Photography

Mirrorless camera recs for beginners?
 
x100F by fuji. It's kind of in a league of it's own. Not cheap by any means but a great camera that has manual dials and modes that can help you get a handle on exposure and metering.

Family/friends/travel

I recommend Olympus or Fuji. The x100f is great. I have one and love it. But it has one lens that cannot be changed and it doesn't zoom. It's an amazingly versatile camera for all that, but I think most casual friend/family/travel photographers want some zoom ability.

I'm not up on the entry level offerings right now, but the least expensive Olympus or Fuji will almost certainly be fine. Get it with the kit lens and that will cover 90% of your needs. Then if you want, get one more lens: a prime lens (meaning a single focal length) with an aperture whose lowest number is in the range of f/1.4 to f/2.8. Zoom lenses won't have apertures with numbers that low. Low numbers mean a wider aperture which means more light, low depth of field, and you can take those great portraits with your subject in focus and everything behind them blurred -- absolutely great for images of kids, lovers, etc.

Finally, Olympus and Fuji have different size sensors and that means (due to physics) the focal lengths on their lenses won't match up. For example, a 17mm Olympus lens is roughly the same as a 23mm Fuji. And 25mm Oly is approximately like a 35mm Fuji.* If you want a prime lens for portraits I suggest something between 25mm and 45mm for Oly and 35mm-60mm for Fuji

The one thing this lens combo (kit lens plus single prime) probably won't do is have a really strong telephoto zoom for distance. You won't be able to shoot 200-300 yards away and make it look close. But most people can live without that, plus those lenses tend to be bigger and heavier.

* There are also ways in which this is not true (again physics) but it works for the basic purpose of how much closer (or farther) away does the image make the subject appear.
 
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I recommend Olympus or Fuji. The x100f is great. I have one and love it. But it has one lens that cannot be changed and it doesn't zoom. It's an amazingly versatile camera for all that, but I think most casual friend/family/travel photographers want some zoom ability.

I'm not up on the entry level offerings right now, but the least expensive Olympus or Fuji will almost certainly be fine. Get it with the kit lens and that will cover 90% of your needs. Then if you want, get one more lens: a prime lens (meaning a single focal length) with an aperture whose lowest number is in the range of f/1.4 to f/2.8. Zoom lenses won't have apertures with numbers that low. Low numbers mean a wider aperture which means more light, low depth of field, and you can take those great portraits with your subject in focus and everything behind them blurred -- absolutely great for images of kids, lovers, etc.

Finally, Olympus and Fuji have different size sensors and that means (due to physics) the focal lengths on their lenses won't match up. For example, a 17mm Olympus lens is roughly the same as a 23mm Fuji. And 25mm Oly is approximately like a 35mm Fuji.* If you want a prime lens for portraits I suggest something between 25mm and 45mm for Oly and 35mm-60mm for Fuji

The one thing this lens combo (kit lens plus single prime) probably won't do is have a really strong telephoto zoom for distance. You won't be able to shoot 200-300 yards away and make it look close. But most people can live without that, plus those lenses tend to be bigger and heavier.

* There are also ways in which this is not true (again physics) but it works for the basic purpose of how much closer (or farther) away does the image make the subject appear.
Appreciate the detailed info, thought I had replied earlier.

Leaning towards the Fuji X-A5 at the moment, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
 
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Casco Bay, ME, between Peaks Island and Portland.
 
 

Good stuff mark.

I've been building my website for the last 10+ years haha. I wish I stuck with something and kept going. Along with at least 50k negatives my LR catalog is now reaching the same. I don't think I could even make selects now for a site. I'm kind of f'd. So this is my picture to share lol.
4D123CC7-470E-4245-9D50-035DC751CDB0.jpeg
 
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Good stuff mark.

I've been building my website for the last 10+ years haha. I wish I stuck with something and kept going. Along with at least 50k negatives my LR catalog is now reaching the same. I don't think I could even make selects now for a site. I'm kind of f'd. So this is my picture to share lol.View attachment 10432
I finally got started when an internet-semi-famous photographer asked other photographers to post their web link in the comments on his blog because he wanted to start a photographers twitter community. I had planned a site and kept putting it off. His post was my Sideburn #1 punk 'zine "now form a band" moment.
Don't wait for things to be perfect.
 
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For the photobugs, here is a link to an article the Athletic ran earlier this year on Peter Robinson, an English photographer who has spent his career photographing soccer. His work is original and terrific. I also include a link to his website.

I am trying to figure out how to acquire some of these for my office. Would rather do it above board and get him some compensation, but it isn't easy.



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Robinson is alive and has a website, which I expect you've found.

What I maybe can add is that the fact that he does not offer prints for sale probably means he either does not want to, or more likely he sold the rights to others. There are books and it might be that those entities control the rights, and they prefer to sell books rather than prints.

His rights disclaimer: "All images on this web site were made by Peter Robinson and all rights are reserved
Some images may be ©PA Images , so please contact Peter Robinson regarding reproduction /use rights"

I think your best bet is to email the contact email listed on his website and ask if and where you can buy prints. If that is not fruitful try PA Images at
 
Robinson is alive and has a website, which I expect you've found.

What I maybe can add is that the fact that he does not offer prints for sale probably means he either does not want to, or more likely he sold the rights to others. There are books and it might be that those entities control the rights, and they prefer to sell books rather than prints.

His rights disclaimer: "All images on this web site were made by Peter Robinson and all rights are reserved
Some images may be ©PA Images , so please contact Peter Robinson regarding reproduction /use rights"

I think your best bet is to email the contact email listed on his website and ask if and where you can buy prints. If that is not fruitful try PA Images at
Thanks for the good advice. I ended up searching for the image on Google and found it for sale on the Alamy website. Now I have to decide where to get it printed, size, etc., but it's skiing downhill from here.