I’ve seen those orange ones, but was never much of a fan. The demonstrators are beautiful though. There’s nothing quite like seeing a beautiful ink sloshing around inside.

Sometimes it’s much more fun when you just don’t interact and they seeth from the lack of attention. Can’t be you against the world when the world walks away.

I slept on the kaweco sport, but when I finally got one, it quickly became my everyday. I got a transparent body and fill the body directly with ink like an oil tanker ready to defile the ocean within my pocket, then lube the threads with petroleum jelly. Not a single leak.

Iconic style, affordable, ink lasts forever, one of the most reliable, smoothest gold bibs came with it, and it’s comfortable to write with. I love that pen and wish I had as many chances to use it these days as I did in the past. Unfortunately, my writing at work is almost entirely digital now.

It happens constantly in the US too.

They teach us about roundabouts in driver’s education or at least the written tests to get a license. Most of us just shouldn’t be allowed to drive without additional training at this point. Laws are suggestions and when the car can’t go straight and fast without inhibition, it breaks our brains.

a huge fucking war next door, hybrid attacks and a noticeable uptick in espionage.

Thanks, Democrats!

And today we were reminded that it’s actually happening - our most important ally is now led by a maniac.

…our most important ally is now has always been led by maniacs.

We’re trading one ghoul for another. Even if you think it will get worse and don’t think the Dems will deserve credit for what happens alongside the Republicans, never forget that it was the Democrats who made this possible. They could stop these things, but they don’t. They don’t even throw themselves in front of it as a speed bump.

The real world is wild enough without fantasy.

I think the sigma lens is worth the price, but no, the more you spend the more the returns are diminishing. The photos won’t be 5x better. The photos taken will depend a lot more on your skills than the equipment and may even be worse than a phone at first.

Eventually, they will be much better than a phone! An improved lens will generally give better clarity and color over a lower quality lens.

I think both of those lenses are fine, but if the price isn’t very different, I’d probably pick the one with IS so I have the option.

If you are really worried about needing IS, I suggest reading this article from B&H. B&H is also a good online retailer. 99% of the time I shoot in low light, I use a tripod, so image stabilization isn’t necessary and can be detrimental. Have I tried shooting at low shutter speeds with longer lenses in the dark? Yes, but I always bring a tripod in the evening or for indoor portraits now. It’s not likely you’ll be able to hold the camera anywhere near steady enough in those situations, so you’ll either want to mount it or set it down and set a timer.

Like I said, it’s easy to get caught up in feeling the need to buy bigger and better equipment, but if you haven’t touched it, you don’t really know what you need. You need to get your hands on a camera and go shoot first. If you know someone you can borrow one from or if you can rent one for very cheap, it could be worth trying that first.

End of the day, we are considering an entry-level camera for a budget of $600. There are always exceptions that will allow you to go outside that budget and get more/better features, but if you buy big and don’t use it, that’s just more money spent for no gain.

My first camera was a Canon 70D at $1300. That’s a high entry point, but I feel like it was a great purchase at the time. I made that decision after handling a DSLRs for 10 years because my dad always had them. One of those was a Canon 10D handed down to me that I shot on until buying the 70D, the other was a Canon 5D mark III. I was lucky to have access to those, but they were too much camera for me at first.

Before you go spending a whole bunch, commit to a budget that you will not abandon no matter what shiny thing you see (there are infinite shiny things, I know) and get your hands on something you can shoot with. You’re overthinking things at this stage.

Canon R50 is good at $600. Canon R10 is better at $1000. Sony A6100 is good at $800. Sony A6400 is better at $1000. Fujifilm X-T30 II is good for $1000.

You can find even better (though older) cameras (particularly DSLRs) for sale second-hand from people looking to upgrade. Don’t expect lenses this route because people tend to keep them, but a friend of mine just sold a Canon 5D mark III body for only $300. That’s a lot of camera for the price.

Don’t worry about lenses just yet, get your hands on a camera and shoot with the stock kit to see what you actually need. You may even be happy with the stock kit for now. Experts will push and push and push better equipment, but that’s because they are working at a higher level and marginal gains or quality of life improvements are worth it when your work is photography. When you are starting as a hobbyist, as a beginner, those things are mostly distractions.

The only ones missing IS are the 50mm and 28mm prime lenses, right? You may be able to find a higher end version of each of those with IS, but I included them as budget alternatives to the 35mm, which does have IS. Those two are only for if you don’t like the lens that comes on the camera and want something short other than the 35mm.

Whether it’s important to have IS really depends on the conditions you are shooting in and it’s not usually a priority of short, prime lenses. I guess it’s possible you could run into those, but it’s more likely in low light scenarios with slow shutter speeds. If you are shooting in those conditions, you probably want a tripod, so you wouldn’t need the image stabilization. It’s usually more important on larger lenses.

Good to be thinking about these things when you get to buying one though.

Something I didn’t mention before, you don’t have to stick to canon lenses, you just may need an adapter. Sticking to canon made it easier for me to find lenses that would fit the R50.

I’d shoot with the stock lens for a bit before you decide (maybe a month? 5+ sessions of whatever you mainly feel like shooting). Get a feel for the camera and what you like shooting or things you want, but can’t do. If they have a decent return policy, you may be able to swap out after trying it if you find you don’t like that model. I doubt it, but that’s just a guess.

Take note of what you like or struggle with, then return to that original list of lenses I posted to see if any of those could fill a gap. There were some smaller lenses and a couple larger ones for ~$500-600 that are good choices. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket, look to set aside up to $1300 while you work with the base setup in anticipation. It’s very easy to get trapped in spending money on equipment before you actually need it. Learning how to use the basics outside of auto settings, framing shots, and your style is more important at first than equipment.

That said, it’s probably worth it to get at least 1 extra battery or a power bank and an extra memory card within those first few shoots. Probably ~$100 total at most. See if you are running close to using all of the battery or filling the card in those sessions.

Session 1, start out with using auto settings (flash off), try out A or AV (aperture priority, the marking varies by camera) and read around about the basics of photography to get a feel for what settings do. Aperture looks like f/#.# (f/4.8 or f 4.8). Larger numbers typically mean more things are going to be in focus and smaller typically means less things will be in focus. There’s more to it than that, but it’s a good place to start understanding the setting.

Unless you found a good deal on the R10, it’s twice your budget ($1200-1300). While it improves upon the R50, those improvements don’t justify the R10 over other options for the same price:

• R50 + lens ($600 + $500)

or

• A full frame camera like a Canon 70D (mirror) with a two lens package ($1200-1300)

I’m not familiar with Fujifilm cameras, but if you apply the logic in my first comment and look up various reviews, you’ll get a sense for it. This also looks above the budget ($800 w/o lens).

Remember: your money is better spent on good lenses than fancier bodies. If you are wanting to look at different bodies, you don’t need to limit it to mirrorless. The main benefits of mirrorless that you see now is a smaller sized body. One limitation I hit without it is not getting to see what I’m shooting as easily while framing astrophotography (I see after the shot and adjust, but it has only been a limitation in that one instance).

Editing is 100% optional. Like I said, you can even shoot in jpeg. Most editing I do is minimal fixes to lighting and cropping/straightening to what intended to shoot. Completely optional.

If you want something smaller/simpler, there’s nothing wrong with that. I also use a Ricoh GR II that I can carry in my pocket (these are an old model now). It’s a point-and-shoot and many of the settings I talk about being on the Canon R50 are also on the smaller point and shoot cameras, including a Fuji. Some phone cameras have a professional mode that lets you play with these settings too.

You can get into the artistic part of the hobby on any camera you want, the equipment only expands your options and elevates quality of the photos that you can take via better lenses, etc.

I agree with your assessment of why people get hooked on these social media apps and what would drive them from switching to TikTok to another app that fills the same role, but I don’t think that’s the only thing that is going on here.

My original comment was framed the way it was because yours seemed to be implying addiction was the only thing driving people’s behavior in this specific instance, but the article your comment was replying to is showing that while people are switching from TikTok to Rednote, there was also a corresponding increase in US users who are seeking resources to learn Mandarin. This implies that more is going on and is where your “people are only being driven by addiction” analysis falls apart.

Sure, I can see people switching apps to continue chasing an addiction, however, the uptick in US interest in learning Mandarin implies that people are interested in communicating with people who speak mandarin. If you looked at how Rednote is currently functioning in English, you can see that it’s not necessary to learn Mandarin to use the app the same way they did on TikTok. People are finding more than just a way to fill a social media addiction.

The fact that they are seeking out ways to better communicate with other users on Rednote suggests they are looking to become closer with that subset of users, which is an action driven by a desire to build a community with them. You don’t go learning a new language because of addiction.

People searching for a means of connecting with a community is a negative thing since when? Better to look at the source of their feelings of alienation outside of the internet and point the finger at that instead of flippantly dismissing people using social media from a social media platform.

It’s really going to depend on your use. Feel free to try 90 first. I default to the highest because it is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the equipment to just get the best. This will affect how quickly you can take pictures back-to-back.

I recommend taking shots in RAW so you can edit them properly later (Canon should include basic editing software for free). Most programs cannot read RAW images, but there are various free programs that can. I’m pretty sure GIMP can, but I’ve never tried using GIMP for this. There should be an option to take images in RAW+jpeg if you want an immediate jpeg copy in addition to RAW.

You can shoot directly to jpeg, but I recommend keeping RAW copies of at least the images you like so you can edit them later if you don’t start out editing. RAW files are much larger than jpeg, but are meant to be edited and then exported as a jpeg or something else afterward.

Tldr: I think the Canon R50 is a good first pick for your budget. Get 1 or 2 extra batteries or a power bank. Get the best UHS-I SDXC card you can, aim for 200 MB/s, <$50. Use the camera strap. Wrap it around your forearm when not on your neck so when you inevitably drop the camera, it doesn’t drop.

Wait to buy a new lens. For your first pick I recommend the Canon RF35mm F1.8 IS Macro STM lens that is $500 and does not zoom. The stock 18-45mm lens on the R50 can do this job too, just worse than the recommendation. The stock lens also has some zoom, which you’ll probably appreciate if you’ve never had a non-zooming camera. Lenses are expensive as shit, but the most important investment in your kit too.

In the future (years unless you really need the extra range), I recommend saving up for the $1200 Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens below based on what you said, but gave more options that should last you until you learn enough to pick them out on your own. When choosing lenses, give yourself room to grow into a full frame camera. These two will get you a long way and limitations often lead to more creativity.

Sorry, a lot of what is below becomes rambles because I researched the lenses as I wrote. Idk your means, so adjust your budget/timeline as you want. The above is the important bit.

Long version:

The Canon R50 looks like a good entry point for your budget. For alternatives you may see: I would not pick the Canon R100. The Canon R10 looks worthwhile, but is outside your budget. The Sony A6100 is a viable alternative, but I think it’s more expensive than the R50 and the R50 will probably perform overall better. I would choose the R50 or the A6100. Don’t consider increasing your budget to get the R100, that’s money better spent on lenses.

I haven’t used the R50, but I read around a little. Things that concerned me: low battery life, cannot select shutter speed minimum auto ISO, UHS-I memory. I think these are all things that can be overcome easily enough or I feel spoiled complaining about these days. It’s a crop sensor, so the focal length listed on a lens won’t always match your effective focal length based on what I suggest below. When looking at numbers in the future, just keep it in mind.

I always bring extra batteries or a power bank, so if you are prepared you’ll be fine. Depends on how long you shoot and how many shots you take. It’s usually hours for me and this would be pushing it on one charge.

My understanding is you cannot set a minimum shutter speed when in auto ISO mode. This will probably not be an issue for you until you are ready for a full frame camera, but someday it will bother you. You can always manually select the ISO to get over this, but it probably won’t matter for your intended use.

UHS-I is slow these days. If you are shooting a lot of photos in a row, you may reach a point where you need to stop and wait for the camera to store before continuing. I used this for a lot of years and it can be really frustrating to run into, but you can overcome this by being aware that it can happen. Most likely if taking burst shots, so not usually relevant on a hike. A UHS-I SDXC card will mitigate much of this, you can push it to around 200 MB/s I think and these are pretty cheap these days. Try out whatever you get, play with shooting a lot in a row and see if it’s a problem. An upgrade to the highest end will be <$50 but you may not need it. Another, you won’t care until you really care and that depends on your use case point.

Now the big catch (as it will always be): lenses. The 18-45mm I see on kits for sale with the body is not great and when I say that, I want to emphasize that it’s not bad, there are just better options to do the same job. Unfortunately, the lenses are all going to break your budget, so I suggest you put them on your wishlist instead. Lenses are always the most expensive part and if you get multiple, you may want to upgrade to a bag specifically for them. I find most outdoor shooting I bring only 1 or 2 versatile telephoto lenses because I don’t want to carry more and swap a lot. I favor larger telephoto lens, but as you shoot, you may find you favor something else, so fit your choices to what you want to shoot and where your kit doesn’t allow you to do what you want. There are often compromises that can be made to make things cheaper even if I suggest a better lens.

If you can, i suggest planning ahead with these purchases: if you buy a lens, make sure it can also go on a full frame camera. If you don’t end up wanting to go that route some day, don’t worry, just shoot what you enjoy and what makes you happy. Photography is very expensive and it’s very easy to get caught up in buying the next new shiny toy. Less lenses, but more versatility will probably serve you best. Don’t go out and buy these when you buy the camera. Try your camera out first!

Below is the gut-wrenching reality of photography and how expensive the low to mid range options can be. Note that prime (non-zooming) lenses are always cheaper, but usually less versatile. Always look at the photos taken by reviewers when shopping for a lens. Everything listed below is targeted at the Canon R50 after looking around a bit:

For macro and much more: Canon RF35mm F1.8 IS Macro STM. ~$450. Great for macros and low light. 52.5mm on this sensor. This is a prime lens. A cheaper alternative is the Canon RF28mm F2.8 STM for about $250. The low f stop values for these lenses will open up many possibilities for shots, but these are great lenses for just walking around and shooting anywhere if you don’t need any zoom. Both are fine for portraits, but if you want something a bit more targeted, the RF50mm F1.8 STM ~$200, “nifty 50” will be great for portraits. They will be very compact and lightweight, which you’ll care about. As much as I harp about telephoto lenses later, I bought a used Ricoh compact camera at one point because I didn’t want to carry around my full frame. Nothing wrong with these lenses, I just want you to be aware of my bias. If I ranked my priorities: 35mm > 28mm > 50mm but only get one. I think the effective focal length of the 35mm lens with the R50 is 50mm and the effective length for the 50mm lens is 80mm.

Versatility + some range: Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. ~$1200. Steep price, but very much a pick where one lens fits most situations with a good balance of performance to cost. It will take much nicer photos than the stock 18-45mm and give you some extra range. This is probably the single lens to get over any other with the caveat that I’m assuming you will one day upgrade your camera and want to keep using this as your first-pick lens. That’s why I think it’s more worthwhile to consider a more expensive lens here. An alternative is the Canon RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM, ~$500. I’m sure this would serve you well. It’s more budget-minded, but perfectly fine, the only drawback is that you will not be able to use this on a full frame camera. To me, this is wasted money, but if you never see yourself upgrading, then it’s worth considering over the 24-105mm as a better starting point.

You could stop here with the 35mm and the 24-205mm and probably cover most of what you would want to use the camera for unless you really get into photography. Once you try your camera out, you’ll better know what you need. If you care mostly about wider shots and macro, pick the 35mm in addition to what comes with the camera. It’s cheaper and gives you additional options. If you are finding you really want some more range, the 24-105mm will be an excellent lens for many years to come. Both should fit a full frame camera too, so it’s not burnt cost if you upgrade. I want to stress that choosing two lenses in this range will cover almost everything you could want and I’m thinking you would do this in the coming years, not today.

More options:

Larger telephoto: Canon 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM. ~$650. This gives a lot of zoom for the price and (importantly) is relatively lightweight. Most telephoto lenses are more than double this price and weight much more. F/5.6-8 is the trade-off. It won’t do as well in low light or fast-moving situations, but it is a great deal. Probably a steal. You don’t find telephoto lenses that are decent quality around this price. Again, it’s because of the f stop trade-off.

Beyond here only lies danger to your wallet. If you want this many lenses, you probably are ready to graduate to a full frame camera first.

For wider shots: go for a smaller prime (non-zooming) lens to keep it cheap, like the 16mm f/2.8 STM. The zoom lenses are good, but 10x the price. Only consider this if the 35mm and 28mm lenses I mentioned above don’t cut it.

I personally get a lot of use in around the 50-200mm range. It’s the sweet spot for me. The trade-offs here can cost $1000. RF70-200mm F4 L IS USM, ~$1500. f/4 is probably good enough, but there are f/2.8 that give more versatility…for >$1000 more than the RF-S55-210mm F5-7.1 IS STM at ~$350. The f stop is quite a bit more limiting though.

For myself, I know I would get 99% of my shots done with the 24-105mm above and the 70-200mm lens here. Beyond that, I would probably buy the 35mm prime lens for the f/1.8. Landscapes, portraits, street photography, macros, astrophotography, most wildlife…those three would cover all of my needs besides shooting fast moving birds.

If I were you, these are the three lenses I would save for with a Canon R50, but that is based on my shooting and I know what I like to use. I want to stress again that you should use the camera and stock lens to begin with and see what it is that you find you want before you make any lens purchases.

I know I threw a lot of info at you here, but I tried to organize the lenses based on your potential priorities while trying to minimize the budget and maximize performance.

Most of my experience is with Canon, but I have friends that shoot mirrorless Sonys. If I did it all again, I would definitely go mirrorless to make astrophotography easier, but for your budget mirrorless is probably a no-go.

I recommend checking out the Canon Rebel series. They are an entry-level camera that fits your budget and I recommend looking for a package with a couple different lenses. In the US, I’ve seen good deals at Costco for a camera + 2 lenses, but this was years ago and I don’t know where else to point you for a good deal today, particularly in Vietnam. Don’t discount other brands, this is just what I am familiar with because my first camera was a hand-me-down Canon from my dad. Nikon and Sony are other well-known brands, but not the end-all be-all.

You can always buy used and perhaps get a good deal, but make sure you test everything first and look for someone wanting to upgrade or that never really got into the hobby. Make sure it doesn’t look like they dropped the body or the lens. Again, idk how viable this is in Vietnam.

The biggest investment in photography will always be lenses. If you get a decent body, it can last you forever. For a good wildlife lens with a high zoom for something like fast-moving birds, you’re looking at thousands for a lens (if not tens of thousands). Slower animals won’t need to be this much and plants/landscape you can get by with lower-end lenses for a very long time if not forever. If you really, really want higher quality photos, you are probably going to need to shell out thousands. I’ve borrowed $10,000 lenses from friends that were sufficient for most all wildlife, but we’re still too slow for focusing on flying birds. Don’t bother buying something like this unless you have the means and find deficiencies in your kit (I borrowed from professionals that didn’t focus on wildlife.)

If you can find a kit in your budget with something like a 75-300mm lens, you’ll be set for a very long time. If that’s too zoomed, a decent, fixed 50mm is around $100 last I checked and easy to carry along and swap. Fixed lenses will generally be higher quality for less money, but less useful while hiking.

Worry less about your gear than developing your skills and understanding the settings on the camera after this first purchase. A kit in the $600 is a very reasonable start and will get you a long way, but will not cut it for most wildlife photography.