Which camera to get?

snewn1

Estimable
Jan 25, 2016
6
0
4,520
Hello!

I'll cut to the chase. I've never owned a DSLR but I'm keen to learn and own an intermediate level camera. Reasonable price, under $1000.

Things I'm looking for in the camera:
Relatively light
Environment seal
Able to take pictures that have sharp focus on the foreground with soft background
Manual settings

Things I want to take pictures of:
Astrophotography
Portraits of people
Landscape sceneries

Thanks in advance!
 

jnturja

Estimable
Jan 15, 2016
20
0
4,570

snewn1

Estimable
Jan 25, 2016
6
0
4,520


Thanks for your response! I've decided to go with the Pentax K-3 as you have suggested.

Now I have questions about all the other equipment that I will need, such as:
Type of lens
Memory card - normal or FLU?
Battery grip

Also, would you recommend any other equipment?
 

jnturja

Estimable
Jan 15, 2016
20
0
4,570
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1045822-REG/pentax_k_3_dslr_camera_with.html

This package includes a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens and a battery grip for your camera.
To get a good zoom lens you need to expand your budget a bit.
I suggest you to look at the available lenses at bhphotovideo.com and choose a zoom lens in your budget. You can go for the 18-55mm lens as a starter.
I've never used a FLU card so don't know about them. But users gave a mixed review about these cards. If you go for the normal one, I suggest you to go for the Sandisk ultra class 10 cards as they are cheap and good cards.

And for astrophotography I recommend you to buy a decent tripod and an intervalometer. :)
 


1) NONE of those are weather sealed, because a camera can only be weather sealed if BOTH the camera and lenses are weather sealed. You cannot find an SLR with sealed lenses for that price.
2) If you are a beginner but want to be serious about photo, do NOT buy pentax. It's the absolute worst starter brand because it has only starter equipment. Stick to Canon and Nikon.
3) Give up on weather sealing for now, that's for when you're better at photography and can shoot in difficult situations.
4) Get a Canon T6i or T6s, or Nikon D5300 with ~18-55+55-200 lenses
5) Get a 32gb Sandisk Ultra (from a real store like BH), that should be good enough
6) NEVER buy a battery grip (nobody really uses one), skip the second battery (since it'll force you to avoid reviewing and using the screen for shooting)
7) Skip the tripod for now, and get a decent one later. No sense buying a cheap tripod you'll throw away in 6mo

You'll thank yourself in a year or two for following these steps rather than going with some pentax stuff you'll outgrow quickly
 

snewn1

Estimable
Jan 25, 2016
6
0
4,520


Hey, thanks for your response!

I just assumed weather sealed means I'm able to use it up on the mountains or in the jungle or am I wrong about this?

Right now it is Nikon D5500 vs Pentax K-3 and so far the D5500 is winning with the built in wi-fi and weight (420g vs Pentax 800g). I'm just still on the fence about the environment seal as I would want to bring the camera along with me when i go backpacking or when i climb mountains.
 


Weather sealing means that you can take the camera out in the rain and now worry about it shutting down. My 1DMKIII and 5DMKII both support rain that would make me uncomfortable (as in soaked feet), but only when paired with an equally sealed lenses like the 70-200L or most of the other L lenses (not all, and all except the big primes and the 200-400L must have a lens filter). The 70D and K-3 are partially weather sealed (not on the level of the 7DMKII or 1D though), but the sony is not.

Also note that none of them fit into your $1000 budget with lenses, if you want to budget lenses into the $1000 you need to go with T6i/T6s or D5300
 

snewn1

Estimable
Jan 25, 2016
6
0
4,520


The websites I've reviewed says that the D5500 is the one with the touch screen, If i'm not mistaken. Going with D5500 at the moment as it is lighter and smaller. I've heard that Canon lens are better than Nikon though.
 

jnturja

Estimable
Jan 15, 2016
20
0
4,570
Well, D5500 is practically the same camera as D5300 except it has a touch screen. And in my opinion, nikon lenses are slightly better than the canons. Actually they both produce quality lenses. It is just getting into a system between the big two. And if you have friends who have DSLRs, then you might want to consider buying cameras of their brand. It can give you and your friend a fair bit of advantage as you both can use each other's lenses. :)
 

snewn1

Estimable
Jan 25, 2016
6
0
4,520
Solution

jnturja

Estimable
Jan 15, 2016
20
0
4,570