Good Hobby Camera for Alaska

Hi all! I would have guessed this would be a frequently asked question, but maybe I am the only loon who has decided I can’t go to Alaska without a new camera and hobby!

I’m leaving for an Alaska cruise in a few weeks. We’ve waited forever to go and our favorite souvenir is pictures! 13 years ago I bought a Canon Rebel to take adorable pictures of my then toddlers. Technology has come a long way and I have pretty much switched to pictures with the phone camera. Three major trips worth all on the iPhone and some actually ok shots.

But, it feels very much like the phone camera is not going to cut it for Alaska, and I’d also like to start using the camera for some hobby time now that the kids are all grown up. In Alaska, we’re doing a glacier hike, a fishing trip, and whale watching.

Can someone get me started on my quest for a new camera (and also what lens)? I know you are going to ask for budget - and I just don’t know. Since I am not professional level or even hobby level now - definitely an entry level budget for the body, but I might drop some cash on the lens if there was a great one that I could use with upgraded body?

Do I need image stabilizer on the lens?

Any help would be appreciated.

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I would be unhappy using only my phone in Alaska. There is a middle ground in a "bridge camera". That is a camera with something like a 40X - 50X zoom (I used the zoom a lot in Alaska). Both Canon and Nikon has something in the $250 range (if you can live without the viewfinder). My wife has a 30X Luminex that she is very happy with.

Are you looking for a new interchangeable lens system for future growth? Are you interested in sticking with Canon, or are you open to other options? Do you have an investment in Canon glass? Or do you want an advanced "point and shoot" (bridge camera as mentioned before)?

All of those questions kind of guide the answers you need. There are recommendations based on sticking with Canon, that are somewhat driven by how much Canon glass you own. There are other recommendations if you want to switch or have little investment in Canon lenses. And the bridge cameras come into play if you're not committed to an interchangeable lens system.

A little more information, and you'll get some good recommendations.

The Canon lenses I have are just the basic kit lenses that came with the camera.

I would like a new interchangeable lens camera that I can learn a bit about and eventually really decide if I want to upgrade to a better interchangeable camera. I’d like this to be the second start of a new hobby.

I am open to other options besides Canon, for sure. Though, somehow I kind of like the *idea* of a Canon. I used to shoot on a film Canon as a hobby back in high school and it kind of stuck with me. But I am certainly open to good options.

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You may want to take a look at some of the buying guides over on dpreview - such as the 'travel camera buying guide' https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/buying-guide-best-cameras-for-travel

The iPhone camera is fair to middling for wide angle shots, and it has the advantage of being a familiar tool.

I have not yet booked my Alaska cruise [sometime in 2020 is planned] but from discussions the experienced photographers place a premium on long lenses, up to 600 mm focal length for a full frame camera. [the Sigma 'bigma' lens is a favorite with some of my friends] Lenses in the long zoom category are be large, expensive, heavy and require lots of practice to get the best results.

I would recommend a so called 'bridge', fixed lens camera such as the Panasonic FZ1000 & FZ2500, or Sony's RX10 series - the lens is the key. A set of similar capability lenses for an interchangeable lens camera would easily cost more than double the price of even the Sony RX10V.

These cameras have fairly large sensors, advanced multiple axis image stabilization, and both intelligent exposure modes & manual overrides. And you always have the right lens on the camera.

On the other hand, if you have your heart set on an interchangeable lens camera, I would suggest looking at the mirrorless options [Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Fuji] - All have image stabilization features, implemented in lens, in body or combined body and lens. [i have reasonable hand held shots of over one second exposure on non moving subjects]

I have one of Olympus' entry level cameras [OMD M10 mark II] and I have been pleased by its capabilities, even when just using some of the less expensive lens options. For Alaska, I am planning on having/renting some fancier gear, but still part of the same system, plus bringing one of the Panasonic FZ cameras.

Staying with Canon, as step up from your current Rebel, Canon have a number of entry level DSLR's

- EOS Rebel SL2

- EOS Rebel 100

You can also take a higher step up to advanced DSLR's, but the price also jumps:

- 6D

- 7D

- 80D

For lenses, my go to lens in many situations is the Canon 24-105 MkII, which is image stabalised.

Good luck finding a new camera before your cruise.

Hmmmmm. Now I’ve been reading a bunch and I sort of like the idea of the Mirrorless. I’d like to spend around $1,000ish for the camera and a lens for Alaska. Not as married to the Canon this morning.

Hmmmmm. Now I’ve been reading a bunch and I sort of like the idea of the Mirrorless. I’d like to spend around $1,000ish for the camera and a lens for Alaska. Not as married to the Canon this morning.

I left DSLRs and have been shooting with Sony Mirrorless for several years and couldn't be happier with the combination of compactness and image quality. I started with the two kit lenses (both stabilized) and gradually added various upgrades. I have both an A6000 and an A6300 because I've always been a two-body, minimal lens change shooter. The A6300 is a bit more advanced than its older sibling but the A6000 is still being produced. Sony decided a while ago that rather than churn out a stack of different models with minor differences, they would use their still-capable older models as entry-level as newer models were introduced. the A6500 is the latest model and currently the top of the line in their APS-C cameras. All three have a huge list of modes and features. Here's a quick list of the differences.

A6000

24MP

10 frames per second (FPS) burst shooting

1080p video

179 Phase detect and 25 contrast detect focus points

ISO 100-25600

$750 - two-lens kit

I left DSLRs and have been shooting with Sony Mirrorless for several years and couldn't be happier with the combination of compactness and image quality. I started with the two kit lenses (both stabilized) and gradually added various upgrades. I have both an A6000 and an A6300 because I've always been a two-body, minimal lens change shooter. The A6300 is a bit more advanced than its older sibling but the A6000 is still being produced. Sony decided a while ago that rather than churn out a stack of different models with minor differences, they would use their still-capable older models as entry-level as newer models were introduced. the A6500 is the latest model and currently the top of the line in their APS-C cameras. All three have a huge list of modes and features. Here's a quick list of the differences.

 

 

 

A6000

 

24MP

 

10 frames per second (FPS) burst shooting

 

1080p video

 

179 Phase detect and 25 contrast detect focus points

 

ISO 100-25600

 

High-resolution viewfinder

 

$750 - two-lens kit

 

 

 

A6300

 

24MP - New design with better readout speed.

 

10 FPS burst shooting - 8 FPS with real-time viewfinder update

 

Up to 4k video video

 

425 Phase detect and 169 contrast detect focus points

 

ISO 100-51200

 

Larger buffer for continuous shooting

 

 

$1050 - two-lens kit

 

 

 

A6500

 

24MP - New design with better readout speed.

 

sensor-based image stabilization

 

(any lens attached, even adapted lenses are stabilized)

 

10 FPS burst shooting - 8 FPS with real-time viewfinder update

 

Up to 4k video

 

425 Phase detect and 169 contrast detect focus points

 

ISO 100-51200

 

Much larger buffer for continuous shooting

 

High-resolution viewfinder - faster refresh

 

$1750 - two-lens kit

 

 

 

I'm not a video guy but all of these cameras take incredible video.

 

 

 

Gallery shot mostly with kit lenses:

 

http://galleries.pptphoto.com/paccoast2015

 

 

 

Galleries shot with A6000 & A6300 and a variety of lenses:

 

http://galleries.pptphoto.com/paccoast2016

 

http://galleries.pptphoto.com/fallcolor

 

http://galleries.pptphoto.com/allure

 

 

 

My reviews of both the A6000 and A6300:

 

http://www.pptphoto.com/reviews/reviewframe.html

 

 

 

 

 

There's 2¢ or so from a big fan of Sony's small cameras. :)

 

 

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

High-resolution viewfinder - faster refresh

THANK YOU!!

So the million dollar question is - should a newbie start at the bottom or go right for the $6500? What will I see as the biggest differences as a beginner? When I want to upgrade?

Hmmmmm. Now I’ve been reading a bunch and I sort of like the idea of the Mirrorless. I’d like to spend around $1,000ish for the camera and a lens for Alaska. Not as married to the Canon this morning.

If you are no adverse to refurbished equipment, Olympus often sells the OMD M10 mark 2 body for about $300, and their 'travel lens kit' for $700 - this provides a long zoom lens, a faster fixed focal length wide angle [similar field of view to a phone camera], and lens hoods for each. The zoom range [14-150] is equivalent to a full frame 28-300 range for comparison purposes.

Checking the Olympus web site, some bodies and lenses are on special sale when combined - so a travel kit [OMD10.2 body + 14-150 Zoom] could be assembled for less than 700 dollars.

I still think that a bridge camera can add more 'bang for the buck' - checking Panasonic and several other retailer sites shows the FZ-1000 currently priced at about $600. This would yield a greater zoom range and a brighter lens than comparably priced interchangeable lens alternatives - and you will always have the right lens mounted on the camera.

THANK YOU!!

 

So the million dollar question is - should a newbie start at the bottom or go right for the $6500? What will I see as the biggest differences as a beginner? When I want to upgrade?

The A6300 is a very capable camera. Capable enough that I didn't upgrade to the A6500 when it came out. Part of that was the A6500 came out very shortly after I bought my A6300, so I might have gone to the A6500 if I hadn't bought the A6300 when I did. The main reason to choose the A6500 over the A6300 is the image stabilization built into the body. This will work in concert with stabilized lenses but will also provide stabilization to any lens attached. The Sony E-mount flange is much closer to the sensor than DSLRs and the short distance allows almost any lens to be adapted to it. I have a few favorite manual-focus lenses like the Rokinon 12mm, an 8mm fisheye and a Lensbaby that I use regularly and in-body stabilization would be a big plus. The stabilization is what warrants the premium price with most of the other specifications of the A6300 being equal.

Most Sony lenses are stabilized with the exception of some of the Sony/Zeiss models. If you plan to play with adapted lenses or some of the manual-focus special use lenses that I mentioned, the A6500 may be a better choice. If not, the A6300 may save you some money.

My personal suggestion would be the A6300 body with the new 18-135 zoom. It is a near-perfect travel combo with enough range to cover 98% of travel situations with the exception of distant wildlife. THe 18-135 is a new design with excellent sharpness at all focal lengths and is worth the few extra dollars over the kit. A longer telephoto may be needed for Alaska, so you may consider renting the excellent FE 70-300 zoom from someone like lensrentals.com rather than plunking down $1200 for a lens that you may not use all that often.

I'm up to 4¢ now.

Dave

THANK YOU!!

 

So the million dollar question is - should a newbie start at the bottom or go right for the $6500? What will I see as the biggest differences as a beginner? When I want to upgrade?

The A6300 is a very capable camera. Capable enough that I didn't upgrade to the A6500 when it came out. Part of that was the A6500 came out very shortly after I bought my A6300, so I might have gone to the A6500 if I hadn't bought the A6300 when I did. The main reason to choose the A6500 over the A6300 is the image stabilization built into the body. This will work in concert with stabilized lenses but will also provide stabilization to any lens attached. The Sony E-mount flange is much closer to the sensor than DSLRs and the short distance allows almost any lens to be adapted to it. I have a few favorite manual-focus lenses like the Rokinon 12mm, an 8mm fisheye and a Lensbaby that I use regularly and in-body stabilization would be a big plus. The stabilization is what warrants the premium price with most of the other specifications of the A6300 being equal.

 

Most Sony lenses are stabilized with the exception of some of the Sony/Zeiss models. If you plan to play with adapted lenses or some of the manual-focus special use lenses that I mentioned, the A6500 may be a better choice. If not, the A6300 may save you some money.

 

My personal suggestion would be the A6300 body with the new 18-135 zoom. It is a near-perfect travel combo with enough range to cover 98% of travel situations with the exception of distant wildlife. THe 18-135 is a new design with excellent sharpness at all focal lengths and is worth the few extra dollars over the kit. A longer telephoto may be needed for Alaska, so you may consider renting the excellent FE 70-300 zoom from someone like lensrentals.com rather than plunking down $1200 for a lens that you may not use all that often.

 

I'm up to 4¢ now.

 

Dave

I'm going to second this, and I do have the A6500!

I'll generally favor better glass over a "better" camera. In my case, I was going from Canon (a Rebel) with some pretty good, but not "L" quality glass, and went to the A6500 with the Sony/Zeiss 16-70 f/4. I'm seriously considering adding the 18-135 which has great reviews. A little over your $1000 budget, but right now you can pick up a kit from B&H with an A6300 body, 18-135 zoom, a (cheapish) camera bag, spare battery, and 64GB SD card. And then if you want more reach, do as Dave suggests and look at renting a longer zoom for the trip.

One thing with the Sony is it "eats" battery life and they don't come with an external charger, so buying an extra battery or two and external charger is pretty much a must in my mind.

The Sony A6x series (I have a 6000) is a good fit for your needs (I would go 6000 or 6300). The biggest issue right now is that there are very few long lenses on the market and the ones that are available are pricey, but as noted renting is a good option. You should be able to pick up the 6300 with kit lenses around $999 or get the 6000 with kit lenses for $700 and upgrade to the Sony 18-105 G lens to have a better multipurpose lens.

Hmmmmm. Now I’ve been reading a bunch and I sort of like the idea of the Mirrorless. I’d like to spend around $1,000ish for the camera and a lens for Alaska. Not as married to the Canon this morning.

I'm a fan of the a6x00 series. And much like you I have gotten into photography over the last few years, especially as we travel. Go to Best Buy and pick up the cameras they have there, feel the weight and the fit in your hand. If you go with a Sony I would buy the 18-135 lens package. I'm not sure about Best Buy (sometimes they do match offers) but Adorama and B&H both have the package and both sell on Amazon. (Could I get any more names in there?!)

Vic

Ok! Lots of great input here.

My local camera shop has a pre-owned 6500 with the 18-105 G lens for $1200. It seems like a decent deal. How much will I regret not getting the new kit with the 18-135??

Ok! Lots of great input here.

 

My local camera shop has a pre-owned 6500 with the 18-105 G lens for $1200. It seems like a decent deal. How much will I regret not getting the new kit with the 18-135??

The focal lengths for either kit lens seem optimized for 'people shots' - moderate wide angle for groups of people to short telephoto 'head shot' portraits.

The wide angle end will also be useful for landscapes, but the long end of the range is not all that long [will not bring distant detail in to fill the frame].

If you go for the Sony, you may want to consider renting a long lens - LensRentals has an 'E' mount 70-300 lens renting for $74 / 7days

The camera retails new for $1200. Either buy the kit as is, see what you think of the lens, and be prepared to sell it for the 18-135, OR, see if the shop will do a deal for the body only and sell you the 18-135 new.

The A6500 hasn't been on the market that long, so you're getting a near new camera and lens for the price of the camera alone...

You probably won't regret it, but the 18-105 is a power zoom lens, and I think most people think it's a better video lens (Dave???). The 18-105 does have a fixed f/4 aperture, though.

Ok! Lots of great input here.

 

My local camera shop has a pre-owned 6500 with the 18-105 G lens for $1200. It seems like a decent deal. How much will I regret not getting the new kit with the 18-135??

The 18-105 G was my never-off-the-camera lens for the A6300 for the last 2 years. My only caveat is that it is a power zoom controlled by either the switch on the lens or turning the zoom ring (no direct linkage but works the same as the switch). Once used to it, it's pretty natural and very smooth if you do video. It is somewhat larger than the 18-135 but has similar excellent image quality. Since it is essentially free with the price quoted for the A6500, it seems like a pretty good deal.

Be sure you get a satisfaction guarantee return policy.

Dave

Make sure you shop around. Pierces gave you full retail price essentially. Glad you're looking into used. I'd bargain with your local shop. They may have some leeway or maybe they can throw in some services like a sensor cleaning (you probably want to leave that to the pros for a while).

Personally, I'd step straight up to the 6500 over the 6300. I've seen the 6000 go for ridiculously low prices every now and then (Costco had the kit for $550 one time). But, there were enough fairly big changes to the 6300 and on that I think it's worth it. The 6000 is very capable, but feels very much like a first try from Sony.

I don't think it's a huge deal to get the 105 if the price is good (I haven't looked at pricing to tell if that's a good deal or not). But, I can tell you that we use our 24-70 for like 85-90% of our shots. That's on a full frame, so it would be the equivalent of 18-50 or so on those Sony's (someone help me with the math).

In general, I think going wide on the lenses is more useful overall unless your hobby specifically includes wildlife or sports. The low number on the lens. So, for Alaska, I'd just rent a zoom lens rather than buying one. Wait to see that you'd use the zoom a lot before buying.

We just recently switched to Sony mirrorless from Nikon. Based on how we take pictures, we seriously considered only having one lens (the 24-70) and just renting a zoom as needed. Then I found a pretty good deal on a used zoom. Otherwise, I don't think we would have bought a tele zoom.

Oh, and make sure to buy extra batteries and an external charger. It'll make your life a lot easier. They're ridiculously cheap on Amazon.

Make sure you shop around. Pierces gave you full retail price essentially.

Several years ago, Sony decided to stabilize pricing so that small mom & pop stores could compete with the online retailers and big shops like Best Buy. Full retail is all you'll ever see. Several times a year, they will post discounts on bodies, lenses or kits but it seldom exceeds 7% - 10% and it is available to all retailers. Sometimes you can find grey market stock a little cheaper but you won't see a legit shop or online presence selling below the Sony price and many small shops will add a $100 or more to an in-demand body. (We are seeing stock of the A7III now but back in April is wasn't unusual to see the $1998 body selling for $3000 from camera stores on eBay). Some retailers offer "bundles" with a bunch of "free" stuff to sweeten the deal but these are usually cheap crap like filter kits, junk tripods and generic cases. Occasionally, B&H or Adorama will include a large SD card or extra battery of actual value but that is rare.

Dave

Bought the 6500 and the 4/18-105 G! Now I have a lot to learn.

Thanks for all the help.

Bought the 6500 and the 4/18-105 G! Now I have a lot to learn.

 

Thanks for all the help.

And now it begins....

Enjoy!

Dave

And now it begins....

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

No joke! I am almost more excited about the camera than the trip. I know I won’t even be able to scratch the surface by the time we leave for this trip, but I can tell I am going to love learning how to use it well. I truly appreciate all the advice.

Congrats! It's a lot to learn, but it's fun learning.

Ok! Lots of great input here.

 

My local camera shop has a pre-owned 6500 with the 18-105 G lens for $1200. It seems like a decent deal. How much will I regret not getting the new kit with the 18-135??

I sold the 18-105 and my kit lenses to get the 18-135 and I would do it again. The 18-135 is smaller, lighter and a better lens overall.

Oops, didn't read 'til the end, enjoy!

Vic