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Ask Slashdot: Mirrorless, Interchangeable Lens Camera Advice?

Posted by timothy on from the but-what-about-light-field dept.

jehan60188 writes "I want a camera that's better than my phone, but I don't have the technical knowledge to fully appreciate a DSLR. I think the MILC style will be a happy compromise, but I'm concerned that it might be all 'marketing' and no 'technology.' I don't have a lot of demands, but I do like taking macro shots of things from time to time. Also, my sister is going to China in a few months, so a telephoto lens would probably be good for sight seeing (since I could employ optical zoom instead of the imaginary 'digital zoom')."

5 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. Learn photography. by Nationless · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You don't have the full technical knowledge to fully appreciate a DSLR?

    Learn it.

    Trust me, the basics are a lot easier than you think. The rest is experimentation, play and frankly, photography.

    You'll thank me in the long run when you're not stuck with a million lenses for a camera you've outgrown.

  2. Wrong forum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You want www.dpreview.com

  3. Re:Get a Lumix by MadCow42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm an ex professional newspaper and sports photographer... and my main camera is the LX5 too... quality is amazing, leica lens, 24mm wide angle, HD video, low noise, good screen.

    DSLR is great, but it's a pain in the butt to carry around. Unless you go out SPECIFICALLY to take pictures, something like the Lumix LX5 is more than enough. There's a great blog post on this:

    http://1000words.kodak.com/thousandwords/post/?ID=7136485015460840984

    MadCow

    --
    I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
  4. Re:+1 two suggestions by gnatman64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I really dislike Sony, and I never thought I would buy, much less recommend one of their products, but I am very happy with my NEX-5N. It fits great in my jacket pocked with the zoom lens, and in my pants pocket with the pancake lens. I almost always keep the zoom lens on it though, because not having a zoom is very limiting. I'm just finishing up a 2 week vacation traveling all over Germany, and the camera has been the best I've ever owned. I get very near DSLR quality photos, but it's no hassle to keep my camera with me. The only thing I miss is a larger zoom. The lens that I've seen so far for better zooming is huge, and hardly seems worth it to tote around. As the camera is now, it's very easy to use, and very easy to make some amazing photos.

  5. Re:two suggestions by Cederic · · Score: 5, Informative

    In the days of film photography I'd have agreed with you.

    These days the sensor matters a lot. I agree entirely you still benefit from an excellent lens, and you're right on the longevity of lenses, but the "lowest end body" is too low end. Come in above the minimum bar and get a good sized sensor that can actually use all that light your excellent lens is giving to it.

    Some of us like a large shutter speed range, good ISO mix and fast autofocus too, but that's a separate discussion.