Camera Buying Guide

nicholasporison

Great piece of guide i must say its a good guide.

Fred Quimby

Thank you for posting this thread.  Its extremely helpful, what with Xmas approaching.  Any suggestions for a compact around the £200/300 mark for a beginner.

snerkler

TBH if you're looking for a consumer compact camera (rather than a compact system camera with interchangeable lenses) they are all much of a muchness in terms of image quality so just have a look at a few and see which have menu systems and features (such as large zoom, panoramic features etc) that suit you best.

There are more 'enthusiast' orientated compact cameras that have larger sensors (so better image quality) and more manual controls (although can still be used in full Auto) but they tend to have shorter zooms and are more expensive. If you wanted a compact camera like this with the better image quality then I believe the RX100 and RX100 mark II would fall within budget if you are happy to buy second hand.

aoaaron

I want to take photos and do a few "gym edits".. so music over gym footage in an artistic fashion, holiday videos in an artistic fashion and nice photos.

I've researched and found that the panasonic G7 seems to meet my needs and as a plus has a 4k capability   doesnt have the bulk which dslr's have.

I can get it for £500 with a lens. Is there any better deal I should be doing?

I know a lot of people suggest getting a cheap body, expensive lens but since I want to do decent video, I think the body is needed?

My friend who has a fullframe said that APSC/fullframe aren't very portable, quite heavy etc. so might not be worth it for a first camera purchase.

markgodley

I have the G7 and i do love it, you can see a video i did here in 1080p also some picture image quality - Bridlington   Video

Few things to note if you are doing video. There is no stabilization in the body, so you will need a steady hand or stabilize in post if you are going to be doing alot of hand holding footage.

If you are going to do majority of video i't might be worth looking for a body with stabilization but this obviously depends on the look and feel you are trying to achieve.

snerkler

Does lens IS not help with video?

markgodley

A bit, but i always found them still a bit shakey, but that could be me

Although i doubt you would get IS on a small focal length Panasonic lens i.e 20mm, 25mm and if you did they would be expensive.

AMc

Panasonic's Mega O.I.S. and Power O.I.S. (Optical Image Stablisation) lenses do exist at shorter lengths but (AFAIK) the stabilisation doesn't work with Olympus bodies so I've never really looked at them.
Lenses for Compact System Cameras - Lumix G | Panasonic UK & Ireland

snerkler

Pretty sure Panny OIS works on Olly, I thought my 100-300mm did anyway

snerkler

Thinking about it Olympus bodies give you the choice of whether to use IBIS or lens OIS if you have a Panny lens attached so I can only assume all OIS lenses' IS work.