Choosing a camera setup
My thought process to choosing a camera setup with a budget of £1700 for body and a single versatile lens.
Initially when I first started looking at cameras I compiled an Excel sheet (yes I do this alot)
Deciding on the features I wanted was fairly easy not having any requirements that only one brand could offer so I started out by discarding all the cameras that weren't weather sealed, didn't have In-Body-Stabilisation (IBIS) and had a 1" sensor (looking at you RX100).
Next I took out any where the body alone would cost more than £1100.
My criteria was as follows:
- Weather Sealing
- >1" Sensor (RX100)
- Cost of body <£1100
- Interchangeable lens (X100V)
- In Body Stabilisation (IBIS)
- Weren't massive (Pentax LP & K-70)
After filtering out those cameras that didn't meet the criteria I was left with six bodies.
- Sony A7C
- Fujifilm X-T4
- Sony A6600
- Sony A7III
- Nikon Z6
- Nikon Z5
I decided against the Nikon cameras for reasons I can't really put into words, I think I was put off by some of things I was reading online but nothing definitive.
Then it became the Sony trio against the Fujifilm X-T4. I eventually decided and with the urging of some kind folk on /r/Cameras to always pick the A7III over the A7C.
And the X-T4 was clearly the better APS-C camera over the A6600 so then it became a decision of whether full frame was wanted (as it definitely wasn't needed) and cost.
I ended up breaking down the costs and weight of various body/lens combinations to compare them. Weight was relatively important as I'll be cycling with this setup but as you'll see the differences were around 200g and not big enough to worry about.
| Body\Lens | Sony 16-55 | Tamron 17-70 | Tamron 28-200 | Tamron 28-75 | Fuji 16-55 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A6600 | £1670 | £1675 | |||
| A6400 | £1380 | ||||
| A7C | £1765 | £1835 | |||
| A7III | £1720 | £1790 | |||
| X-T4 | £1650 |
| Body\Lens | Sony 16-55 | Tamron 17-70 | Tamron 28-200 | Tamron 28-75 | Fuji 16-55 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A6600 | 997g | 1028g | |||
| A6400 | 928g | ||||
| A7C | 1085g | 1059g | |||
| A7III | 1226g | 1200g | |||
| X-T4 | 1262g |
I included the A7C and A6400 just for comparisons sake.
I eventually decided that as I was buying either gray-market or second-hand that I'd wait and get whichever went on sale first.
Luckily for me about a week later I found on eBay the Fuji X-T4, XF 16-55mm f/2.8 lens and a bunch of extras like camera bag and tripod for £1750.
So I jumped on that deal and went and picked up camera today - first impressions are great and I hope you'll start seeing some photos posted here shortly!
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