The price to performance of used cameras is absurd. My view is that digital photography tech hit maturity in 2008 with the release of the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D700.
There is an overwhelming amount of professional gear out there at rock bottom prices. Consumer gear can be a blast when it’s cheap enough. The right camera for a style of shooting is going to be better than whatever the newest camera happens to be. (Unless you’re doing sports/action/wildlife. AF tech is getting absurd.)
Third Party Battery Paranoia
I have had batteries fall apart, fail within months, and with a capacity far below what’s on the label. It’s difficult to find good quality third party batteries.
There is an easy way ANYONE can inexpensively capacity test camera batteries. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to capacity test camera batteries. It is a simple DIY project that only requires, ~$30, a screwdriver, and pair of wire strippers.
Picking Out Vintage Lens Winners
All lenses aren’t equal, especially when it comes to vintage and early digital camera lenses. Modern lenses will give you images that are razor sharp corner to corner. Vintage lenses can set themselves apart by how they render, the color you can get with them, interesting bokeh, or other characteristics not valued by current photographers.
On the other hand, many vintage lenses are not good. Their performance may not be good enough to set them apart from other lenses. Worse, as time has gone on some lenses have defects such as haze, fungus, balsam separation, or degraded grease, that will render them worthless because of the difficulty in repair.
I’m somewhat indiscriminate in my purchasing of gear, so I get a mix of good, bad, and average. The lens reviews will help you find a lens worth owning. These are popular film cameras that recieve frequent lens questions.
SDXC, SDHC, and SD memory cards are compatible with the Nikon D750. For video and burst shooting, it is crucial the SD memory card you use can write data fast enough.
You can reduce the overall performance of your camera by using the wrong memory card.
Want to skip the technical details? Here’s my recommendation on the memory card to use with the Nikon D750:
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The Nikon D80 can use SD memory cards. The maximum capacity SD card that will work in the D80 is 32GB.
SD memory cards that satisfy the SDXC or SDUC standards will not function properly in the D80. These cards will be At least 64GB or bigger, so they are simple to avoid.
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The Nikon D800 can use 2 different kinds of memory cards.
Using both memory card slots can provide some advantages, but the D800 will function with just one memory card.
SD cards are cheaper than CompactFlash cards.
The Nikon D800 is able to use SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards.
Burst shooting and video need SD memory cards with high write speeds.
If you’re in a rush, here’s the best card you can buy for the Nikon D800:
The Nikon D810 can use two different kinds of memory cards.
There are benefits to using both card slots, but the D810 will operate with just one card slot being used.
SD cards are less expensive than CF cards.
SDXC, SDHC, and SD memory cards can be put to use in the Nikon D810.
For video and burst shooting, it is crucial the card you use has a fast enough write speed.
The Sony A7 is able to use two different kinds of memory cards. SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards can be used as well as Sony PRO Duo, PRO-HG Duo, and XC-HG Duo cards.
The camera only has a single memory card slot. You will need to choose between a PRO Duo or SD card.
Sony created and owns the PRO Duo format. SD cards have had a wider adoption that PRO Duo cards because SD memory cards are appreciably faster as well as being more affordable.
Two different kinds of memory cards can be used in the Sony A7II. SDXC, SDHC, and SD cards can be used in addition to Sony XC-HG Duo, PRO-HG Duo, and PRO Duo cards.
Only a single card can be in the slot at a time. You’ll have to choose between an SD or PRO Duo memory card.
PRO Duo cards are a proprietary format that is owned by Sony. Because of this, SD memory cards are more affordable and can offer better performance than PRO Duo memory cards.
