Hey everyone, I’m new to photography and wondering how much people spend on lenses compared to the camera body they’re mounted on? Does it make sense to buy a higher end lens for a mid range camera, or would you be better off getting a slightly cheaper lens and spending some of the money on a nicer camera? Mainly wondering about used gear…
Currently shooting with my SO’s D3500 when she isn’t using it, and thinking of buying my own. Considering a used Pentax since weather resistant lenses seem easier to find for them than other brands…
Edit: how practical is it to use a Pentax lens on a Nikon with an adapter, and vice versa? I assume the electronics like AF and VR won’t work?
Thanks for the response. I was leaning towards a DSLR because it seems like the used market is a lot stronger than mirrorless, which I assume means cheaper gear. Does that make sense, or would you still recommend a mirrorless? I already mentioned this in another post, but most of my shooting has been nature/wildlife, so better low light performance might be nice. And autofocus seems almost required for shooting wildlife, but I’ll keep my eyes open for a nice (and cheap) MF prime for landscape shots.
Well, I wouldn’t say that one market is inherently stronger than the other. You can also buy a mirrorless camera for the price of one Pentax K70. Again, it just depends what’s better for your use case. If you only do wildlife photography and nothing else, a DSLR is the better choice because you get better autofocus for cheaper. But instead of a Pentax K70, I’d actually recommend the Nikon D7100. It was basically Nikon’s semi-professional offering, and the camera is great to this day. Also, Nikon’s product line for wildlife photography is just way better. An additional plus being that the Nikon Bayonet is the most supported bayonet for adapting. Since even with lenses that do not have an aperture ring, you can control the aperture on the adapter if you wish to adapt it to a mirrorless camera, for example. The D7100 also supports Nikon’s slightly older AF-D lenses. This just means the autofocus motor is inside the camera. That just means you sacrifice focus speed for cheaper wildlife lenses. Beyond the lookout for some AF-D Nikon glass. If you’re deterred because it’s older, look at few comments down. I had a conversation with a guy that basically recapitulates both perspectives.
Some level of weatherproofing in the camera and lens is a hard requirement for me, and I’m seeing a lot more options for Pentax lenses. But there’s a good chance I’m just not looking for the right thing… Is there a weatherproof super telephoto DX mount lens for under $600? I’m finding Pentax lenses for around $200. Mainly looking at used gear, BTW.
Edit: also, by “stronger market” I meant more supply, which would push prices down. In hindsight that wasn’t very clear…
Firstly, the Nikon cameras just use one mount, the so-called Nikon F mount. You can mount any sort of lens to a DX camera. I usually buy lenses from eBay, so that’s where I checked. I cannot talk about weather-proofing because I have no experience with it. I keep my stuff out of the rain. Maybe think about Buying a cloak in olive green or something that blends in with the natural environment to throw over yourself because it will cloak you and protect the camera and the lens from rain.
I think one of those three should meet your criteria.