Starting Photography. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

[Critter Ritter]

I have been getting into a lot lately and looking to upgrade my camera. I am currently running a Cannon A2500, nothing special but have to start somewhere.
I am willing to spend up to $1000 maybe a little more for gear and a camera. or just for the camera. I know photography can get pretty EXSPENSIVE fast.
I would like it to be somewhat compact and not so heavy. and like everyone else wants megapixels and good glass.
Also good editing software's recommended.
ANY INFO, TIPS, INFO, AND OR ANYTHING IS APPRECIATED.
Thanks Quincy~~

[nalley112]

If you like canon you can go with the t6i comes with two lenses and is around $800 total.. if you can spend the extra I would personally go with canon 7d
Mark ii.. it will just come with kit lens but you can buy a good lens after you learn and get to know the camera a bit better.. I run the 7dmii and love it.. although not the lighted like the t6i it's isn't the heaviest either.. it's a great solid camera body..

[Bean Counter]

What do you want to shoot? Landscapes? Wildlife? Family vacation photos?

[Critter Ritter]

What do you want to shoot? Landscapes? Wildlife? Family vacation photos?

mostly landscape, harvest photos, and possibly wildlife

[Bean Counter]

Assuming you already own a decent tripod for the landscapes, I'd go with a used 5 year old camera and spend the rest on glass.

If you really want to keep the body small, look into Fuji or Sony mirrorless offerings. All you really need is an effective 35mm lens and a speedlight flash. You'll do far better with the landscapes and harvest photos with Fuji/Sony, but will run into problems with the wildlife down the road. The telephoto lens offerings are much more limited with those manufacturers. Otherwise you can look into Pentax, Nikon, and Canon. I shoot Canon, but fully admit that Nikon's bodies are better for landscapes (more dynamic range at the base ISOs). I stick with Canon because I like the out of camera color pallette as well as the ergronomics. Plus as the market leader you can buy used lenses and resell them later. There's no reason to rent a lens if you shoot Canon IMHO. Pentax is beyond my experience but they weather seal the shat out of their cameras and lenses, if you're out in the rain a lot.

Shameless plug: I have a 400mm lens for sale in the classifieds.

[Bean Counter]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,202525.0.html

[Skyvalhunter]

If you want to go compact try the Panasonic ZS60, has a great zoom and was top rated in Consumer Reports magazine for compacts. Other wise your going to put a lot of money into glass on the DSLR models to get quality pics

[Bob33]

My thoughts:

If you intend to get serious, you’ll end up with more options down the road going with Nikon or Canon.

Sensor size matters more than megapixels. A 10 megapixel digital SLR with an APS-C sized sensor will outperform a compact 20 megapixel camera with a smaller sensor. http://newatlas.com/camera-sensor-size-guide/26684/

Good glass takes much longer to go out of style than good camera bodies. I use some lenses that I’ve had since the early 1990s with excellent results, but have upgraded camera bodies multiple times during that same span.

Every decision is a compromise. If you want wide zoom ranges in a lens you’ll give up some resolution, increase distortion, and decrease maximum apertures. The advantage is that you don’t need to carry multiple lenses and switch them out repeatedly.

For landscape photography, you’ll probably want lenses in the wide to normal to moderate telephoto range: something like a 18-70 range with a crop-frame body. Large apertures don’t matter as much because you will be shooting subjects that don’t move, so you can get by with slower shutter speeds. You can also often use some form of stabilizing device such as a tripod. 

When you take photos of wildlife the priorities change. You will want lenses with lots of magnification and large apertures to capture moving objects, often in low light conditions. A 300mm lens on a crop-frame body would be considered a good starting point for many wildlife applications.

You won’t be able to get everything you want for $1000. I think you should be able to get a good (probably used) body, and a decent wide to moderate telephoto lens with that budget which should get you off to a good start.

One other item you should consider is getting some software to help with any post processing of images. For around $75 you can get Adobe PhotoShop Elements which will give you most of the same functionality as the full-fledged PhotoShop at a significantly lower cost.

Those are my thoughts, worth about what you paid for them. Go take some photos and post them up!

[Bean Counter]

http://www.canonpricewatch.com/

Canon t6 + 2 lenses + printer: $350!

IDK if the T6 boasts increased dynamic range like the recent 80D, 5d Mark IV, and 1DX Mark II, but you can always blend shots in Nik's free HDR editor if you do a lot of high contrast landscapes. The only thing I don't like about the specs of this camera is the lack of an ultrasonic cleaner, because I happen to change lenses a lot (too much). Even with an ultrasonic cleaner I have to regularly get my sensor professionally cleaned.

Many more deals to come as Christmas approaches.

[wapiti hunter2]

Some great deals on used here.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/photography.props.and.equipment.for.sale/

Assuming you already own a decent tripod for the landscapes, I'd go with a used 5 year old camera and spend the rest on glass.

Good advice.

[scotsman]

For me, a real key to making good photographs is to have a camera with me. Ya sure I have a good dslr but its so bulky that I only take it on dedicated photography outings. Cointless times I wished I had a semi pro point and shoot in my pocket!

I just got the latest and greatest.... although I have done surprisingly well with my 1/2" small sensor point and shoot(canon sx260) I just picked up my Panasonic Lumix zs100. It is the first pocketable camera to feature complete manual and automatic operation, 10x Leica zoom lens and most important a 1" sensor. It also shoots RAW and has 4k video, slow motion and time lapse. You can pull 8mp stills directly from the video and refocus after the shot. And an electronic viewfinder in addition to the touchscreen. And an intuitive menu so you can quickly access all the features.

Truly an amazing piece of equipment for a little under $700. Sweet.

[Critter Ritter]

Thank you everyone for your help!! I really appreciate it. ill look into everything and go from there.
again thanks everyone who helped me!

[Bean Counter]

  Let us know how it works out.

[grade-creek-rd]

Highly recommend you listen to Bean Counter...everything he said is right on!...oh, and for lenses, I highly recommend picking up either a prime 35mm or 50mm (f1. for landscapes, learn perspective and hit the mountains or beach for some sunset photos...for processing software, adobe lightroom...keeps the files in order and can do a lot of great stuff with colors, vibrancy, exposure and contrast and is around $100 and compatible with plug ins down the road...

Grade