Great camera but quite an old model. I got a refurb here for 119.99 with 4GB SD and case 16 months ago:
http://tech.woot.com/offers/panasonic-14-1mp-digital-camera-w20x-opt
Will the Sony 55-210mm telephoto lens they are selling fit the Sony a58?
I have a VANGUARD Alta Pro Multi-Angle Tripod 284CB 100, paid $292. for it and love the smoothness and stability of it for video shooting with a Canon G30.
Actually he’s right, this is simply wrong. A mirrorless camera cannot be a DSLR by definition. DSLRs all have mirrors.
First the marketeers convinced us that we really don’t need need optical viewfinders in compact cameras and stopped putting them in (which saves them money). Now they are trying to sell us that compact cameras (pr term: “mirrorless”) are DSLRS. (Saves them money.)
If you are aspiring to serious photography, try out a friend’s DSLR for an hour and see how it affects your imaging.
All, ALL of the students in my DSLR class first went up the ladder from cheap compact to better compact, etc. They spent hundreds of $$ before finally getting the DSLR they really needed.
Does this mean a DSLR is the only way to go? No. But spend time thinking about what you plan to shoot and get the right tool for the job.
Well, so are “compact camera” and “bridge camera.” You need to be a bit more specific.
What’s important is the viewfinder, sensor, and lens system.
Generally you have “compact” (using these as terms of art) or “point and shoot” cameras that may or may not have electronic viewfinders (EVF), but don’t have interchangeable lens (ILC cameras).
Then you have “mirrorless” cameras, which may have sensors the same size as DSLRs, or be 4/3s or micro 4/3s, or some other size, and have interchangeable lens and EVFs.
Then you have DSLRs, which have interchangeable lens, sensors of various size although generally bigger than or equal to mirrorless cameras, and may have EVFs, and/or optical viewfinders.
It’s not just marketing that drives these categories, they are different types of cameras with different tradeoffs. Some compact cameras like the RX1 might blow the pants off an older “true” DSLR in terms of image quality.
And BTW, Walmart is selling that Emerson camcorder under the Vivitar name (Sakar, actually I believe) for $45 with surfboard, handlebar, helmet and dash mounts. Even has a touchscreen & remote. Quality is about what you’d expect (or better than), but lots of us use these in situations where the thing might not survive. The mounts have standard tripod thread mounts and might be useful in themselves.
Thank you for fleshing out the various choices now available and the changing terminology. Did you now that all digital cameras (aside from true DSLRs) have been “mirrorless” in the past 15 years?
Image quality and sensor size are not the only thing that drives true working pros to DSLRs. Along with actually seeing a real optical image, there are ajustable focus points, adjustable auto bracketing and more that they depend on, along with the general toughness and reliability the cameras provide. There is also the larger mass which helps with longer lenses.
I tend to use advanced point and shoots and recently got an ILC, but the fellow who teaches with me is a true working pro and has shown important features of DSLRs that I never really considered.
One student came in to the DSLR class with a fixed lens Fuji that LOOKS like a DSLR but has an electronic viewfinder in the fake pentaprism. Her camera has more in line with a DSLR, but -for example- could not use a protective UV filter or a circular polarizing filter as the lens retracted and had no filter threads. However, her “burst” mode was really fast, as there was no mirror to flip up and down!
I maintain that, if you can’t really see what you are shooting, you are at a disadvantage. I’m sure electronic finders are getting better, but right now they do not compete with a real optical reflex viewing system.
Hi,
Not much of a photographer, my wife does that. I bought her the Samsung EV-NX1000BABUS 20.3MP Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 20-50mm Lens here at Woot.
Are the lenses for these cameras only by brand? Do I have to buy Samsung lenses only, or will the Sony work as well?
No. Each brand has their own idea of what works best AND each wants your money. Just like Ford parts not fitting on a Chevy.
No, the a58 is a-mount and the 55-210 is e-mount. But you can use nice older Minolta lenses that are pretty cheap nowadays on the a58.
Hi
I also have an NX-1000. You can apparently buy adapters for them which will allow you to put, say, a Nikon lens on it. However, from my brief research into these I found that they do not always necessarily fit that great and you will also lose any of the functions the NX extends to the lens such as OIS (if it is a lens with OIS).
I have been dying to get a 50-200mm lens for my NX-1000 but as you probably know they are relatively expensive at like $400.