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.
Don’t focus on the equipment. Any dslr, be it mirrorless, full frame, or traditional format, will be more than enough to get started and learn how photography works.
Force yourself to use manual mode and learn how fstops, shutter speed, iso and everything else tie together to make an image. I know you said no refurbished, but the used market is ideal for beginners. I went to school for photography (not my current career) but I still use a 20 year old nikon with the kit lens and a couple nice prime lenses I added along the way. The equipment rarely holds you back. With that said, once you have your feet wet, lenses are where you want to invest. An entry level camera with a nice lens will take better pics than a high end camera and shitty lens.
Could you please recommend a specific model and specific lens? I’m totally clueless.
Perhaps Canon EOS R50? Or Canon EOS Rebel T7/2000D? But what lens?
The 2000d doesn’t have a flipping screen
Do not buy a camera without a flipping screen under any circumstances
If you are starting out, I promise it doesn’t matter. As far as lens, any kit lens (one that’s included, typically a “zoom” lens) that has a starting mm range in the 20s would be a good start. After you get used to the camera, look at getting a faster prime lens. This is a lens with a fixed mm, like 24mm and aprime lenses are generally better quality and sharper than zoom. The f-stop with as low a number as you can afford. The lower f-stop will allow better low light photographs, if that even matters to you. As a lens rule, 50mm is usually what our vision sees, anything less is considered wide angle. Anything more, and your zooming into be close to the subject.
My advice is to get an entry level mirrorless (you mentioned the r50) Canon, nikon or Sony. They have the largest lens catalog without needing adapters. Mirrorless will give you a more compact camera. You can save a few bucks and go traditional dslr (like the t7) or buy used and save yourself a ton of money.
For your budget, this is the best deal new I could see for what you mentioned.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1461735-REG/canon_2727c021_eos_rebel_t7_dslr.html
This is the r50 mirrorless https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1748811-REG/canon_eos_r50_mirrorless_camera.html
Or go used and spend half the money
Thanks! Unfortunately, eBay has issues shipping to Vietnam and I’d rather not risk it. I wish I could find a reputable seller of used cameras here but I can’t.
Check around at local universities. Some students upgrade along the way, or the professors might point you in the direction of local photography stores that deal in used.
Fact is photography is an expensive hobby and depending on your definition of quality and the type of photography you’re into $600 could be plenty or it could be nothing. Here’s some options, though.
Canon EOS M50 Mark ll: A mirrorless camera with a 24.1 MP APS-C sensor. Iť’s small, portable, and comes with a kit lens to get you started. As you go you will discover what your needs are from a lens and you can upgrade accordingly.
Sony Alpha a6000: Another mirrorless option with a 24.3 MP APS-C sensor. Compact, good image quality, and fast autofocus. Again the kit lens should be enough to get you started.
Panasonic Lumix FZ300: This one is fixed lens, but you get quite a range out of that one lens. It’s also weather-sealed, which is handy for outdoor use.
Buying refurbished or from a reseller like B&H or even eBay, if possible, could really help you get the most out of your budget and reach a little higher than what I’ve suggested.
You don’t need much to start, an SD card, preferably 64GB or higher. Maybe a waterproof camera bag for hiking, but it’s not essential and many new cameras will come with a bag. You may eventually want a nice tripod, and backup batteries for longer trips.
Would a Canon EOS R50 be better than the ones you’ve mentioned? I’m especially interested in closeup macro photography
You can buy vintage macro lenses if you need a more affordable option
Definitely a solid choice. You’re going to need a macro lens and Canon has some great ones for the RF mount. That’s going to cost you about twice the budget you’ve described, though. At least in USD.
Hm, I guess it’s just popular here and more reasonably priced. Any specific lens recommendations or would the one that goes with it be perfect for the first year or so? While I’ll be learning
Dang, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Vietnam, but that takes the cake!
Unfortunately for Macro photography the kit lenses aren’t going to cut it. Now full disclosure I use Nikon and not Canon, so I haven’t used this lens, but the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro STM lens looks like a solid choice for 1:2 magnification at a super reasonable price. If you have the option you could rent some equipment and see what works best for you.
Thanks. After checking, I don’t think it’s much of a difference in price across regions/countries, as it seems to be still about 600-650usd for the body with the basic kit lens in most shops.
I think the one who told you that it won’t fit into your budget meant a the body + a good macro lens
You can’t very close up pictures with the kit lens
I bought my Rebel EOS on EBay with a lens for under $200 I think. It’s a few years old. I spent $100 taking it in to have it professionally cleaned. It’s a fantastic little camera! I’m by no means good with it but it does everything I ask of it and then some.
I’d look at something like an e-m10 or e-m5 (whichever version gives you enough money over to get lenses) for lenses a 14-42mm and a 40-150mm would give a really good focal range (there’ll be several different options for both of these lenses so get the ones that have the best reviews in budget)
The reason I recommend these cameras is the size and weight of the body and lens combination will be less than a lot of others. So as you’re going hiking with them it’s something that needs to be thought about.
Would Canon EOS R50 be a better option than the ones you’ve mentioned? And would you recommend a specific lens for that, too?
For image quality, unless it’s in particularly low light and in that low light you’re shooting something fast moving so can’t take advantage of the IBIS that the Olympus cameras have to have a longer exposure, I doubt you’ll see any difference.
The R50 looks to have a better autofocus system. By every other metric it’s extremely similar. So if you’re going to be taking lots of photos of fast moving objects, like sports I’d say the R50 would be the way to go.
If you intend to buy new then the R50 would also be the way to go, as the most recent version of the e-m5 (now o-m5) would be way out of your budget and there’s not been a new e-m10 in sometime. However you’ll get a lot more camera by going secondhand however. Somewhere like mpb.com if you’re concerned about buying peer to peer.
Don’t really know much about canon RF lenses. I know there’s not nearly as big a range of options.
I’ve tried doing a comparison purely for size (i have no clue if the canon would be in budget with these lenses) with as closely equivalent focal length
The shorter focal length https://camerasize.com/compact/#633.92,904.948,ha,t
The longer (couldn’t find a native RF mount lens so it’s an EF with an adapter) https://camerasize.com/compact/#633.95,904.232.5,ha,t
You’re probably (or maybe not, see edit below) looking for a “mirrorless” camera, which is like a DSLR with a digital viewfinder instead of the traditional optical viewfinder. (IMO, this is an advantage and there’s no reason to go DSLR anymore.) Like a DSLR, the mirrorless camera lenses are also interchangeable, so you can grow the abilities of your camera as you learn more. The low-end options you’ll find for around $600 new will typically come with a short zoom lens, and the overall package will be a nice step up from a smartphone, even if you’re shooting in full-auto mode, but you’ll gain more if you take a little time to learn the partially-manual modes, like shutter/aperture priority.
There are a handful of mirrorless systems (they differ per camera manufacturer, and some manufacturers make more than one system), and which system you choose will probably take some research/asking in a specialized community. It really does matter which you choose, because lenses are generally not swappable between camera systems, and lens pricing is all over the place. If you know photo enthusiasts in real life, it’s not a bad idea to go with the same one they use, as you might be able to borrow lenses, accessories and knowledge from them.
Not sure how Vietnam works, but buying used is often a good choice and will get you quite a bit more for your budget if you can buy from a trustworthy marketplace. Starting off with a camera that’s a few generations behind probably isn’t a bad choice at all, as the tech evolves fairly slowly and will save you some money if you realize down the road that you bought into a camera system that doesn’t best suit your needs.
edit: It might also help to find out what kind of nature photography you envision yourself doing. I read “nature” and thought of wildlife (and assumed that chances are you’ll eventually want a longer zoom), but for all I know you might be thinking something like landscapes, which is typically at the other end of the lens spectrum. If you’re sure that you’ve outgrown your phone, there is another type of camera, basically an advanced point-and-shoot, which feature large-ish image sensors and offer quite a bit of manual control, but no interchangeable lens (just a decent zoom). They’re impressive for how much camera power can fit in your pocket, and you’ll find options around your price range, but these offer very limited, if any, options to grow in the future.
Thanks for the detailed answer. I’d like to take pictures of mostly still life, nothing moving too fast or anything like that. Could you recommend a specific camera you think would be best? I feel like taking pictures with my phone isn’t worthwhile enough as I love to study the details of each photo after I take and the phone’s quality doesn’t allow for that much.
It would be pretty irresponsible for me to make a suggestion. I chose my camera system well over a decade ago and while it’s served me well, the market is way different today and I haven’t kept up with current choices. (There’s a very real chance I wouldn’t make the same choice if I was starting out in 2025.) I’ve seen posts in [email protected] or [email protected] with questions like yours answered by helpful people who are actually up on current stuff, so I’d definitely see what they have to say.
edit: To expand on this somewhat, if you choose well you’ll likely get a number of years out of your camera “body” (the actual camera itself, not counting the lens) before you feel like you need to upgrade to a new one. At that point you’ll keep all your lenses and choose a new body from the same system, which means it’s still compatible with your collection of lenses. (And while it seems counterintuitive, some lenses can actually cost more than the camera body.) That’s why, although these are things you don’t need to know today, per se, choosing a system that suits your needs and budget matters, and why you want advice from people with broader experience.
I’ll probably be going with a Canon EOS R50, but how to choose a lens?
First of all, are you sure you’re buying the camera body by itself? It’s possible that you are, but it sounds like that camera is most commonly sold together with the Canon RF‑s 18‑45mm IS STM, a good lens with an okay range that lets you zoom from “sort of wide” to “sort of long.” It’s a good starter lens, but Ken Rockwell (a trusted camera reviewer) points out a few other common lens options for this camera if you’re looking for more zoom range.
Buying a camera+lens combo (often called a “kit” in the photo world) will usually save you a little bit, versus buying the two separately.
Thanks so much! Appreciate your valuable advice. 😊
