/p/ - Photography » Thread #4490564

[46 / 3 / 1]

173KiB, 700x595, FrontRight-25472_D31-nTKbzTdc-large.png

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:10:03 No.4490564 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>4490574 >>4490576 >>4490703 >>4490706

I'm looking for my first real camera. I had no idea where to start so I had a look at the image properties of my wedding pictures (which I though were pretty great) to know what camera the photographer used.

Turns out he used NIKON D3100

Would this be a good choice for a first camera?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:13:28 No.4490565 Report

Quoted By: >>4490705

I googled this camera and supposedly it's not a professional camera. Maybe that photographer was a fraud and not a pro

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:14:57 No.4490566 Report

Quoted By: >>4490705

getting pretty upset thinking about it really, the pictures could maybe have been a lot better if better camera was used. OCD thoughts kicking in hard

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:28:44 No.4490573 Report

Quoted By: >>4490581 >>4490594 >>4490705

I asked chatgpt to recommend me a camera, considering I never had a real camera, but want a great one nonetheless.

It recommended:
Both the Nikon Z50 and Canon EOS M50 Mark II are exceptional choices for beginners aiming for professional-quality pictures. They offer great image quality, versatility, and the ability to grow with the photographer's skills.

I wonder if this is actually good advice or worthless ai slop?...

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:28:53 No.4490574 Report

Quoted By: >>4490575

>>4490564
It's stupid to have fomo over image quality if you already really like the pictures.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:30:31 No.4490575 Report

Quoted By: >>4490616

>>4490574
Do you have an opinion on that specific camera though? Is it good? Maybe I will get it

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:31:04 No.4490576 Report

Quoted By: >>4490577

>>4490564
It is shit. The controls are shit. Everything stinks.

If you want to spend very little money with Nikon, just to learn the basics.
Get the Nikon D200 + 35mm f1.8 and 50mm 1.8 + 24mm AI lens. Also buy a bounce flash.

This should be very cheap.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:32:40 No.4490577 Report

Quoted By: >>4490616

>>4490576
I would say my budget is about 2000 Euros (including my first lense), not sure what that could get me. I am also open to second hand cameras

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:34:38 No.4490578 Report

Quoted By:

Nikon D750 ?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:37:07 No.4490579 Report

Quoted By:

Nikon D780

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Screenshot From 2025-12-27 18-43 (...).png, 184KiB, 1179x915

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 17:43:59 No.4490581 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490573
it gives wildly volatile answers to pretty much the same question asked twice. now it told me this

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 2014-365-233_The_Basic_Brownie_C (...).jpg, 4MiB, 4980x3320

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 18:01:44 No.4490587 Report

Quoted By: >>4490599 >>4490644

>the camera is what makes a good photographer
you are never going to make it
>BUT BUT BUT
Yeah you queers, better equipment make your life easier but its not the defining factor

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 18:26:13 No.4490594 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490573
Canon M50 mk II is a good choice, it's very easy to learn the basics with it, it's small and capable. They stopped making more lenses for this lens mount system (EOS M) so you cannot fall too far into the gearfag spiral. You could get the camera and a lens or few used for like 500-600 euros.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 18:35:26 No.4490598 Report

Quoted By: >>4490637

cheapest full frame mirrorless (Nikon z5 / Canon RP / Sony A7iii etc..) + 50mm 1.8 + tripod

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 18:35:50 No.4490599 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490587
If you think about what makes art's worth:
1) the initial impact you
2) the artist and the story/setting of the artwork
3) any special techniques

No one looking at your photos should care about your gear, unless you used a pinhole camera or some other weird technique

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 19:53:12 No.4490616 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490575
Pretty much any APS-C (this is the sensor size) DSLR from around the same era will be the same as any other APS-C DSLR from the same era. You can probably just get any that you can find for cheap, Canon or Nikon, from facebook marketplace or craigslist and it will effectively the same. Maybe the ISO performance and autofocus will be a little faster on newer models, but that's it. You should understand that most APS-C models are made to be "upgrade bait" in that the companies make them intentionally gimped to tempt you into upgrading. This doesn't mean they don't take good photos, but just something to keep in mind.

>>4490577
That's heaps. Instead, just get a 5D mark II used, and a 50mm f/1.8 lens. That will get no way near your budget and will be better in literally every way than a Nikon D3100.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 22:00:30 No.4490637 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490598
thanks brosef

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 22:02:07 No.4490638 Report

Quoted By:

Sony A7 IV + FE 50mm f/1.8 for 2.149 eurobux

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 27 Dec 2025 22:25:40 No.4490644 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490587
stick to the topic of discussion

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 02:41:14 No.4490703 Report

Quoted By: >>4490704

>>4490564
LMAO. What'd you pay the 'photographer'?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 03:06:17 No.4490704 Report

Quoted By: >>4490707

>>4490703
3100 dollars.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 03:42:12 No.4490705 Report

Quoted By: >>4490708 >>4490736

>>4490565
>>4490566
>>4490573
>guys these photos looked good but then I found out the photographer used [gear], and now I think they look like shit.
You fit into /p/ very nicely in the worst way possible.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 03:43:42 No.4490706 Report

Quoted By: >>4490737 >>4490759

>>4490564
How much did they charge?
That's the most basic entry level that Nikon offered, and released 16 years ago

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 03:44:43 No.4490707 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490704
You got ripped off lol

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 03:45:44 No.4490708 Report

Quoted By: >>4490736

>>4490705
For all we know they are genuinely mediocre photos and OP just also has no idea what makes a good photo

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 07:45:02 No.4490736 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490705
>>4490708
Yes and yes

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 07:46:53 No.4490737 Report

Quoted By: >>4490759 >>4490763 >>4490771 >>4490775

>>4490706
Not sure, my sister in law gifted it to us. She uses that guy a lot apparently. I would say he seems quite skilled/experienced looking at the pics of the wedding and children's birthdays etc that I've seen. Maybe the camera is shit but he uses good lenses?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 12:22:37 No.4490759 Report

Quoted By: >>4490763 >>4490764

>>4490706
>>4490737
I'll take a good photographer with basic gear over a professional photographer with 100k worth of gear and zero artistic sense every time.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 13:44:30 No.4490763 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490737
No serious or "good" photographer would choose a D3100 for weddings, and it's honestly irresponsible from a business perspective
You can absolutely get great pictures from it, but it's a terrible choice for wedding work and indicative of someone very inexperienced and/or bad
>>4490759
I would take someone at least competent to shoot my wedding
You're absolutely right the pictures are what matter, which is why using the right gear for the job matters
It's nothing to do with fancy or expensive or new gear, there are plenty of cheap and old options that would be much better for a wedding

Seeing examples of their work would be interesting

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 13:46:07 No.4490764 Report

Quoted By: >>4490774 >>4490783

>>4490759
Would you be happy if your photographer lost all your wedding images to a card failure? Or their camera breaks mid-weddng and they shoot the rest on their phone or something?

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:13:29 No.4490771 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490737
The camera is good, the benefits of higher end crop models are convenience things like a swivel screen, more dials, compatibility with screw drive lenses or an electronic rangefinder to name a few. Only going higher res full frame there's a potential to get better imagem quality, and that potential may well go unrealized.

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:17:21 No.4490774 Report

Quoted By: >>4490777 >>4490778

>>4490764
Twin cards are a recent thing and having one card fail mid shoot is rare. The redundancy protects you against the card but not against the camera itself. Two single card bodies would unironically offer more protection.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:18:36 No.4490775 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490737
You should share some of their work here, obviously not the ones of your stuff
Would be pretty easy to see how good / bad they are from a few pictures

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:20:18 No.4490777 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490774
>I don't take photos so I have to talk out my ass instead
True

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:21:57 No.4490778 Report

Quoted By: >>4490790

>>4490774
>It's okay if lost all my wedding photos due to my photographers incompetence
Most people would have a problem with that, but it seems you'd rather run defense for shooting weddings with a D3100

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:26:38 No.4490783 Report

Quoted By: >>4490785 >>4490787

>>4490764
Even with a phone camera, so long as it's reasonably good by smartphone standards, I'll most likely have a decent number of nice photos. If the photographer doesn't have any artistic sense, there's a good chance that I'll end up with hundreds of poorly composed and framed photos that have local contrast cranked up to the moon. No amount of pixels is gonna save that.
>but then you can't make 80" prints
I won't be making 80" prints in the latter case either.
A better camera makes it easier to take better photos, but it's not a substitute for skill.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:29:08 No.4490785 Report

Quoted By: >>4490790 >>4490792

>>4490783
Explains why so many professional photographers just use their phone now
> pixels
lol
>print size straw man
lol

If their work is so artistic, you should share some with us so we can learn from them

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:33:43 No.4490787 Report

Quoted By: >>4490792

>>4490783
>A better camera makes it easier to take better photos, but it's not a substitute for skill.
Buy no one with actual skills is shooting weddings with a D3100 though

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:39:03 No.4490790 Report

Quoted By: >>4490793

>>4490778
Surely for a photographer he'd lose more than photos, he could lose his career. Word of mouth is ruthless. Dual cards are a marketing gimmick for the most card.
>>4490785
It's a growing trend to have guests upload photos via some qr code.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:40:55 No.4490792 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490785
I'm not OP, and I'm not claiming that phone photographers must have good artistic sense. It's certainly not optimal to use a phone.
All I'm saying is that being on the same page regarding what sort of photos they take is worth more than what sort of gear they use.
>>4490787
There aren't many people with actual skills who wish to make living as a wedding photographer.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:42:25 No.4490793 Report

Quoted By: >>4490795

>>4490790
>word of mouth is ruthless
>this easy to avoid mistake could be career ending
>but also avoiding it is just marketing
and
>people use phones for pictures too
True

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:45:05 No.4490795 Report

Quoted By: >>4490797

>>4490793
It's just marketing because if your cards are reasonably fresh then the risk is virtually zero on the card side, and on the camera side if it bricks one it bricks two. Just cycle cards along the event if you're so worried.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:46:15 No.4490797 Report

Quoted By: >>4490799 >>4490812

>>4490795
>it's not an issue because you can swap cards and only lose half the days images, no biggie
You sure sound like a pro

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE

cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE Sun 28 Dec 2025 14:51:26 No.4490799 Report

Quoted By: >>4490810

>>4490797
>it's an issue because even if it guarantees nothing the shills told me it'd prevent me from losing everything
It's a game of odds and dual card barely slants them in your favor at all, as opposed to the other alternatives I mentioned

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 15:19:58 No.4490810 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490799
>again, it's totally fine if you only lose half your images
Very convincing

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 28 Dec 2025 15:21:34 No.4490812 Report

Quoted By:

>>4490797
It's extremely unlikely that you'll irrecoverably loose photos on one card but not on the other. What's WAY likelier is that you'll just no longer be able to write to the card and you'll maybe loose a couple photos that are stuck in the buffer. Dual cards don't even necessarily save you from that, I've had D750 get stuck on card write error instead of dynamically switching the the backup card, as it would've if it was an actual safety feature and not a marketing gimmick.

Capcode	All Only User Posts Only Verified Posts Only Moderator Posts Only Manager Posts Only Admin Posts Only Developer Posts Only Founder Posts
Show Posts	All Only With Images Only Without Images Only Spoiler Images Only Non-Spoiler Images
Deleted Posts	All Only Deleted Posts Only Non-Deleted Posts
Ghost Posts	All Only Ghost Posts Only Non-Ghost Posts
Post Type	All Only Sticky Threads Only Opening Posts Only Reply Posts
Results	All Grouped By Threads
Order	Latest Posts First Oldest Posts First

On these archives

Your latest searches