Camera Labs

I been reading reviews and watching youtube videos on different models but I really don't know what camera would be best for me let alone what lens are around.

Things I would like to do.

• Tilt shift, while this is more of a lens thing I'm just throwing it here in case it factors in what brand I should go with
• Night / low light shots, Mostly moonlit scenes. Guess I want something with a high ISO? No idea how fstop or shutter speed factor in with ISO settings.
• Fast movement, something with high fps.
• Long distant shots
• Macro shots
• Probably video

Pros/ Cons of cameras I have looked at, but not limited to:

• Cannon 5D: High ISO, Low 3fps, full frame
• Cannon 7D: 8 fps, 19p af
• Sony A77: 12 fps, Auto Focus video. I have read negative reviews because of semi-transparent mirror robbing you of light.

I am open up to recommendations of other cameras and lens options I can get for them.

A high ISO won't necessarily result in great low light performance. Some DSLRs perform significantly better at a set ISO rating than others in terms of how much or little noise there is in the image.

Long distance and macro shots are dependent on the lens, not the body.

If you want video, the 5D won't be suitable, only the 5D Mark II records video.

The Sony a77's translucent mirror does cost you the equivalent of an f/stop of light so if low light performance is critical then it's worth bearing in mind. Despite having a faster continuous shooting mode, the a77 is considered by some to be less accurate than the 7D in terms of autofocus on fast moving subjects.

Have you considered the Nikon D7000, which is arguably in the same class as the 7D and a77?

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

As far as I can remember it doesn't cost a stop of light - more something like 0.3 to 0.5 EV.

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Sony α77V/VG-C77AM/α350/18-70/70-400 G SSM/NEX-5/18-55 OSS/Lowepro Pro Trekker 600 AW/CompuTrekker AW/Nova 140 AW/Street & Field gear/Toploader Pro 75 AW. And a huge wishlist...

My photos on Flickr...

Id say Id agree with this video when Kai makes a test on the A77 with the mirror up or down and says you lose about half a stop of exposure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al1BI82nV9A

Start the video at about 9mins and he shows the test he does to see how much light is lost through the translucent mirror.

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1) Olympus OM1 [Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8]
2) Pentax MZ-60 [Sigma 28-90 & 100-300]
3) Canon 7D [EF-S 15-85 & 70-200mm f/4 IS]

Leo's Flickr Page

Thanks for the reply's
Looking at that video, while the a77 seems to have some nice features on paper if I want to do night shots I feel it would hinder me.

@Rorschach I watched a few vids on d7000 one thing that stood out was different settings you can do with two storage slots. Use one as back up, set one to save in another format or just use as more memory.

Do all dual storage slots work like this?

I came across a site called snapsort.com that lets you filter different options you would like.

Clicking some tabs it lists Pentax k-5 as one that would suit me.

Is there any down falls to this camera or something that's better for not much more (btw looking for something under 2k new/used/referb)

thanks again.

Maybe also the D300s? Or D700 if you aren't as bothered about video.

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Afraid not. You'll need to check the functionality with each model.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

That one offers quite a lot for the money. I read a test about different sensors and the K-5 was listed as the best crop frame camera if you just look at the sensor. Where do I have it...? Ah... here it is: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essay ... eras.shtml
Additionally it offers some great features like weather sealing, 7 fps, RAW button for quick change (I'd really love to have something like this!), built in image stabilization and you can use even very old Pentax lenses if you want to. Great features. You might want to compare features and price to the Canon EOS 7D and decide what you prefer.

If I had to begin without any equipment I'd probably start with Pentax instead of Canon.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

Note, the A77 has a handheld night shot mode that I have used to great success when not using my tripod. I don't have much issue with it at night, but then I always shoot below 1600 ISO, so YMMV.

It is worth noting the various multiframe modes on the Sony for night shooters...this is a very strong capability that allows shooting at high ISOs essentially noise-free, and can allow handheld night scenics without a tripod. For a night shooter, it's actually a very nice feature and a good selling point. There are various types of multiframe modes with the newer Sony models (including the A580, A65, A77, and older A55) - two are 'automatic' type modes with no manual controllability for those who just want the camera to figure everything out - called HandHeld Twilight and AntiMotionBlur modes. There's also a more enthusiast mode called MultiFrameNoiseReduction which is actually a seperate ISO setting, that allows you to maintain as much full control over all camera settings as you desire - this mode can be used in P, A, S, or M modes rather than as a seperate scene mode.

What all these modes do is take 6 photos very quickly, then internally align them and merge them together into a single frame, with the random noise patterns that occur in each canceled out (since the noise is random, it doesn't occur in the same places in each of the 6 frames so most of it can be averaged out), with the bonus perk of rebuilding detail that was otherwise lost or covered up by noise. You get a single frame outputted at the end of it all. Of course, the camera will perform identically to any other when doing long exposures on a tripod with a low ISO - which will be the best method for night scenics.

As a very frequent night shooter, I have found the multistacking capabilities of my Sony A580 to be absolutely wonderful - though I often bring a tripod and shoot longer exposures, it is nice to have the ability to take those types of shots handheld when traveling lighter. I also prefer the Sony version of live view, which gains up significantly when shooting off the main sensor, allowing you to see and frame a shot when it is too dark to discern anything in the optical viewfinder anymore. I've found several other camera makes don't gain up in live view, or not sufficiently...so for this type of shooting, I find this a nice advantage. I can't say for sure how the A77 EVF performs compared to the LCD - assuming it gains up similarly to my A580, this could be a nice ability...I went with the A580 myself because I do still prefer to have an optical viewfinder rather than electronic (I do a lot of bird and wildlife shooting, where I'm more comfortable with optical viewfinders' real-time view).

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
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