Cameras: I am 73 yrs old and have finally decided to capture city scenes,landscapes etc. I really need to get a camera not sure what to purchase I know I want a telephoto lens. Just a...

Phillip king

I am 73 yrs old and have finally decided to capture city scenes,landscapes etc. I really need to get a camera not sure what to purchase I know I want a telephoto lens. Just a explanation of what to buy and why would appreciated. Want to make my own pics with not a lot of automatic buttons. Street scenes, food and street people. What’s my best option. Thanks in advance.
Phil

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Phillip, the best information we could have in order to help is what price range are you looking at.
--Bob

Phillip king wrote:

I am 73 yrs old and have finally decided to capture city scenes,landscapes etc. I really need to get a camera not sure what to purchase I know I want a telephoto lens. Just a explanation of what to buy and why would appreciated. Want to make my own pics with not a lot of automatic buttons. Street scenes, food and street people. What’s my best option. Thanks in advance.
Phil

RLSeipleSr Loc: North of Boston

Phillip king wrote:

... need to get a camera not sure what to purchase ...

A couple of years ago I decided to downsize from a fairly good Canon DSLR ... I went with a Canon SX60 HS (SX70 is out now) ... will never go back ...

"The Canon PowerShot SX60 HS is the 'safe bet' in the superzoom category. It offers good image quality, a fully articulating LCD, more than enough zoom power, and a solid feature set that includes Raw support, advanced video functionality, and a hot-shoe."

Check "http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/canon-sx-50-hs-for-bird-photography-i.html" to really see what this camera can do ... !

Bob S

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

It depends.

DSLRs are heavier than bridge cameras.
Some bridge cameras have decent telephotos.
Do you need/want the ability to change lenses? Get a DSLR.
Some bridge cameras provide easier user control for controlling the exposure than others.
DSLRs may be simpler to over-ride the "automatic" that bridge cameras typically provide.
Some cameras are more comfortable to use, ergonomically, than others.

When you can, I would suggest going to a camera shop, or maybe Best Buy and seeing what cameras do what, and holding some to see if they "fit". See where the controls are located and how easy, or not, they are to use.
You'll be happier with a camera that fits your needs and use. One camera model won't necessarily fit all people.

rmm0605 Loc: Atlanta GA

Phillip king wrote:

I am 73 yrs old and have finally decided to capture city scenes,landscapes etc. I really need to get a camera not sure what to purchase I know I want a telephoto lens. Just a explanation of what to buy and why would appreciated. Want to make my own pics with not a lot of automatic buttons. Street scenes, food and street people. What’s my best option. Thanks in advance.
Phil

You have to decide whether you want to take "snapshot" type pictures or aim for great photos that can be enlarged and framed. If the former, most any point-and-shoot these days will meet your needs. If the latter, you should consider heavier fare, including medium format or even large format cameras. The pictures we admire from Ansel Adams, for example, were taken either with a Hasselblad medium format camera or a large view camera (Deardorf 8x10).

If you really just want to take good pictures without too much "to do," a top of the line point and shoot might be your ticket.

thrash50

RLSeipleSr wrote:

A couple of years ago I decided to downsize from a... (show quote)

I agree, I used an SX60 HS for years, taking pictures for insurance companies, and my own interests. The Camera with an extra battery, and SD card, fits easily in a pocket, so you will be able to have your camera with you at all times. The picture quality, and zoom are well above average for the price.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

IN MY OPINION, a wide angle lens is more appropriate for landscapes.

Without a budget, it is hard to recommend anything. Then again, deciding between a point & shoot, bridge camera, or ILC (Interchangeable Lens Camera) comes first.

CO

Are you sure you want a telephoto lens? You mentioned that you want to photograph city scenes, landscapes, street scenes, food and street people. For these scenes, I would recommend something like an 18-140mm lens if cropped sensor or a 24-70mm lens for full frame cameras.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

It sounds like a good “bridge” camera is what you’re looking for. I’d check out the Panasonic Lumix line. Both the FZ80 and FZ300 have decent zoom, if you want to spend more the FZ1000 is really nice.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Phillip king wrote:

I am 73 yrs old and have finally decided to capture city scenes,landscapes etc. I really need to get a camera not sure what to purchase I know I want a telephoto lens. Just a explanation of what to buy and why would appreciated. Want to make my own pics with not a lot of automatic buttons. Street scenes, food and street people. What’s my best option. Thanks in advance.
Phil

The Olympus TG-6 is a small pocketable camera that is waterproof and can survive a 7 foot drop. Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and Nikon make all-in-one cameras, but I am not sure how waterproof, weatherproof, or dropabable they are.

As far as system cameras go, the larger the format, the larger, heavier, and more costly the camera becomes. Since you have indicated you are 73 and would like to shoot both wide and telephoto, I suggest a 4/3rds system from either Olympus or Panasonic. Two good Olympus bundles would be as follows: the E-M5mkIII, 14-150 f3.5/5.6 lens, and a B+W 58mm XS-Pro Kaesemann circular polarizer (~$1565) or the E-M1mkIII, 12-100 f4 Pro IS lens, and a B+W 72mm XS-Pro Kaesemann circular polarizer (~$2885). Both bundles are weatherproof and will provide you with either a 28-300 or 24-200 angle of view in 35mm terms. Be sure to examine these and other cameras at a camera store be choosing.

CO

You could rent from LensRentals.com to see what like. I've rented from them many times. They include a pre-paid return shipping label to make returns easy. They have compact, micro 4/3, cropped sensor and full frame DSLR's, and mirrorless.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Phillip king wrote:

....finally decided to capture city scenes....

If that includes night shots then think about including a tripod.

ggttc Loc: TN

The canon sx 50-60-70. Anyone of those would be the direction I would go. Landscape to wildlife zoom range. Great image quality. Ease of use. Ask Linda from Maine about her experiences with this camera.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Phillip king wrote:

I am 73 yrs old and have finally decided to capture city scenes,landscapes etc. I really need to get a camera not sure what to purchase I know I want a telephoto lens. Just a explanation of what to buy and why would appreciated. Want to make my own pics with not a lot of automatic buttons. Street scenes, food and street people. What’s my best option. Thanks in advance.
Phil

If you want city scenes and landscapes I would not go with a telephoto lens. I have done both of these venues and I use a 16-35 mm lens to do them.
You really could go with any camera with this lens combo, Canon, Nikon, Sony, and many others offer this combo. Plus Sigma and Tamron offer many lens choices close to this type of lens.
I use the Nikon D850 with the Nikon 16-35 mm lens. I would also suggest a post secondary process like photoshop or lightroom to take care of perspective control.
Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Phillip king wrote:

I am 73 yrs old and have finally decided to capture city scenes,landscapes etc. I really need to get a camera not sure what to purchase I know I want a telephoto lens. Just a explanation of what to buy and why would appreciated. Want to make my own pics with not a lot of automatic buttons. Street scenes, food and street people. What’s my best option. Thanks in advance.
Phil

I shoot and recommend a Canon Rebel, T7i is available , or perhaps a Canon M50, as your just starting, (that's my current GAS), Bob.