For Christmas, my wife and I decided to get ourselves a gift that we could use to spend more time together. Spending time with my wife will more than likely slowly deplete as we get closer and into residency. We took this Christmas as an opportunity to get rid of unused “stuff” we had lying around and get something for the both of us.
In the past couple years I feel like I’ve changed in my view on how we spend time together. It’s not easy to plan trips or have dedicated longer periods of time available that we can spend together. I have been moving toward finding times where we can drop some of the stressful and overly time consuming tasks, and pick up more relaxing hobbies together. Some of the time consuming hobbies for me are not easy to drop at a moment’s notice and require more input and dedication. As an example, my wife likes to play video games and it can’t be dropped mid level or she will lose the game. I also enjoy playing video games, but my favorite games are single player so I don’t usually play them when she is around.
Pre-Purchase Requirements
Some of the major things that I wanted to complete before making a purchase on a camera was selling some of our “stuff” so that we reduce clutter around the home. It was also nice to have a few extra dollars in our pocket before Christmas. The main things that we sold were just lying around and not being used anyway. Some of what we are still trying to sell are past hobbies that have sat on shelves for a couple years. We have made a push to sell our unused “stuff” and downsize to be more efficient around the home. This is useful for us now because we can reduce clutter or multiple items that are the same in our home. When the time comes for residency we may have to move and we will have less to pack. Lately I have been interested in eliminating unused items around the home and seeking upgrades for them. Upgrades are only purchased if the object was being used but we are in need of a replacement.
Finding “The One”
I’m not sure if you’ve ever looked at the wide selection of cameras on the market, but it is astounding. Many manufacturers make consumer products that range from $100-$5,000, which makes the choice a little bit more difficult. There are major manufacturers like Canon, Sony, and Nikon. This meant for me that if I stuck to major manufacturers, there are many camera choices. That’s not even considering what lenses you’d need to purchase (which also have many options).
I had done quite a bit of research about a year ago, so this time was a little bit easier. I was looking for a camera that would give me professional quality photos, but not be super expensive. We sold some of our stuff so that we could make the purchase, but not enough to cover the full price of the camera and lens. There are a lot of cameras that fell within our price range, but before purchasing I made a list of requirements.
- Full-frame sensor
- Good battery life
- Mirrorless design
- Wide lens selection
- 10 FPS continuous shooting
- Easy to use and adjust settings
- High quality video (1080p and 4K)
- Variety of aftermarket accessories
- Needs to have more abilities than we are currently using so that we don’t grow out of it quickly.
- Good price point (within our budget)
Due to wanting a camera that is full frame and mirrorless, the options were cut fairly quickly. This cuts out a lot of the lower price point DSLR cameras and increases the amount that we would have to spend. The reason that I wanted full frame is it doesn’t have a permanent crop, which can give wider photos. It is also a larger sensor than a APS-C which allows for more “data” collecting. It should yield better photos than an APS-C sensor, especially in low light conditions. I was looking at full frame cameras due to wanting to take professional quality photos, which should be easier than with a smaller sensor.
Choosing a camera is difficult. Though I narrowed down our options to just a handful, 3 models, it was still hard to choose. This purchase has a lot of repercussions if we don’t like what we choose. We could be stuck with a camera that takes insufficient photos or have a hard time finding accessories. My ultimate goal is to take photos for others, and if it doesn’t take high quality photos this would be difficult.
I took time to watch countless videos on different models of cameras to form comparisons. This is probably the best way to find out exactly what you’re going to purchase (other than knowing someone who owns one). The options are endless, but we managed to decide on a camera and made a purchase.
The Decision
We ended up buying a camera made by Sony. For our needs, it looked to be the best option. We have had a lot of fun so far and plan on taking many photos in the future. I prefer to take photos of my wife and she enjoys taking photos of us. I don’t mind having my picture taken, but I prefer to be behind the camera. We are also looking to find people that want or need their photos taken. We are new to the game, but I think we are doing well.
Some Photos
I have attached some photos of what we have done since purchasing our camera. We haven’t had it long, but we can tell that we love taking photos together. Something that I find rewarding about photographs is that they take up very little space. We can save thousands of memories on hard drives and will be able to take them everywhere with us for the rest of our lives.
