Cameras and lenses list by price from Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Sony, Panasonic, Leica, and Pentax — Buying is the fun part.

We’re In the Golden Age of Digital Photography

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.

Budget Friendly Canon Rebel T1i Lenses for Photography

Nathaniel Stephan published on 2024-10-08

The Canon EOS Rebel T1i (Canon EOS 500D) was designed to use EF-S lenses. EF lenses, for full frame cameras, can also be used. The downside is that these tend to be larger and more expensive than EF-S lenses. Used Rebel T1i bodies can be found for less than $100. I’m not going to recommend expensive lenses because they should also include an upgrade. My recommendations are going to be focused small, light, inexpensive, and fun lenses.

Compatible Nikon D3400 memory card options include SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards. Fast SD cards will be the best memory cards for the D3400.

The Best Price to Performance Nikon D3400 SD Memory Cards for Photos and Video

Nathaniel Stephan published on 2024-10-08

The Nikon D3400 uses SD memory cards. It is compatible with memory cards up to 2TB in capacity. In order to record video, get a card with a Class 10 speed rating. I suggest getting a card with UHS-I, as those cards are way faster than Class 10. They will have compatibility with as many cameras and devices as possible. A 64GB SD card will be plenty of storage for most needs.

32GB Max - Canon Rebel T1i SD Memory Card Compatibility

Nathaniel Stephan published on 2024-10-07

The Canon T1i uses SD memory cards. It can use cards with up to a 32GB capacity. If you try to use a card with a storage capacity of 64GB or larger, the T1i will have an error. The card will not work in the camera. This is because the T1i is only compatible with the SD and SDHC standards. It does not have the hardware required to use the newer SDXC standard that larger cards use.

You're not going to be able to enjoy the Canon Rebel T3i (Canon EOS 600D) without a lens. Budget friendly prime and zoom lenses for all types of photography are covered.

Affordable Canon Rebel T3i Lenses for Photos and Video

Nathaniel Stephan published on 2024-10-07

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i (Canon EOS 600D) was designed to use EF-S lenses. EF lenses, for full frame cameras, can also be used. The downside is that these tend to be larger and more expensive than EF-S lenses. Used Rebel T3i bodies can be found for less than $100. I’m not going to recommend expensive lenses because they should also include an upgrade. My recommendations are going to be focused small, light, inexpensive, and fun lenses.

You're not going to be able to enjoy the Canon Rebel XT (Canon EOS 350D) without a lens. Budget friendly prime and zoom lenses for all types of photography are covered.

Budget Friendly Canon Digital Rebel XT Lenses for Photography

Nathaniel Stephan published on 2024-10-07

The Canon EOS Rebel XT (Canon EOS 350D) was designed to use EF-S lenses. EF lenses, for full frame cameras, can also be used. The downside is that these tend to be larger and more expensive than EF-S lenses. Used Rebel XT bodies can be found for less than $100. I’m not going to recommend expensive lenses because they should also include an upgrade. My recommendations are going to be focused small, light, inexpensive, and fun lenses.

The Nikon D3200, an entry-level DSLR, truly excels when paired with an array of high-quality lenses including prime, zoom, and macro lenses, notably the AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G, the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR, and the AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR.

A Guide to Fun Affordable Lenses for the Nikon D3200

Nathaniel Stephan published on 2024-10-05

The D3200, and other cameras in that series sold millions of units. Everyone stuck with the kit lenses. People that bought these cameras did not buy more lenses. Nikon didn’t produce a large variety of DX lenses, which were designed for APS-C cameras. This was also done to push hobbyists into the more expensive full frame (FX) lenses and camera bodies. F-mount lens compatibility is a mess. Not even all DX lenses are compatible with the D3200.