What camera do I buy? / general gear talk

Really? Is the IQ of the iPhone X on par with a gr2?

I don't know, I own neither.
I guess it isn't. Or maybe in bright scenes it actually is.

I think the point is more if somebody would actually notice the difference that isn't a photographer.

I'm replying "iPhone" a lot in this thread as I genuinely think that most people that ask for something "good quality and compact" will indeed be quite happy just shooting those.
Of course there's better image quality available, but the question really is if you honestly notice (or care) - the differences are getting quite small really, depending on the situation.
If you don't need to make a huge print from it most likely it will be totally fine; let's face it most of the population just looks at things on their phones anyway, laptop at most, and point of sufficiency for this has been reached a long time ago.
Plus (huge plus actually) you fucking always have the thing with you, and it's super easy to shoot great photos with it.
Can't you even get RAW files out of the newer iPhones now if you want to get all 'pro' and fuck around with the files in Lightroom on your iPad later?

Surely this is miles away from what a 5D can deliver - in principle, in the right light, with the right lens, in the right hands, with proper know how, and shot discipline..
..but you know, that's not how it is in real life.

The guy I bought my D3 from got it "for taking pictures of the dog", realised "it's too heavy though".

Good points throughout. Unless you have specific demands or an interest in photography as a craft, an iPhone will go a long way these days

We did a photo book with pics of the kids this xmas (yes, super cheese, but awesome) and we started with a say 100 good photos, half from my iPhone 6s, the other half from a 6D. Through culling we ended up using 95% of the shots from the 6D, when you put them side by side you can’t really compare tbh, the difference is huge.

If you don’t compare though, or care about shadow details and such things, the phone takes perfectly fine photos for a book as well

I bet you didn't use a 28mm equivalent focal length for many of those chosen shots.

What I mean is ... a dslr and standard lens is actually really nice for candids, situational portraits etc (and where you may use a near max aperture).

A Ricoh is quite different and not vastly better for that sort of thing than top end phones. It is great for pretending to be Gary Winogrand tho.

Mainly shoot with a 35mm lens, so not miles from 28. That wasn’t the reason though, the IQ is just so much better on a dslr

I'm still looking for a camera with the iq and size of the GR and dslr level low light capabilities.
#unicorns

2019 iPhone
;-)

If only they'll make another one as small...

..good point, although seing all the really hip hipsters at the google campus here in Berlin are already copying me and using iPhone 4's again it will only be a matter of time 'til apple gets the drift!

Back from hols with 6d + 80-200/2.8 + 19-35/3.5 + 43/2.8 and very happy with what I got. A few times I wanted wider, and a few times I wanted longer than 200mm (wildlife) but the gap in the middle I had 43-80mm (where most people whack a standard zoom on) I didn't miss at all.

Took many good shots in first ten days, then kind of got bored as was seeing similar stuff over and over.

The 80/200 2.8 "magic drain pipe" really is just that. Only a handful of times was the 1985/1995 arc motor focus drive too slow to grab what I wanted in the moment (but short of the current 70-200/2.8 I don't think anything else would have managed either). Even without the massive lens hood it didn't struggle in strong glarey light.
But mostly I got a lot less attention than waving a big white L around.
It does vignette strongly at 2.8, only realised when I got home that the clear filter I put on wasn't the narrow rimmed one I'd originally ordered, ah well.

Just put the vignetted images on instagram, they'll fit right in :)

Also 6d1 performed very well. Never truly got to grips with the stupid 100d 'esque controls. And right at the end of the trip I missed photo of a lifetime thanks to the shitty finger wheel being too easy to turn (aperture control when in av). On all my old canon, even with over 200k on them tye action of the wheel is tighter (same for thumb wheel) than the brand new 6d. So instead of being at f4 ish abd having a 1/1000th shutter, I had f18 ish and a 1/50th, which resulted in massive notion blur. Thanks canon.

Image quality is cracking for the price,low weight is welcome, but the slow cheap buttons are very out of place

I've been looking at the 6D too funnily enough. You can pick up a second hand one for around £600 which seems very reasonable.

Yea but beware of the shitty finger wheel..

Got a 6D too and I like it. Agree that buttons aren't as nice as on the 5D i had, but I don't mind them tbh. I'm not sold on the thumbwheel, would much prefer a second wheel like you have on the front

One of the Sony mirrorless with an APS-C sensor and a pancake lens is probably the nearest you'd get but still over 2" thick.

Yeah thanks, Sony UI in addition to the thickness though...

£720 new from a real shop in Hong Kong.
£600 gets you one in very average condition as I found.
This one is going back to hk to get buttons looked at, seem to only have to post it to a storage unit in London though!
I've tried several 6d since (new abd used) shitty finger wheel is the same, but buttons on tye back, mine are very bad by comparison, it's like there is a piece missing from the assembly

Hmmm, maybe I should spend the extra on a brand new one?

Just got a raw file from a Hasselblad sent to me. Now my 6D feels like an instamatic. sigh.

Camera for filming... is this the right place to ask? I need up to date advice.
One aspect of my work is filming interviews. Usually one on one, natural lighting. Need to look decent, but for youtube only. I've done this on a 7D mk.1 with a Sigma 30mm lens for years. But I'm aware that I should probably update to something more modern - I used an 80d recently and envied the autofocusing while filming. Any suggestions for what I should be looking for if I want to upgrade, but not spend over 1k? Am freelance so keen to keep cost down. I understand from a bit of web searching that there are good options beyond Canon now. Panasonic? Micro 4/3? I don't know.
I do occasionally film events for which I've got an old XA20 ,which is functional but doesn't produce amazing results. Guessing a modern camera might be able to replace this as well.
I've got a separate Tascam recorder for audio so this isn't too important.
Thnx

For your application, what you already have will do a perfectly good job, I would think, assuming you have decent mics, lights etc. Panasonic GH series has been the go-to for years, I believe, though you will find people using all sorts. Sony A series is very popular, Canon and Nikon DSLRs from top to bottom of ranges. Newest Fuji model is aimed at video, I believe. No right answer. Solution is determined by budget to a degree.

I use a Nikon D750 with either Rode Videomic Pro or adapted SmartLav+ lapel mics, which I also use with an iPhone 8 for on-the-go vids. Both are fit for purpose.

Yes, it's fine for moment and I could get away with using it a while longer. But I would particularly like something that re-focuses automatically while filming + while I don't often run into problems with the 7d overheating or recording time being too long, it has happened and it's a pain.

For the price I'd say a Sony A6500 would do you very nicely.

If you want audio internally rather than using the Tascam then maybe an A6300 with K1M XLR module which slots into the hot-shoe. That'll give you very decent results and save a bit of extra faff in post.

The 65 and 63 both have really great (for the money) autofocus if that's your thing and the 4K is super sharp when downconverted to 1080. Native 1080 is decent but not as lovely as the 4k. One thing to note is that in 4K the A6300 overheats after about 30 mins of constant filming and needs to cool right down again. In 1080 it's fine.

When you say one on one - do you need reverses? i.e. two cameras shooting both? Or can you do noddies/questions separately with the interviewer after the subject has left?

I would avoid m4/3 unless you really want to invest in new lenses - converters can be a faff and you'll need to factor in a crazy about of crop (if you a wide shot you'll need to get a super wide lens to run on say a GH5. GH5 is a wonderful device but just may not be as practical as Sony - or as universal. Sony seems to be the general standard of filming at the moment (FS5/7 etc with A7S2 as a b-cam so the A6500/A6300 will match nicely if you're mixing footage from most other sources).