What camera do I buy? / general gear talk

Not had one myself but people online seem generally happy with what they get for the price they get it - I think their quality control isn’t anything as good as Fuji’s though so there’s always a higher risk of getting a duff one.

That makes sense with the price point, and I guess buying from say Amazon I can return if I do get a dud. The 18-55 used seem to be about £240 online, does this sound reasonable or are the retailers taking you for a ride for that price?

Seems reasonable, you can always get a free trade in quote from Wex and that gives you a minimum resale price if you don't like it. Buying used and trading is often cheaper than renting.

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/trade-in/

Any experience with how they grade lens? MPB has the 18-55 graded at Good for £240, whereas WEX has 9- for £260. I guess both are reputable dealers

Discounting the Canon 600D for £180, it's a remarkably good camera;

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/389872/#comment17162753

I’d stick with second hand original vs that stuff unless the IQ isn’t your main concern.

Edit: regarding the 7artisan question.

So managed to get a good condition X-T2 and 23/1.4 so back on the photography train. I've read though that Fuji can be a bit of a challenge to process in Lightroom as the software does a bad job of processing. Is this true? What alternatives are there to use? I'll probably end up using jpeg out of camera, but like to mess around with film simulations on Lightroom.

You get a good trial for Capture One with a Fujifilm serial number, and they do an Express version for free too. I believe it is the preferred tool for Fujifil RAWs.

I've read though that Fuji can be a bit of a challenge to process in Lightroom as the software does a bad job of processing. Is this true?

No, not anymore or are greatly exagerated. Assuming you already own lightroom, stick with it. Have no issues with LR CC and only shoot RAW.

Ah, that's good to hear. With how long the Fuji sensors have been out, I'd have thought they would have been sorted out.
Besides, I end up converting everything to black and white :)

It’s not entirely false - Lightroom can smear details a little on Fuji raws, which Capture One doesn’t do, from what I’ve seen. It translates into C1 files feeling a little crisper and sharper.

But… I still use Lightroom. I do almost all my editing on the iPad and store my photos in the cloud, so the Adobe ecosystem has worked much better for me. I got as far as downloading all my photos onto an external drive, planning to ditch my Adobe photography plan for a one-off C1 purchase, but a bit reticent because that would tie me to my aging PC. Then they switched to a subscription model that costs more than Adobe with virtually no cloud storage…

Think I’ll still give the free Fuji version a whirl for processing photos that I want to print, but that’s about as much of an effort than I am motivated to make at the moment.

Selling my DSLR and lenses due to lack of use these days. I’ve had it all from new about 13 years ago. On recent ebay sold prices it would be around £450. Anyone interested in the lot for £400 before I split it up? I’m in Dorset if anyone local wants to view/collect, and I’m happy to take more photos of it for anyone interested before working out postage. I’ll stick it in the classified section shortly too.

Canon EFS 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS (kit lens)
Canon EFS 10-22mm F3.5-4.5 (inc hood)
Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM (inc hood)

Canon EOS 50D + 7x CF cards + battery & charger )

Canon 430EX Speedlite II

Lowepro Slingshot 200
Velbon Ultra Lux i F tripod
Bagpod (beanbag ‘tripod’)

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Anyone after a canon Canon 2x II Extender EF. Essentially mint in L glass soft style pouch. Bought high grade used 9/10 for £210, wouldn't work with most of my lenses (1st gen L glass and some current stuff due to extended rear element style lenses). Anyone after it for £170 posted in UK?

Hey! Total photo noob here.

I'm looking for a digital camera for my girlfriend's birthday. She currently has a Sony HX90V that I got her a few years ago when she was starting out. She wants to upgrade and mainly takes landscape photos. She also enjoys doing close-ups and at some point she'd like to get into animal/bird photography.
Her only requirements are that it's easy to transfer the photos to a computer and to be able to have different lenses.

I have no knowledge about photography, but in my research, I came across the Canon EOSR10 or R100 with an RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM lens, which seems quite versatile. It seems to match her preferences, but it's a bit too expensive for what I can afford right now.

I was also thinking of going to a shop with her so she can take a look at different cameras ergonomics/menus etc

Any ideas/recommendations? :) (Looking for new or used)

What is the forum recommended UV filter you guys buy to protect your glass?
I had a close shave last night with kids zip vs prime lens as I wasn’t using the hood or a filter. I have a few I’ve inherited with secondhand gear but cannot for the life of me get my head around the millions of variations other than looking at the mid-price neutral Hoya’s.

Have had a B+W one on my X100 for nearly a decade and it’s scratch free, despite me cleaning it with T-shirts and snotty gloves. Means the camera is more or less silent but also a bit protected.

I don’t use them on the interchangeable Fuji primes for whatever reason. The front elements are recessed and quite small so the risk vector is lower.

Just looked up B+W filters and they’ve got pretty spendy. I’ve just bought a Nisi one for another lens and that was about £15…

Nisi one

Is that just a clear protective filter or UV?

don’t use them on the interchangeable Fuji primes

Agree with ‘Fujicrom’ 35/23 etc but the 56mm prime is just begging for zip scratch!

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It’s this one which is UV/protective all in one.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0BM7CBZPP?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

Actually got it for the Fuji 35mm which has been bare for 2 years with no issues. It’s more for riding around with no lens cap so I’m not having to clean the front element.

On a related note, Tiffen also have a sale on and snagged a black pro mist filter for the x100…

black pro mist filter

Thanks, interesting stuff, would love to see some comparison shots with/without. The test shots with models on their website are weird! Love some of the night time city scapes with this filter as it does a dreamy number on fluorescent lighting.

In the end I snagged a mint secondhand Hoya UV from MPB, boring but at least I know what to expect.

Depending where you are you could always go to somewhere like ShootBlue to arrange a test. You may need to suggest you're looking to rent for a project in the future..

https://vimeo.com/tiffencompany/4kdiffusiontest this kind of thing is pretty detailed and they try to have lots of bases covered with skin tones, different sources and temperatures of light, hard and soft edges etc. But will never replace you trying your own intended usage out.

Haha, yeah their model setups are a bit odd. They’re used mainly on cinema stuff to bloom the highlights a bit but all the tiktokkers use them for photographing moody petrol stations.

I’ll dig up an example in daylight where it makes things a bit filmy.

@inchpincher maybe not the best example but it makes things a bit glowy.

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Anyone got experience with the spread of Polaroids from retros to their newer stuff?

Going to take a traditional film camera to the Canaries this week but thinking for future touring, a polaroid might be more 'practical' in the sense of at least being able to get your shot processed whilst you're out.

Weight is less of an issue, but ideally something robust and packable