HACKER Q&A
📣 aosaigh

What camera do you use?


Do you use your phone’s camera or own a separate compact, mirrorless, DSLR or film camera to take photos? Have you moved from one to the other?

Personally I’ve always been interested in photography and have had DSLRs and mirrorless cameras in the past, but am now interested in more constrained cameras like the Fuji x100v.


  👤 mikece Accepted Answer ✓
Depends on the situation but my iPhone is the camera I always have with me and it's good enough in almost all situations (eg: when there is no expectation to make prints). For more set and formal photos I bring out the "real" camera mainly for its ability to use off-camera flash. If iPhone or Android supported the use of RF-triggered wireless off-camera flash combined with RAW mode photography it would be yet another nail in the coffin of interchangeable lens cameras.

(The "real" camera has changed over the years; I used to shoot Nikon DSLRs but switched to a Sony a6400 [that I hate] and am contemplating a switch again, either to a full-frame Sony or a Canon R6.)


👤 ansgri
I have Sony a5100 and a6400. The 5100 is 5 years old, a bit cracked, but I still take it with me regularly since it combines decent compactness with interchangeable optics. Though much older, it is similar in image quality to the 6400, which is bulkier but has amazing AF and more professional features overall.

I’m especially fond of combining a5100 with compact old manual lenses like a weird 35/1.2 from a film projector, or a Minolta 50/1.7. That, or some compact telephoto like Sony’s excellent 18-135, shooting in Raw, and getting familiar with Lightroom or Darktable, and you have images impossible or very difficult to achieve with a best smartphone and endless creative possibilities of interchangeable optics. And it fits in most large pockets!


👤 brudgers
After more than 100k DSLR/mirrorless images in recent years, I usually one of my film cameras because the aesthetic experience is better for me.

It's a feedback loop where film caused me to be more selective, being more selective means taking few pictures, including digital pictures, and taking fewer pictures reduces the economic efficiency gap between film and digital.

Which wouldn't make as much of a difference if the aesthetic experience of film cameras weren't so different from a DSLR/mirrorless camera...again for me.

And if the differences in my aesthetic experience among film cameras could not vary so widely. I recently traveled with six film cameras each of which physically makes a different type of picture because each produces a different aspect ratio...3:1, 9:4, 3:2,.4:3, 1:1 3:4 [1]

Just for clarity, one of my favorite digital cameras is the Sony NEX C3 which is a tiny 16mp APSC camera...literally about the size of a point and shoot. Put a pancake lens on it like the 16-50 PZ or 16mm f2.8 and you can put a lot of camera in a small pocket when you walk the dog.

However, I have three film cameras that fit in a small pocket and produce great negatives each of which was less than $100, doesn't require batteries and brings me joy to shoot...the NEX C3 really doesn't, it is only a better aesthetic experience compared to other digital cameras.

---

All this with the caveat that if I was shooting weddings for, I'd make radically different choices. Digital cameras are great tools for commercial work. And they are great ways to chase the joy of making pictures.

Where I wound up is that part of the normal digital workflow is sitting at the computer right after making the pictures wasn't something I enjoyed. For me, it's nice to just put the exposed film in a drawer until a development day. Nice not to be in a hurry. YMMV.

Good luck.

[1]: 4:3 and 3:4 because the Chiaka exposes half frame 35mm in portrait and the Pentax 645 shoots in landscape on 120.


👤 mikewarot
My favorite macro camera of all time was the Nikon Coolpix 995, you could focus on things 2cm from the lens! I made a cardboard viewing tube with some rubber bands to put over the screen so I could see in the daytime. I took soooooo many pictures of Chicory and Morning Glory with that thing.

I wore out my Nikon D40 (not the D40x), the shutter lasted about 29,000 photos.

I really like my Nikon D5100 DSLR, but haven't been able to use it in a while due to health constraints.

The most constraining camera to have fun with is one of those little 2AA powered Nikon zoom cameras for about $100. They shoot video, megapixel images, and record to SD cards. You can probably pick one up for almost nothing these days, used.


👤 Pyrodogg
For day-to-day I use my smartphone, currently a Pixel 3. It's also used frequently for situations that are more than mundane but where I don't want to make it a Photo Thing.

When I want to specifically set out to exercise my photo hobby, I usually take my Cannon R5 mirrorless, lens(es) and appropriate other accessories. I picked it up last year, migrating from a DSLR.

For some time I carried a Cannon compact in my daily carry bag but I just rarely pulled it out, usually relying on my phone. So I operate at either end of the spectrum.


👤 adamredwoods
I loved my Sony RX-100, it was small, super portable, and had a 1-inch sensor for great photos. The zoom started to fail, and the newer models are too expensive, and the older ones are hard to find on Ebay, so I switched.

When I don't use my Android camera (which takes terrible photos), I use the Canon M200, usually for hiking, trips, or events. It takes excellent, printable photos. I bought a leather case off Amazon. I transfer to the computer using the SD card. Fast and simple.


👤 GianFabien
It depends on the circumstances. For ad-hoc, impromptu pix, the smartphone is great, except when it isn't, e.g. wanting more telephoto reach. The pro modes are reasonably capable.

When traveling and expecting to shoot landscapes, a compact with 5x zoom. If shooting in studio, then DSLR with prime lenses.

I used to shoot 35mm film, so I still spend time with framing, composition, vantage point, etc; then shoot. I find it easier to get the pix right instead of needing to fine tune on a computer.


👤 adamhp
Sony A7III here. Been very satisfied.

I've heard nothing but love for the Fuji cameras, especially with regards to color science.

Ultimately it depends on what you want to shoot.


👤 magriz
I have a Fuji X-T2 with a couple of lenses, it is a couple years old but I feel with its features it is the perfect photographers camera.

There are some "pancake" lenses available, which when paired with these older models (also the X-T30 or some other smaller mirrorless) works out to be similar to the X100 lineup


👤 amerkhalid
iPhone 12 mini, GoPro Hero8, and x100f.

Mostly, iPhone camera, works great almost always with me.

But phones are addicting and distracting. Lately, at home, I have been carrying my GoPro with me and using that a lot more. It is especially great for making videos, stabilization is better in GoPro. Photo quality is lower though. At home, I am mostly interested in capturing moments with my kids, quality is not that important.

And my favorite camera is x100f. It is absolute joy to use. It is like driving Ferrari vs Outback. Both cars will get you there, but one is not about getting there. It is about enjoying the process.

I take it out once or twice a week, and use it on special occasions. Sometimes, I use it for kids photos and sometimes, I am just playing with it, taking random photos, at home or on walks/hiking.

I highly recommend Fuji x100 series.


👤 h2odragon
Olympus e3 with the big f/2 telephoto lens. I am hooked on that lens, it sees almost as well as I do. I may have missed the chance to buy another, newer body to put behind it, what will use a full size 4/3rd mount lens nowadays?

👤 speedgoose
I have a Fujifilm X100T in a drawer, it’s fun for a little time but a smartphone is a lot better in everything except the pictures with shallow depth of field. But it’s a bit cliché.

👤 PaulHoule
Sony alpha 7 v 2

New Nintendo 3DS (stereo)

Various tablets