hello i am a newbie wanting to finally upgrade my camera after many years..

[dogueville]

hello photographers gurus. I am a newbie and have been at that for some time. My best camera i've owned thus far is my gf3 with 20mm pancake lens and the stock zoom lens. It is finally time for me to upgrade and i wanna learn more about photography through community centre classes and the urge to own a better camera body and lenses. I really enjoy taking portraits of people and also like to take animal pic especially stray dogs.

Can you all recommend me what i should buy? i have actually zoomed into 3 models

1) sony a6000

2) panasonic gx8

3) olympus em 10 ii

i'd like to buy a used good lens to make my money work abit harder but a new camera body.


Can you all recommend me?

thk u in advance

 

[thoongeng]

I'm no guru but just sharing what the gurus have taught me... If you want to learn photography you can learn with any camera. Your GF3 with kit lens and 20mm lens are a good start to learn about both the technical and creative aspects of photography. You can learn from courses in the community centres, join group outings or even from the internet, but the most important thing is to put what you have learnt into practice and go out and take more photographs

That said many people need an incentive / inspiration to start learning, and one of them is buying a new camera (helping the economy, but maybe burning a hole in your pocket :bsmilie: ). Out of your choices I would suggest the GX8, you can use back your lenses and the interface should be more familiar. Otherwise the other 2 choices are also very good in their own right, I'm sure as you have researched

 

[ortega]

I'm no guru but just sharing what the gurus have taught me... If you want to learn photography you can learn with any camera. Your GF3 with kit lens and 20mm lens are a good start to learn about both the technical and creative aspects of photography. You can learn from courses in the community centres, join group outings or even from the internet, but the most important thing is to put what you have learnt into practice and go out and take more photographs

That said many people need an incentive / inspiration to start learning, and one of them is buying a new camera (helping the economy, but maybe burning a hole in your pocket :bsmilie: ). Out of your choices I would suggest the GX8, you can use back your lenses and the interface should be more familiar. Otherwise the other 2 choices are also very good in their own right, I'm sure as you have researched

i 2nd the GX8, with the 4K video, you can take advantage of new technology and techniques. not to forget the ability that you already have lenses.

 

[pinholecam]

I had a GF1 before.
The GF3 should be an even better camera.

The 20mm is a very nice lens.
I think all you need for now is to look for a used oly 45/1.8.
IMHO, the camera is still ok.

 

[DSolZ]

I think either Panasonic gx8 or Olympus em10 ii should work for you since you are already in m43 ecosystem.

 

[trd2970]

Gx8 if u do video
Otherwise i feel em10ii good enough

 

[Kit]

hello photographers gurus. I am a newbie and have been at that for some time. My best camera i've owned thus far is my gf3 with 20mm pancake lens and the stock zoom lens. It is finally time for me to upgrade and i wanna learn more about photography through community centre classes and the urge to own a better camera body and lenses. I really enjoy taking portraits of people and also like to take animal pic especially stray dogs.

Can you all recommend me what i should buy? i have actually zoomed into 3 models

1) sony a6000

2) panasonic gx8

3) olympus em 10 ii

i'd like to buy a used good lens to make my money work abit harder but a new camera body.


Can you all recommend me?

thk u in advance

You have to first ask yourself these questions.

Why would you think a new camera is an upgrade? What would you like in a camera that the GF3 doesn't have?

Whay and/or how is the GF3 stopping you from learning more about photography?

Once you have answers to those questions, you'd have a better idea of what to get next. If you are on a budget, save the money for lenses.

 

[dogueville]

Actually u guys are right. I just find the gf3 looking very kiddy and it seems the autofocus is very slow and erm the body no anti shake. Many times my pics come out blurry. You all think I shouldn't buy new body right ? I would actually like a slightly bigger body with nicer grip and also want to look more professional. I know what I say may seem very shallow..

 

[dogueville]

Can any kind brother here recommend me a good more all rounded lenses to pair with my 20mm pancake that I already have ?

 

[trd2970]

Can any kind brother here recommend me a good more all rounded lenses to pair with my 20mm pancake that I already have ?

If u mean versatile, I'll suggest the Panasonic 12-32 pancake lens. Great IQ, very pocketable. Has OIS too

 

[thoongeng]

Actually u guys are right. I just find the gf3 looking very kiddy and it seems the autofocus is very slow and erm the body no anti shake. Many times my pics come out blurry. You all think I shouldn't buy new body right ? I would actually like a slightly bigger body with nicer grip and also want to look more professional. I know what I say may seem very shallow..

Newer cameras will have faster autofocus, and the GX8 and OMD E-M10 have 'anti-shake' or image stabilisation. If you are using the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 lens and the photos come out blurring due to the subject's movement (and not due to missed focus), then the environment is probably too dark and even image stabilisation will not help (you will learn how to migitate this in most of the basic courses or find out from the guides here).

Hmm if you think GF3 looks 'kiddy' then I can't help with that ;p (though many times I prefer a smaller camera, look more noob so nobody will notice me hehe...)

Can any kind brother here recommend me a good more all rounded lenses to pair with my 20mm pancake that I already have ?

You mentioned you have the stock kit lens, which one is it?

Most gurus will advise you to master your kit lens first, until you know the limitations of your equipment then you will know what equipment to get next... different people will have different preferences and would thus recommend differently (everyone's right, but which one is right for YOU? )

 

[thoongeng]

Just sharing some shots I took with my Olympus kit lens (14-42mm f3.5-5.6 II) while in Penang, nothing spectacular but I liked that it was small enough I don't mind bringing it around everyone I went

​

You can note that all these shots are taken in relatively brighter conditions. In darker situations I will have to use flash or tripod... part of photography is knowing the limits of your equipment hehe

 

[Stephen Chung]

How about fuji xt10 or xt1...fuji makes pretty decent camera..

 

[e69087]

Yup, do consider Fuji camera for their ooc jpg pic...nice colors.

 

[trd2970]

Fuji will involve buying into a new system... Not that it's not good but m43 will be a better transition, can still use the awesome 20 1.7

 

[Stephen Chung]

No big deal..

Sent from my GT-N8020 using Tapatalk

 

[wonglp]

GX8 will be good. However, if you are expecting a vast improvement in AF for 20mm, you might be disappointed, as the lens is "aged", nothing wrong though with the IQ, it's still a very sharp lens. If u intend to start learning, another lens (since you have kit and 20) would be a cheap telephoto lens, in good light it will perform well. Kit telephoto can be very useful for portraiture too (using at tele end, at brightest aperture, have the background further away from your subject) The Panasonic 45-175 F4.5-6.3 OIS lens comes to mind.
Have fun exploring photography, do look out for free talks at ClubSNAP gallery in Funan every week if that helps you too. Or join some outings as well. These are also good ways to improve fast.

 

[swifty]

I'll paraphrase an actual guru, Thom Hogan.
1. Improve the Photogtapher
2. Improve the support
3. Improve the lens
.
.
.....Improve the camera

In that order.

Not saying you can't do it any other way and let's face it, who doesn't like new gear to play with.
But to improve, you can already take classes with your existing gear.
You can improve your technique to better stabilize your shot or invest in a tripod for non-handheld stuff.
A 45/1.8 is a lot of bang for your buck, especially second hand.
A GX8 or E-M5 mkII are my picks in the current m43 body line up.

 

[NoS77]

What's stopping you from taking better pictures with your current setup? What are you interested in shooting after shooting for a while with your existing set up?

 

[pinholecam]

Like I mentioned above, the camera you have is pretty good already, esp in good light.
No need to get a newer one unless it more of an itch than a need.

These few shots were taken with a camera with an even smaller sensor and size.
Small, unintrusive, cheap (in case of theft) and fun.
and it got the job done :


IMGP1772 by jenkwang, on Flickr



IMGP1819 by jenkwang, on Flickr



IMGP2037 by jenkwang, on Flickr


The rest of the series is here :
http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/136-pentax-q/256302-pentax-outing-more-q-system-impressions.html