I’m totally new to photography and want to get my first camera. I’ll mainly be using it for nature photography while hiking and traveling.
My only focus is on photos of the highest possible quality.
My budget is around $600, and I’ll also need essential accessories, but don’t know what I’d need, like a lens?
Not open to refurbished, as I’m buying in Vietnam.
And 200mb/s is it for read or write? Is write 90 mb/s good enough?
It’s really going to depend on your use. Feel free to try 90 first. I default to the highest because it is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the equipment to just get the best. This will affect how quickly you can take pictures back-to-back.
I recommend taking shots in RAW so you can edit them properly later (Canon should include basic editing software for free). Most programs cannot read RAW images, but there are various free programs that can. I’m pretty sure GIMP can, but I’ve never tried using GIMP for this. There should be an option to take images in RAW+jpeg if you want an immediate jpeg copy in addition to RAW.
You can shoot directly to jpeg, but I recommend keeping RAW copies of at least the images you like so you can edit them later if you don’t start out editing. RAW files are much larger than jpeg, but are meant to be edited and then exported as a jpeg or something else afterward.
What if I’m not really that interested in editing photos in general? Should I get some other kinds of cameras like from Fuji, a little bit more casual, or something else you might recommend? Something where it’s less important to post-edit.
Editing is 100% optional. Like I said, you can even shoot in jpeg. Most editing I do is minimal fixes to lighting and cropping/straightening to what intended to shoot. Completely optional.
If you want something smaller/simpler, there’s nothing wrong with that. I also use a Ricoh GR II that I can carry in my pocket (these are an old model now). It’s a point-and-shoot and many of the settings I talk about being on the Canon R50 are also on the smaller point and shoot cameras, including a Fuji. Some phone cameras have a professional mode that lets you play with these settings too.
You can get into the artistic part of the hobby on any camera you want, the equipment only expands your options and elevates quality of the photos that you can take via better lenses, etc.
Thanks for taking the time! Appreciated.
After a rather deep research for a beginner, I’m deciding between R10 and Fujifilm x-m5. Any comments on that?
Unless you found a good deal on the R10, it’s twice your budget ($1200-1300). While it improves upon the R50, those improvements don’t justify the R10 over other options for the same price:
or
I’m not familiar with Fujifilm cameras, but if you apply the logic in my first comment and look up various reviews, you’ll get a sense for it. This also looks above the budget ($800 w/o lens).
Remember: your money is better spent on good lenses than fancier bodies. If you are wanting to look at different bodies, you don’t need to limit it to mirrorless. The main benefits of mirrorless that you see now is a smaller sized body. One limitation I hit without it is not getting to see what I’m shooting as easily while framing astrophotography (I see after the shot and adjust, but it has only been a limitation in that one instance).
Got it. So after a heavy consideration I’ve decided to spend my money on R50 (the cheapest reliable option considering that I can’t trust any used cameras in where I live), and the rest on one most versatile and high quality lens, for about the same price as the camera or maybe a bit cheaper. Can you recommend one or two top options in this case?
I’d shoot with the stock lens for a bit before you decide (maybe a month? 5+ sessions of whatever you mainly feel like shooting). Get a feel for the camera and what you like shooting or things you want, but can’t do. If they have a decent return policy, you may be able to swap out after trying it if you find you don’t like that model. I doubt it, but that’s just a guess.
Take note of what you like or struggle with, then return to that original list of lenses I posted to see if any of those could fill a gap. There were some smaller lenses and a couple larger ones for ~$500-600 that are good choices. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket, look to set aside up to $1300 while you work with the base setup in anticipation. It’s very easy to get trapped in spending money on equipment before you actually need it. Learning how to use the basics outside of auto settings, framing shots, and your style is more important at first than equipment.
That said, it’s probably worth it to get at least 1 extra battery or a power bank and an extra memory card within those first few shoots. Probably ~$100 total at most. See if you are running close to using all of the battery or filling the card in those sessions.
Session 1, start out with using auto settings (flash off), try out A or AV (aperture priority, the marking varies by camera) and read around about the basics of photography to get a feel for what settings do. Aperture looks like f/#.# (f/4.8 or f 4.8). Larger numbers typically mean more things are going to be in focus and smaller typically means less things will be in focus. There’s more to it than that, but it’s a good place to start understanding the setting.
Awesome advice, thank you so much.
One more thing: I’ve noticed you’ve recommended lenses without Image Stabilization, isn’t that very important to get for R50? since it lacks IBIS