sorry to gear post again but i haven’t reviewed my pics from harpers ferry yet … anyways getting closer to spending some money. almost pulled the trigger on nikon but then had second thoughts… help
sony a55 ($150) - thoughts are i could share glass with @digs and eventually upgrade to a sony a7r series. (the photoset that got me really interested in photography was shot on an a7r iii, 70-200mm mostly with some 50mm portraits)
i guess the cons are worries about the quality and availability of a-mount glass and whether it would really be an advantage to have if i switched to sony’s new cameras in future, since their new lenses are apparently great. also this is sort of a randomly selected camera body because the price is right, i’m sure it’s fine.
nikon d200 ($150) and a few cheap Nikkor lenses (35mm and/or 28-80mm )
cons are not sharing glass with digs, and it being a crop sensor, it’s difficult to figure whether I should be spending on DX lenses or spending the extra for FX for future body upgrade.
pros are i hear this is a really well known and legendary camera? and nikon glass is plentiful with many reviews. clear body upgrade path within DSLRs (could go any of d610/d700/d750 etc.) almost pulled the trigger on this until i thought more about sony.
pentax k200d ($80) - pros are it’s a very cheap and very rugged body, and the images look great (no AA filter on the sensor?) cons are no shared glass, more limited lens options, no mirrorless upgrade, and i dunno if i’m ready to live the niche hobbyist life, i used to be into desktop linux.
if anyone wonders ‘why not canon?’ none of their options really moved me and i don’t like the ‘canon colors’ on the jpeg’s, the greens are washed out
I would go with the nikon but I’m super biased. Though I never stuck with the crop sensor bodies for long. If the budget allows, a D700, D3, or D3S are the ones I’d recommend. I still have and use my D3S. Pair one of those with a manual focus E Series 50mm f/1.8 for like $50 and you’re golden.
the nikon option sounds great to me, from what i understand it could share lenses with a 35mm nikon F-mount SLR if you wanted to get into film photography eventually?
you would basically be able to use the same set of lenses on a 35mm nikon SLR, nikon DSLRs, and adapt them to basically any brand of mirrorless body from what i understand
availability of glass should outweigh most of the other considerations, and is only beaten by quality of lenses…a high qualy trinity of lenses (where, if we’re honest, a good zoom will do most of the heavy lifting in most scenarios) might be the biggest investment to make, so you may want to add/consider the costs and look where you will end up (would guess that Nikon may end up being the most expensive option, but no experience what Sony/Olympus does/$$$ range). Think the lower the aperture, the more expensive it will get (armchair commentary galore, aye).
Also also, if you have been dragging around three lenses, for a few trips, you will inevitably focus (pun unintentional ) on one and maybe drag +1 around, in case you plan to do some special topic/shooting.
This is probably the issue, because it was a tight corner in the basement of the building and closing the aperture got things really dark. I was already having to bump up the ISO to compensate for the location. I should have pulled out my flash, but it would have taken some time for me to figure out how best to use it in such a tight place. Or maybe it would have been fine. I probably just should have tried it.
If you switch to an A7r it is an e-mount.
For Nikon or Sony A-mount you’ll need an autofocus adapter to keep using your glass, I think either adapter is about $300. It might be worth it if you have glass you like.
There should be plenty of good a-mount lenses.
If your total budget is still $400. I’d say look at what $250 buys you in lenses for the two systems and decide based on that. Remember that Minolta lenses work on the Sony without an adapter and are all full-frame, so if you want affordable full frame autofocus lenses buying Minolta lenses off ebay is probably the way to go.
Most a-mount lenses are full-frame just avoid the Sony DT lenses (those are aps-c).
something i noticed recently is that the 90s era of autofocus 135 SLR cameras such as minoltas a-mount cameras still really cheap secondhand… but theyre a lot of fun to shoot. a lot of the convenience and features of DSLRs but usually in lighter plastic bodies and lenses than vintage 135 SLRs … so getting a good minolta a-mount body and a sony mirrorless would be another good way to share lenses between cameras i think
yeah after a lot of mental struggle I just ended up going this route. gonna shoot the a200 for a while and see how i feel about a new camera body later. right now there’s just too many question marks about focal lengths and use cases, i need more time in the game
i usually end up gravitating to 35mm or 75mm equivalents on the kit lens, so i ended up with those two and a tele zoom (the famous ‘beercan’) for $284 shipped. not bad! ebay def the way to go for stuff that’s not on MPB/KEH. also i love japanese collectors, they take such good care of their equipment, it’s a joy to buy from them
pictures from harpers ferry
(sony a200, kit lens 18-70)
i took 200 photos but most of them suck for sharpness, i was shooting manual with a tiny viewfinder, i should have stepped down the aperture to get more in focus. i didn’t really understand the technical aspects of f-stop and focus, i just thought shooting wide open is ‘what pros do’. recently i’ve been using more aperture priority with auto iso. anyway
the words on the mountain here look really intriguing but it turns out it’s an old advertisemnt for toilet powder. smh. still one of the more interesting visuals in the area
as you come down the mountain through the cemetery and past some ruined buildings you get a nice view of the potomac river but i couldn’t get a good shot.
and that’s the train station at the bottom of the hill.
I think the Fox Parade is the best way to spend New Year’s Eve in Tokyo. People gather around fires and drink and then there’s a spooky lantern lit parade. It’s the best.
Japan gave me a lot of subjects for photography. It’s something I miss about Japan.
Went to another local cosplay photoshoot this past weekend that started at some sort of historical manor for a few hours, then several of us went to a local park to take some more pictures. The park was built around a pump house for a nearby canal and while we were taking pictures outside, by chance, the vice president of the organization responsible for restoring the pump house was walking by that Sunday evening and offered to let us inside to take pictures. It was a pretty amazing place. I guess this is the kind of stuff you get to fall into when you’re outside doing Art in public.
It’s such a completely different vibe. Who knew color grading could be so powerful? Someone should make this their job or something.
I also played around with black and white to try and save a picture that just didn’t look great. It looked a lot better than I expected, but I honestly couldn’t tell what made a “good” black and white picture. I played around with the light and shadow a bit but I never had any real sense of whether the changes I was making were good or bad. I should study black and white photos more because I have no sense for it (although strong contrast between lights and darks seems like the strongest aspect of it).
it’s beat up! 117k shutter count! hopefully everything works okay! it’s really cheap for an a77! it has video! 12 fps burst! 24 megapixel! a-mount lenses!
the market for 10+ year old NEX models is still kind of inflated for me unfortunately, and e-mount lenses are sooo expensive, that this just seems like the easy solution for right now. get to have my own thing and not just mooch off @digs’ camera
if it’s a lemon at least i spent under 200
final tally on this system
item
price
sony a77 (heavily used, 117k shutter)
159
a77 accessories (oem eyecup, 128gb SD)
53
minolta af 24mm f/2.8
80
sony dt 35mm f/1.8 sam
107
minolta af 50mm f/1.4
125
minolta af 70-210mm f/4
30
taxes, shipping, etc
59
total
613
not too bad for this variety of focal lengths and shareability with digs. i think getting into e-mount for this price would have been much harder to do - max 1-2 lenses and an NEX-6
and i don’t like the ‘canon colors’ on the jpeg’s, the greens are washed out
) on one and maybe drag +1 around, in case you plan to do some special topic/shooting.
and not just mooch off 
