What camera do I buy? / general gear talk

Depends on the mistake.

I don't think I've ever had a raw file that I can't sort out. So much so I'm really lazy with exposure on digital cameras.

Hard to fix bad composition/framing even in a raw file :)

Say I go on this trip having not learned to process, shooting RAW is gonna give me more scope to fix mistakes in the future, right?

Yes.

'Learning to process' probably bigs it up too much. It's not rocket surgery (Photoshop epics for advertising excepted).

I've got a broken gf1, can't really afford to replace it, so have the pancake lens I could sell

Well, 25 megapixels plus makes cropping easy too.

Hard to fix bad composition/framing even in a raw file :)

Yeah absolutely. I am of course referring to exposure.

Wondering if anyone can help point me in the direction of a suitable camera that fits or thereabouts fits these criteria:

Good low light performance
Megapixels somewhat unimportant, it will only be used for web/social media content.
18-70mm equivalent zoom.
Manual settings preferable
Manual focus an unlikely bonus
Ability to capture video a bonus.
Compact camera preferred. DSLR is possible but not ideal due to bulk.
Secondhand price under £200

To add a bit of context it's for my partner to use, she is doing some personal training as well as starting kickboxing class whilst completing her own training to join the stunt register and would like to able get some bits for Facebook/Instagram as well as use it for tracking client's progress/form and the like. Oh and also in terms of ergonomics if it was easy to use for people with small hands that would be grand.

Second hand Sony Nex (one of the ones with a 16-50mm lens) or Alpha 5000 ticks all the boxes apart from the lens not quite the same range.

Surprisingly little talk of the new Nikon Z system in here, may get things going with Ming's review?

https://blog.mingthein.com/2018/09/29/2018-nikon-z7-24-70-review/

My NEX to Leica M adapter by Yeenon is still available after no bites on the bay - available to anyone here for postage costs from Canada.

You're an absolute star, either one will do perfectly. Thank you!

Nice camera but Ming Thein can >>>>>>

Interesting that Canon and Nikon always manage to release such similar things at the same time. At least they’ve come out with well-rounded cameras straight out the gate.

Ming Thein can >>>>>>

what makes you say that?

Out of my price range really, and existing cheaper cameras do everything I need. I’ll probably have a look at in five years time on the second hand market...

One for the hobbyist gear heads i guess ?

The camera shop in town had an XT2 body for £699. Is it different enough in terms of speed of focus to make it a valid body to have alongside an XPro2?

DPReview thought the speeds would be same after a scheduled XPro2 firmware update
https://www.dpreview.com/news/9408598447/fujifilm-x-pro2-versus-x-t2-seven-key-differences?slide=9

Whether it worked out as promised, I don’t know.

I have never updated the firmware it is true.

Maybe I should try that first.

Any tips on a CF USB card reader? There's so many I think I just want someone to say, "I've had this for a while, it works, hasn't broken."

Also, my Canon 400D is almost 12 years old, I almost don't want to get rid of it because it's been to many places in the world with me, I've used it to shoot at a lot of racetracks in the UK, it's survived being rained on continuously for hours at a time, and I guess I'm proud that it's been heavily used, but I'm starting to wonder if it's holding me back.

Yesterday the light was shit at Rockingham, so there was loads of noise at high ISO, I could probably do with having a much "better" zoom lens than I do now, but putting a 1k zoom lens on a body worth about £50 also makes no sense in my head.

I don't know, I've been putting it off for a while because I haven't really been using my camera so often in the last 5-6 years other than holiday travel, but my friend has just signed up for another season of racing, which means, 10 rounds of travelling around the country to racetracks again, sponsor update packs, so I started thinking about my kit again.

I've managed fine so far I guess, but I was wondering what sort of benefit I'd get by just going up to 5D Mk i?

No don’t shortchange with an old body now. Reap the benefits of more recent releases. Minimum get a recent-ish used 7D mk-whatever

Any tips on a CF USB card reader? There's so many I think I just want someone to say, "I've had this for a while, it works, hasn't broken."

I've had this for a while, it works, hasn't broken.

Also I agree with what @pdlouche said. Wait until you can afford a more recent body.

So an older full frame wouldn't be better than a newer crop?

What sort of extra features am I missing out on? I don't just mean WiFi or whatever, but "technically", what makes a 7D better?

No, because newer means faster processing, faster menus, more refined features, way way way better low light performance and better noise reduction. This isn’t Hasselblad or anything, this is consumer level stuff, never buy older than necessary. Newer you buy, less likely you need to buy again too.

A lot of the development now is on the sensors, processing speed, low light performance/noise reduction and the like.

because newer means faster processing, faster menus, more refined features, way way way better low light performance and better noise reduction

I need all of these things pls.