Newbie camera question

[Babber101]

Hi all

Fancy starting to mess around with some street photography

I like the look and feel of bokeh/blurred people moving through urban areas so want to play around with slow shutter speeds and larger apertures

In typical middle aged dad fashion - this may be a 5 minute wonder so don’t want to spend much, looking at 2nd hand on eBay to get me going

Anyone recommend a digital camera that allows you to adjust to slow shutter speeds and wide apertures as standard without need for additional lenses?

Thanks

[David_M]

The slow shutter speed part, almost anything beyond a basic pocket camera will do, larger apertures are a bit rarer.

Here's a recent recommendation of a pocketable camera https://www.dpreview.com/articles/6313749872/best-... that has had a great reputation for a while.

Close in size to that is something like a micro 4/3 camera with a pancake prime lens (20mm) on it, and if you keep on then it has more potential to grow.

Used will save you a lot of money, especially if you go for something a few years old rather than the latest and greatest thing. Park Cameras sells used kit and I have bought multiple items from them that have all been essentially perfect.

[tog]

Almost any camera should be able to let you do that. However you won't get really wide apertures with standard kit zoom lenses so you'd need to find a cheap 35 or 50mm prime or similar.

Bear in mind that if you want wide apertures and long exposures in the same pictures then that is tricky, since to force a long exposure you would usually need a narrower aperture. You could use an ND filter to reduce the light, but stopping down is the more usually way. If you have a narrow depth of field and subject blur then before you know it you have nothing sharp at all!

[craig1912]

What’s you budget? I’d just get a compact l8ke a Sony RX-100 Mk- whatever suits your budget

Edited by craig1912 on Saturday 9th December 22:20

[Whoozit]

As the replies suggest, you've asked a deceptively complicated question

Simple answer is, set a budget and find a second hand, main-brand full frame DSLR with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. It's what nearly everybody from the 60s until recently learned on.

[Turtle Shed]

Whoozit said:

As the replies suggest, you've asked a deceptively complicated question

Simple answer is, set a budget and find a second hand, main-brand full frame DSLR with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. It's what nearly everybody from the 60s until recently learned on.

Yep, exactly this.

I'd go for a Nikon D700 and the 50mm f1.8 AF-D, or the AF-S version for a few quid more.

Still one of the greatest DSLRs ever made, and one which I have just recently added back into my kit. There is just something quite exquisite about them.

[Simpo Two]

Turtle Shed said:

I'd go for a Nikon D700 and the 50mm f1.8 AF-D, or the AF-S version for a few quid more.

Still one of the greatest DSLRs ever made, and one which I have just recently added back into my kit. There is just something quite exquisite about them.

My thought is almost the same, but you'll still get shallow DOF with f1.8 on a DX (1.5x crop) sensor, so the OP could consider one of the many s/h Nikon DX bodies which will be cheaper than a D700. Also smaller to stuff under your coat if that's a factor.

[Steve_H80]

As everyone is saying, buy a used DSLR, go for a known make (Nikon, Canon etc) for both quality and a bigger choice of used lenses.
Any camera made in the last 10 years will cover what you need, don't get hung up on mega-pixels, anything over 10 is plenty. In addition to a fast 50mm f1.8 lens also look for a couple of zoom lenses, you'll pick up a 28-70 and 70-200 for peanuts which will cover everything.
If you get into the game you can then start spending big money.

Edited by Steve_H80 on Monday 11th December 11:06