by this one.  

 

So, my question; are there any possible candidates I've overlooked or any reason why the ones I liked mentioned above, might not be the best choice?

Posted on: 23 May 2013 by Steve J

I agree Kevin. I use Lightroom 99% of the time and only occasionally use Photoshop for things like HDR. Lightroom is good value for money, especially if you still have kids in education. 

 

Enjoy your new camera Richard.

 

Steve

Posted on: 23 May 2013 by winkyincanada
Originally Posted by Steve J:

I agree Kevin. I use Lightroom 99% of the time and only occasionally use Photoshop for things like HDR. Lightroom is good value for money, especially if you still have kids in education. 

 

Enjoy your new camera Richard.

 

Steve

Yep, hardly ever use Photoshop now. Lightroom is great.

Posted on: 26 May 2013 by Richard Dane

Thanks. I have had a chance to take some shots.  It's a really nice camera and the 14-45mm lens is rather better than I feared - really sharp even when at full aperture.  I can see why everyone hangs on to them.  Still lots to learn about it though - I may have to invest in an idiots guide because the manual is not that easy to get to grips with.  One bonus is that I did a shutter actuation count check and it was only around 400, which is less than some people shoot in a weekend.