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.

  • walden
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    4 days ago

    Buying a camera now is basically for one thing - having quick access to physical knobs and buttons to change settings on the fly. Same goes with being able to manually zoom quickly, or focus quickly on a particular object in the frame.

    You can accomplish this sort of thing with a cell phone camera, but not quickly. By the time you’re done fussing around with it, the motorbike covered in ducks has sped off down the road.

    I bought a Nikon D90 in Vietnam about 12 years ago. It was more expensive than it would have been in the US. Someone here might recommend a good camera, but either you won’t be able to find it locally, or it’ll be out of your budget. The D90 was already somewhat obsolete when I bought it, but damn did I get some really great pictures that I’ll cherish forever.

    I recommend going to a local shop, preferably with a local friend. Try and touch stuff as much as you can.

    Watch some videos on aperature, exposure, ISO, and what you can accomplish with those things. I generally prefer letting the camera pick ISO and exposure automatically, and having manual control of aperature. I found that gave me good control of getting the effects I wanted (short depth of field, for example).

    • @[email protected]OP
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      34 days ago

      Thanks for the comment! I actually have a Vietnamese wife so she can definitely help me with local shops but unfortunately I live in the sticks: Nghe An province, so I’m wary of getting one locally. After some research I’ve found these two options, what do you think:

      Canon EOS R50 Canon EOS Rebel T7/2000D

      • walden
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        14 days ago

        Unfortunately I’m not up to speed with cameras anymore, but hopefully someone else can chime in.

      • @Zachariah
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        4 days ago

        Aw, that sucks. I haven’t shopped in a while. I didn’t realize their content got stale. I hope they recover.

        Looks like their mirrorless guide was updated in November, 2024.

  • @[email protected]
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    5 days ago

    don’t discount the camera built into your phone – most cellphone cameras from the last decade put out pretty stellar performance, all things considered – and you’re far less likely to leave it behind in your hotel room or guesthouse

    Google Pixel 3a