Super Compact Cameras...
Sony RX100 Mark 4 - $1200
Ultra compact and good enough to rival DSLRs, this is on my wishlist!
This camera is for people that are willing to spend the extra money to get a pro look to their photos and videos but don't want the bulk of a DSLR. This little guy is small enough to pocket, has a flip up flash to get professional looking portraits and has a great zoom range from 24 to 70mm. Not willing to cough up over a grand? Look into a mirrorless camera by Sony below. You won't get the same low light performance and it's slightly bigger but you also will save some money on the purchase.
- Flip up screen (good for seeing yourself when doing videos or taking photos from weird angles like up high or down low etc).
- Ability to use screen or viewfinder (viewfinder is good for full sun when you can't see the screen)
- 4K movie recording with slow mo features.
- Ability to connect to your phone.
- Ability to take photos while you're shooting video.
- Built in lens goes from 24mm to 70mm which is a good all-around range.
- Ability to flip flash up to the ceiling to create natural, pro-looking portraits.
- High quality lens similar to an DSLR (f/1.8) so low light photos will not be very pixellated.
- Small enough to fit in a pocket and discrete enough that it doesn't draw attention.
- 20.1MP, Light sensitivity up to 12800 (excellent).
GoPro Hero 4 Session - $300
Waterproof, ultra compact, also on my wishlist
This camera is for people that love action and want to create some cool videos (or photos) at super wide angles (14mm). You can't really zoom with this camera but it will do a digital zoom (essentially cropping the frame) down to 28mm. This new gopro doesn't need extra housing to be waterproof so it's smaller than the typical gopros. You can see the viewfinder and control the camera through your phone which I think is a game changer in the go pro world. No longer are you flying blind taking videos. This little camera is light and durable enough to stick into a tree and start taking video - not something you want to do with your SLR. It also makes it a great camera for lightweight travel since it takes up just about zero room in your backpack. This isn't a portrait or food camera as super wide angles like this do wacky things close up.
- No screen but can view and control through your phone.
- 1440p video.
- Built in features like time lapse or burst photos.
- Ultra wide lens so can record video in tight spaces.
- Dual mic system to reduce background noises.
- Comes with easy to use video editing software to add music etc.
- Built in lens goes from 14 to 28mm which is super-wide - good for fitness videos, landscapes, sports, wacky stuff.
- 8MP, light senstivity up to 6400
Mirrorless (medium size and cheaper) options...
Sony Alpha a5000 16-50mm - $530
Mirrorless, medium size option
A cheaper option than most DSLRs or the RX100 but still has a lot of great features. Sony has added some mind blowing algorithms to deliver impressive low light performance into cameras with so-so specs. For instance in low light the camera will take a burst of photos then stitch them together to reduce noise. All in a matter of seconds. Quite amazing. This is the camera I recommend to most people that want to take better photos but don't necessarily want to learn the ins and outs of the exposure triangle. You can get those portraits with a blurred background and not have to learn how to get it - the camera will just guess what you want to do and do it for you. The only problem I've found with the camera is it can be hard to see the LCD screen in full sun. That, and the battery dies faster than an SLR.
- Can control through your phone
- 16-50mm a good range from ultra-wide to portraits.
- Tilting LCD.
- Lens not as good as the one on the RX100 meaning low light photos will be a tad pixellated. Sony has built-in algorithms and tricks to improve this though.
- Ability to buy new lenses and switch them up. \
- Bigger than the RX100 but can still fit in a purse.
- 20.1MP, light sensitivity up to 16000
Entry level DSLRs....
Low price - D90 $400 plus lens
This was my camera for 5 years and I still love it. It doesn't have many bells and whistles and they don't even make it anymore but it's a workhorse. I've dropped the thing too many times to count (sometimes on concrete). For a few years I used it without a case and just tossed it in my backpack (clanging around loose with all my other stuff!!). It's gotten wet, it's gotten sand in it, and it still just goes. The battery lasts what's seems like a decade. I took it to Europe for three weeks - shooting a LOT - and only charged it once. It's insane. Anything outdoors will be fantastic quality. Pair it with the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 and you're good to go for just about anything - food, landscape, action, star photos, travel, street, weddings. What it's not great at is indoor photos in low light. I had to get an external flash (SB700 ) which takes care of the low light problem while giving the photos a professional look.
- Older camera with no wifi abilities but will still take good shots in good lighting (helps to buy an external flash) and can do video but autofocus is not great.
- 12.3MP, light sensitivity to a meager 3200
Mid-priced - D7000 $600 plus lens
Newer than the D90 with more features like autofocus in video and better image processor for less pixellation.
After the D90 Nikon mixed up the nomenclature and started naming all of their cropped sensor cameras in the thousands. D7000 sits in the same spot that the D90 did - it's their best cropped sensor camera before jumping to full frame sensors. Though the cropped sensor lineup for both Nikon and Canon have tighter crops (hence cropped sensor) and the low light performance isn't as good, these cameras have a lot of benefits. They're smaller and lighter than full frames, they're cheaper (obviously) but the lenses and accessories for them are also MUCH cheaper so you can have a lot of fun trying out new lenses without breaking the bank. You'll save on other accessories too - for example the remote trigger for this guy is $15 and when I upgraded to a full frame I was looking at $150 for the remote trigger. WTF? If I were buying a cropped sensor today I would get the D7000 or D7200 since it has many of the features of the higher end full frame camera without the cost of the full frame.
- 6.2MP. Light sensitivity up to 6400
High priced D7200 - $1400 plus lens
Newer than the D7000 and D7100 is, you guessed it, the D7200. Though I can never figure out the thinking behind how they name DSLRs (why is 700 better than 7000?) I do suspect the next one will be the D7300. This camera borrows a ton of features from the more expensive D750 without the $2500 price tag. It has the same pro-level specs like the processor, ISO light sensitivity, megapixels and even built-in wifi like the D750. The difference being the sensor is smaller so it won't be quite as nice in low light. It's a pretty cool to have crazy iso up to 25600 like the D750 but without the price tag. It even has the time-lapse and HDR features of the D750 and is the only cropped sensor camera in nikon's lineup to include the feature. The autofocus system is also borrowed from the D750 and will work in low light - even without the focus assist light.
- Even more features like ability to control the camera through your phone and even see the image through your phone, you can also download the images straight to your phone without a computer if you're travelling or don't want to bother with editing.
- Better performance in low light than it's predecessors
- 24.2MP. Light sensitivity up to 25600 (that's damn crazy for an entry-level).
Lens (with no zoom) for the cameras above 50mm or 35mm- $200 - $230
My vote on the cropped sensors goes to the 35mm. On a cropped sensor a 35mm will act like a 50mm which is the focal length with the least distortion so you can't really screw things up. A 35 on a cropped sensor is wide enough to take regular travel photos like architecture or the odd landscape photo and also won't look too far away when taking group shots or portraits. Everyone online says go with the 50mm which is a mistake that I made initially. I took a 50mm ONLY to Europe for three weeks and ended up with a lot of shots of half a building or would go for the architectural detail shots instead. The photos I did take look fantastic but I was getting frustrated that I couldn't take a bigger variety of photos. After that trip I got the 35mm and it never came off the camera. When buying lenses aim for ones that are f/2.8 or f/1.8 as it indicates the quality of the lens and will give any camera you're using better low light performance - meaning you can take photos indoors.
