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It totally depends what he wants a camera for?
Advice will be worth nothing until we know what kind of images he wants to create, and in what sort of light.
Landscapes? Moving cars? Birds?
Full daylight, indoors, darkness? It all makes a difference and all cameras are not equal, especially when you get into low light situations.
Morning.
Ok, unfortunately your requirements make the choice very tricky indeed.
Holiday & Walks = Fits in pocket.
I cant think of any very good cameras with an interchangeable lens that would fit in a pocket, and then, if they did, where would you put the extra lenses?
I think until you know for sure what size he is willing to carry around, your probably best not taking the plunge. Obviously the ultimate system is the SLR (Although mirrorless is gaining a strong following now) but its always going to be pretty large and cumbersome, especially for holiday snaps.
Budget of course is your other consideration.
For years ive used an SLR (Canon 5D MK3 and various lenses) and my kit rucksack weighs 13kg but as my hiking has taken me higher and higher it became too much of a chore to carry it all with all the extra stuff I need to have with me (food/water/shelters/clothes/crampons/first aid kits etc) and I eventually had to bite the bullet and look for a compact that could live up to the quality of the SLR but allow me to actually take shots that were of only minor interest for my trip reports (Think shots like "Turn left at this church") as with the SLR I really could never be bothered stripping all my gear down to get it out and take a shot that I didnt think would be a gorgeous best selling landscape and as a result, teh trip reports i like to make were rubbish as I had no shots to go with the text.
That choice turned out to be one of the best I ever made. Now I take shots I would never have taken with the SLR, my trip reports have come to life and If I ever come across something incredible, the camera I chose will generally do it justice.
I chose the Canon G7X.
Do some googling on that one and if your interested in real world shots from it, have a look at one of my hiking reports like this one. http://www.stewartsandersonphotograp...ile---red-pike
I cant think of many situations it doesnt excell. Its great in low light, shutter speeds up to 1/2000th, f/1.8 to f2/8 right through its range and it excells at selfies on a tripod as you can operate it from your phone, as I did here.
As above, your wish list of features makes it difficult.
I have two, a Nikon D300 with three different Nikon lenses, one of which cost more than the camera body, and a Panasonic Lumix TZ40.
Of the two, 99% of my photos are now taken with the Lumix....simply because it is in my pocket/on my belt, and does 75% of what the Nikon will.
The Nikon weighs getting on for 2kg with expensive lens, the Lumix less than 200g.
So I'd be looking at the Lumix TZ70 too...price dropping now, getting close to the £300 barrier, it was nearly £400 when released.
But when it comes to resolving low light properly, you cant beat a decent full frame SLR.
This is my favourite selfie. (It took ages to keep these tea lights lit in the bloody wind)
Interesting questions and some great photos on here.
Lou, for most of what you want either something like the TZ70 or Canon G7X would be pretty much perfect. The problem you'll have is the motorsport and for that you need good zoom or long fixed focal length lenses and good autofocus tracking as you can never get close enough without a press pass - which for the best results means higher end DSLRs and expensive lenses.
I used to shoot a bit of wldlife which can have remarkably similar kit requirements, especially if they are of the flying kind.
This was taken with my (now) old but much loved Canon 1Dmk11n and 400mm lens (which is not exactly pocket sized). Its a sea eagle in the wild taken from a moving boat in not the best light. Autofocus tracking, high frame rate and having 400mm of quality lens was key here. You just couldn't get decent results otherwise.
If you click on the picture and enlarge it you'll get more detail (although its still a low res web version with very little processing if any)
But when it comes to resolving low light properly, you cant beat a decent full frame SLR.
This is my favourite selfie. (It took ages to keep these tea lights lit in the bloody wind)
Stu, some of yours remind me of that channel advert for E4 with the strange purple figure 4 creature and it's dog, in one it climbs to the top of a finger of rock overlooking a valley and lake far below..........any idea where?
The trouble with an SLR is the bulk; you just can't do anything but hike with the kit. With a compact you can stick it in a rucksack and cycle or fling it in your glovebox; with a phone it can go in a pocket.
I took this while running in the Pyrenees; not a great shot but I like the clouds. But I only take a phone when there's the chance of danger; for my coastal runs (which are all stunningly pretty), I just take a GPS watch and myself!
Okay but allow for the operator being a photography idiot..
A sightly tweaked (using the software on the camera) car shot
A night shot using a 60 second exposure time
A sunset from our bedroom window
My missus surfing (taken from several hundred yards away)
Another sunset!
I think that's the point and shoot that I have (might be a more basic model, was about £180 from the camera shop in Wadebridge and the pic of your missus surfing looks a lot like the shot mine would take), but I barely use it. I've got my Canon SLR for surf shots, and when I've tried with the Panasonic, I don't like the results. Compared to other point and shoots that I've used, it's pretty good for focusing quickly, has a good zoom and takes the picture quickly (doesn't mess about for ages picking faces out and things like that), but still seem to get blurred when something is going quickly (like the dogs running) and the shots seem a bit washed out. Perhaps I need to play with it more, but the camera on my Z3 is pretty good for most stuff.
Mine was £350 (the previous TZ60 is now about £250) so it might be a different one or an earlier TZ model?
I nearly bought one from that shop but they didn't seem very interested so pre-ordered one from Woolacotts just around the corner.
You can do 3fps burst shots which it does well but the "recovery" time between normal shots is ages. The only real weakness IMO; it's fairly universally regarded as the best all round zoom compact.
My wife's cousin works for the one in Wadebridge, so perhaps we got treated better. I think you're right about it being a different model, just can't remember which one. I have very little idea with compacts (not much more of an idea with SLRs, but better at using one of those) so I got something that was recommended to me. I just had a look at my dropbox account and there are a few decent shots I took with the panasonic on there, so it's not as bad as I think it is. I just tend to take the SLR if I think there will be something worth taking shots of.
You'd need a serious lens to get a surfing shot as close as the one above; yep SLRs are better (in the right hands) but for me, impractical. I'm never going to be anything special at photography so a good compact suits me well.
Being used to the image quality that even an older DSLR can render with good glass I have to say compacts have always disapointed me - more so by the quality of good phone cameras these days (albeit as has been said in the right conditions)
Super impressed with the image from the Canon G7X mind you. Not quite as impressed as I am with the lake shot Stu (stunning), but at 1/10th the cost I shouldn't be.
20 May 2015, 10:08 PM
Camera Recommendations
, and a Panasonic Lumix TZ40.
