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So, new camera ideas welcomed

What type (DSLR, mirrorless, medium format), what brand, or am I just entering a world of pain and should just stick to my iPhone?

Back story: I have an ancient Pentax DSLR which has finally died on me. It hasn't had much use of late, partly because of lockdown, partly because it was a bit heavy to lug around.

Ideas:

a) I could just get a new Pentax DSLR body and re-use the lens,

b) I could go mirrorless, but that would have to be a a different make

c) I could push the boat out and go for a medium format camera

The Leica Q2 appeals, but it's expensive and my photographic skills probably don't merit that amount of money. But I could be persuaded. I'm very easily led, as my teachers were constantly telling me.

I think you really need to work out what you are wanting from the camera - is it the experience of taking the photo or the resulting image quality that is most important to you? The other benefits would be being able to use different focal lengths for example.

My personal journey in finding the right camera has encompassed quite a few styles of camera, and I would say that i'm happiest with medium format B&W images, since for me personally, the most joy is to be had from making a traditional wet print in my darkroom, and by far the easiest images for me to enlarge and medium format, since the lower enlargement needed to produce the image sizes I typically print (16*20) mean that I can get away with somewhat shoddy technique without it obviously impacting the resulting print.

I'm fine with different aspect ratios on medium format, and find that 645 is a compromise i'm happy with (probably because my target prints aren't large), so this is the route i've gone to take advantage of more modern cameras. I have a full set of Mamiya AFD camera and lenses covering 35mm up to 150mm (so that's 20mm to 100mm 35mm equivalent or something like that). In addition, I have a digital back for this system, which gives me amazing image quality and is what I use for colour with this system (i've got a fair bit of chrome in the freezer which although out of date is i'm pretty certain still fine - I should have a clear out!).

Now there are times I want larger medium format negatives, and I have hasselblad for 6x6 images, and this camera is actually smaller and lighter than the mamiya 645 if i'm out for a walk, so this tends to get used more with an 80mm lens.

If i want small and light digital, I use Fuji X, and I would certainly recommend this as a camera system if you want a small mirrorless digital system, since the lenses are great, and since the system has now been out for many years, there are plenty of decent second hand lenses and cameras to try out to see how you get on with it.

So, try and work out what you want from the camera, and see if you can optimise for this. At the end of the day, it's whether you end up with images you like that is the point, not which camera you use.
 
Just my two-penneth - the specs that appear to drive camera sales these days seem to me to be irrelevant to most photographers - absurdly high burst rates, massive buffer depth, scary-fast psychic AF! What on earth are people photographing that requires such performance? Beyond extreme sports or wildlife photography, most people are paying for tech they're highly unlikely to need. Ditto these crazy pixel counts.

Say you mostly shoot landscape/architecture/portraits/street/still life etc., most of your images are shared on the internet, but you also own a high quality A3+ printer. Pretty much any recent APS-C or full-frame camera will be more than good enough. Just buy the one you can get a good deal on.

Unless you have some highly specialised application in mind, take your pick from pretty much any of the current 24MP APS-C or full-frame cameras from Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Sony, or Panasonic. I personally use a Panasonic S1R and S5, the former for ultimate image quality, the latter for something a bit lighter to travel with. Most of the things I shoot don't move and I like the compatibility with Sigma lenses. But if you gave me a Nikon Z6 or a Sony A-Whatnot, together with a really good 50/1.8 or 1.4, I'm sure I'd be perfectly happy. Or an X-T4 with a 35/2. Whatever. Under most real-world shooting and viewing conditions, it's a wash.
 


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