Golden age of used digital cameras

It’s a great time to get into digital photography. When I originally picked up photography, it was an awkward transition time between film and digital. Digital SLR cameras were out, but they hadn’t quite reached the consumer level yet. I remember Canon releasing the first sub-$2000 DSLR, but it was still out of my budget. I wouldn’t see something approach my budget for another couple of years. The DSLRs that were out were prohibitively expensive for the amateur or enthusiast on a budget. The film SLRs were my only choice until something less expensive would come along.

Fast forward a few years and the first Canon digital Rebel was released. Only $1000 with a kit lens. Quite the price breakthrough back then. Other than the price, it was nothing to write home about either. It was slow, really slow to start up. I think it was around 4 seconds. You can fact check me, I won’t bother looking it up. I was able to experience it first hand. If you needed to catch an impromptu shot, you just left the camera on. Many people did, and carried extra batteries. It was common. That is how slow it was to start up. Six megapixels. Yep, that’s it. No video, no live view. Max 800 iso, or if you downloaded some Russian firmware, you could unlock features that were left out in software that were found on the prosumer version, the EOS 10D, like 1600 iso.

I spent a few years using this camera on and off. After a few years, I start to see the improvements being released in other cameras. Eventually, I started to eye the Nikon D300. Those 51 points of autofocus were incredible at the time. The new Sony cmos sensor seemed very capable as well. There was a lot to like there. Unfortunately, I was on a budget. I did see that the D90 was 90% of the D300. Unfortunately it was missing the number of autofocus points, but same sensor and large for the time 3″ 920k lcd screen on the back. With the savings over the D300, I could afford to get a fast zoom lens.

The Nikon D90 was a great camera. Yea, it’s missing a ton of features compared to today’s cameras. No face detection, or eye detection. The lightning fast autofocus we have in video now was non-existent, as was 1080p video, only 720p. Of course, back then, 720P and 1080i were the Defacto standard for the paltry amount of tv content that were in HD. YouTube barely existed and certainly wasn’t in HD yet.

Now, when I look at the used market for cameras, there are a ton of great options. So many people pass over these cameras because there are newer, shinier cameras. The advertising for the new products is so good, it makes us think we actually need these new features to take better photos. I can concede that some features make life a little easier and are cool. But the reality is that we don’t need most of them. We don’t even need to work that much harder to get the same results from older tech.

I’m not saying you need a Nikon D90 from 2008. But a lot of cameras and tech have been released since then. They are more modern at a fraction of the price of the current lineups. I think people have just become so accustomed to the current state of camera tech that they dismiss the slightly older DSLRs for being antiquated. People that are in the hobby or profession getting incremental updates and slowly moving their internal register of what is “normal” for a camera has made them blind to the fact that every camera is pretty amazing right now.

You see, I don’t have that issue. I was into photography from the late 90’s to about 2009. I stopped paying attention to the news. I didn’t buy any new equipment. I just rarely used the equipment I had, as smartphones completely took over for me. I had lost interest in the hobby for a myriad of reasons. The last cameras I really knew about were my D90, the D300, the Nikon D3 with a full frame sensor. Canon had just released the 5D II, Sony hadn’t even bought Minolta yet.

I remember how good these cameras were. They still take great pictures. The 5D both 1 & 2, the D3, these were cameras that I could not afford and lusted after. Now, I can pick these up for around $200! What about cameras that came out a little later? More improvements made to bring the some of the modern features inline. Common place is a 3″ screen with about a million pixel resolution. I don’t exactly know when high iso with minimal noise became common place, but I remember the Nikon D3 being special. It went with a full frame sensor and decided that a better image could be produced with a lower pixel count. I would agree. Their low light 6400 iso performance (at the time) was ground breaking. No one could touch that.

Now, we have cameras that perform similar that are being sold on the secondary markets. They’re 8+ years old and can be scooped up for pennies on the dollar. All the while, everyone in the game is oblivious to just how great these cameras are. They forgot where they came from, or were just never exposed to it. So many gen z and late millennials that never shot with film or early digital cameras. They are just used to the status quo being so high. They don’t even realize that they don’t need every bell and whistle to take a good picture. The advertising has worked.

The reality is that these slightly older DSLRs are a deal. They produce great images. They might not have video. The dynamic range might be a bit lower, but still great by any film comparison. Image quality is great, and resolution hasn’t improved the image quality much in the last 10 years. Find something with 12 megapixels or higher and it will give you enough crop-ability to edit your framing in post. Likely you’re looking at 16-20 megapixels for a 7-10 year old dslr.

It has never been a better time to be into photography on a budget. Not even considering the rampant inflation that is happening right now, the amount of camera that can be had for your dollar is incredible. The cost of film and processing has been soaring, but that’s another topic altogether.

If I were getting started. I’d pick up a 5D mark ii off Ebay for around $200. Look for a nifty fifty canon f/1.8 prime for $60’ish dollars. You can build out your kit with a couple other pieces of glass. Now you have a prosumer grade camera with 21.1MP and decent specs. You’re not getting face or eye detection, so you’ll need to learn how to use your camera’s autofocus. You won’t get video, but you’ll get fantastic pictures. You’ll get a full frame sensor to use with EF lenses that are plentiful and cheap. Especially since right now everyone is switching to mirrorless RF lenses.

It’s such a good place to start for less than $400. I’m envious of the position that first time photographers are in right now. Or just people on a budget. You have so many good options.

Need something even less, try the Nikon D90. It can be had for about $100. Pickup a used lens for another $100. It’s not full frame, but it’s still a great sensor. I still use mine from time to time and am considering getting it converted to IR photography. I’m no longer on the budget I used to be and needed modern video, but the D90 will go into rotation. Especially when I hear the phrase, “you must have a nice camera to take pictures like that”. That’s when I break out my 14 year old camera.

Of course, the current crop of cameras from the last 4 years are technologically better. Eye tracking on the latest Sony’s and Canon’s is really good. But, if you’re on a budget, and you only have a $3,000 (or less) to spend on a kit. I wouldn’t be spending it on a body and a cheap lens. Don’t get me wrong, $3k is a lot of coin. You might be thinking, “I don’t even have that.”. But even around $3k, you’re just getting started.

Let’s play this out. You have $3,000 dollars to spend. What do you get? You can find an Sony a7iii for around $1,400 used, body only. There goes half! Now you have $1,600 left. If you opt for Sony lenses, you already don’t have enough for any fast zoom. So let’s say you opt for the Sigma art series. Good glass, every bit as competent as the Sony G master. You save half by getting a 24-70mm f/2.8 for $1,100. Are you keeping track? You have $300 left. You don’t have a memory card yet, or any other accessories. No bag. No extra batteries. Tripod, nope. Do you get a cheap, used second lens, or do you buy an inexpensive bag, and maybe an extra battery, and an inexpensive tripod?

That went quick, right?!?

Maybe you’re thinking, “Hey, a used Canon RP is around $900-$1,000 on the used market!”. Yea, it is. Now do the lenses. RF glass is more expensive. However, you could get an EF to RF adapter for a couple hundred (if they’re not still backordered) and buy the cheaper EF glass. Totally a possibility. You might eek out a second lens from your budget. EF glass is definitely less. There’s so much of it. It’s in abundance and since many professionals and prosumers are upgrading to the latest mirrorless RF systems, they’ve flooded the market with EF glass. That EF glass with an adapter savings also extends to any EF native system too, without the adapter tax.

If you’re primarily using your camera for photos, and don’t need a dual use camera, I would suggest looking a few years back. Before diving into the classifieds, create a list of all the features you want the camera to have and how it benefits you. What I mean is, don’t just write down, “dual pixel autofocus”, as a feature you need. You had better be able to back it up with the benefit you get from the feature. If you don’t know, you don’t need it.

After you’ve written down each feature, go back through the list and start to define needs vs wants. Do you really need 12fps shooting? Are you a sports photographer? Do you need redundant memory card writing? Are you a professional that would lose time, money, clients, or possibly be sued for a corrupted memory card? No? These aren’t required features.

Prices are always changing, and this blog post will likely be out of date by the time google indexes it. But if you can define what you want out of your camera, your budget will go much farther. You’ll likely find that you don’t really care that you can shoot in 4k 120fps and you don’t need eye autofocus for animals (or maybe even humans). I can’t tell you what you’ll need or not need. You have to be honest with yourself.

What you’ll find is that you have a plethora of selection that is very capable. You will easily be able to pick up a camera with 16+ megapixels and a very decent dynamic range. Almost any [dslr] camera post 2010 will be technically sufficient to take nice photos with good control.

There is just so many good, cheap used cameras out there. It’s a blessing for people getting started in the hobby. Just to verify I wasn’t talking out of my ass, I searched Ebay. Found a Canon 6D for $649.99 buy it now, but accepts offers. At least less than $649.99, and that’s with a 17-40mm f/4 L series lens and a 50mm f/1.8 stm motor lens, plus some other goodies. We’re talking about this camera here DSLR | EOS 6D | Canon USA. Now, it’s dated by today’s standards. But it’s still very good, and can be had for a song.

I’m just super jealous of what is available to people in this price range. I had to drop $1000 for the 6.1 megapixel digital rebel with a kit lens. You’re getting a 6D full frame sensor, L series glass, and a nifty fifty stm lens for 65% of the price!

While writing this, I am reminded a bit of Ken Rockwell and his long running blog. Back in the early 2000’s when I was reading it, he was preaching the practicality of film and how much more you got for your money with film cameras. And back then, he was right. Film was cheap, processing was cheap, the cameras were cheap. Digital cameras were expensive at the time. Of course, that’s all changed by now, but the principal still holds up. Last year’s cameras are a bargain that are fully capable of being fantastic photography tools.

If you’re thinking of getting into photography or getting a camera with more control, before you buy new, take a look at the current used market. You may find getting a prosumer model that is 6 years old or more to be a much better bargain than buying the newest consumer camera. Or, getting an older consumer camera for half off and using your savings on lenses instead. The best part is, if you do decide to stay in the hobby and upgrade, you can always resell the older camera without much depreciation. The major depreciation period happened in the first couple years. Much like a car. Not so with a new model camera. You’ll take a big hit if you buy new or close to new when the camera was released and you try to resell it to upgrade.

Some quick suggestions that I’ve found were good deals.

• Nikon D3, D300, D800 (like this D800)
• Canon 5D series, 6D series
• Canon 60D, 70D, 80D each offering more as you move up the line of course.

This is of course not exhaustive it’s just from some quick Ebay searching under $700, even though most can be picked up for under $400. I don’t know the old Sony line very well after they bought Minolta, but there might be some good deals in there too. I would probably stick with Canon or Nikon just because of used lens availability, especially Canon EF.