The choice for a budget travel photography camera
Starting this blog, I thought of writing about my recent struggles to choose a landscape photography camera, on the budget side of course, me not being a professional photographer, simply a hobbyist, you could understand that procuring photography gear has to fit into the family budget. I digressed. What really happened is that my family and I took a few days off for a trip to the beach (an excuse to enjoy the lifting of quarantine restrictions before school starts). Indeed, not only I wanted to take candid pictures of my wife and kids, but also I was very much looking for the opportunity to practice sunrise shoots, hence, the reason I thought I should be writing about landscape photography gear.
For fun shots of the kids swimming and jumping at the pool I brought the Nikon 1 AW1 water and dust proof camera with its zoom kit lens. It shoots 14MP, but even better, it shoots RAW. It's a tiny 2/3 inch sensor, but with plenty of sunlight, you would not notice a difference in image quality.
For walking around, dining outings, or just plain local tourism, I though to carry the Fujifilm X-T20 (got one used at an unbelievable price, and from previous blogs, you know I enjoy this camera a lot) coupled with two lenses: the XF23mm 1.4, and the kit zoom 18-55mm lens. You know this is a light camera system, that can handle “almost” any situation you throw at it. Truth is, when traveling, you want to avoid carrying heavy gear, it draws too much attention, and after a while of walking with it, it becomes a pain on your back. Fujifilm gear is very helpful on that end, and on my injured back.
And finally, my trusty Pentax K-5 iis. This is a 16MP camera from 2013 and coupled with the DA* 16-50mm 2.8, I feel at home. I decided to take this camera for my landscape shootings, mainly sunrises at the beach. You see, I love this combo (even though it has a crop sensor) because it has amazing dynamic range, it features a GPS tracker to geotag my pictures, and it is a rugged camera (more on this later).
Having shared my travel gear, you would agree with me that this is too many cameras for the joy of time off with the family. I made the decision to bring all of them to test their paces with the hope to make better decisions about what camera to bring in future vacations. And testing I did.
When the sun is high, and kids want to go swimming at the pool, nothing better than the Nikon 1 AW1. Still, being a discontinued camera, it has leaks, and sometimes the lens or the LCD fogs and ruins some good moments. But I have decided that better something than nothing. Both camera and lens costed no more than $250, you can beat that price for an All Weather proof Nikon that shoots RAW.
Now, here comes my dilemma. You could think that bringing both Pentax and Fujifilm cameras are redundant in functionality, both are crop sensor cameras, Fujifilm being a much newer system, indeed it can shoot great pictures, the ergonomics are phenomenal, the DR is amazing, and the lenses are just sharrrp! Why indeed bring another system? Well, for one, I like to be able to geotag my pictures, the Fujifilm cameras cannot do that; second, not all places I go to take landscape pictures are camera safe: sand, rocks, salty humidity, and the heat, I mean, Panama is a tropical, sea level, hot country, and I am not sure Fujifilm cameras can take such heat, or worse, if the camera accidentally falls and hits a rock or is splashed by a wave, I might just get a stroke! Those Fujifilm lenses are just crafted so beautifully, and are quite pricey compared to Pentax lenses, what would you do if something happens to them, never mind the camera body?
Could you tell which photo was taken with which camera? Pentax or Fujifilm? Probably, you could guess by the types of pictures taken, or perhaps given a few of the reasons I just provided, or you could be mistaken. This is my truth, shooting with Fuji everything is much easier, many times you feel you are not taking, but creating pictures, and that just an awesome feeling. But with a Pentax camera you feel free to explore, many times I went knee deep into the pool or the beach, holding the K5iis, and not worrying about what happens if I drop it. But compared to Fuji, there aren't that many great Pentax lenses, plus the weight and the size, makes it a more notorious to the public. When traveling, you probably want to avoid calling attention from strangers.
So, there is only one answer, as everything else I have learned in photography, and it is… compromise. You cannot get everything you want for everything you want in one camera. To make the decision a bit harder, I notice practicing landscape shots for the past few weeks, that a telephoto is in order, and hence the question grew stronger after looking at several alternatives that would fall within the concept of budget photography. Therefore, moving forward with this dilemma I decided to choose Fujifilm, I will miss geotagging, and the amazing ruggedness of the Pentax system, but I am choosing on the side of weight and versatility, and being that I owned a great looking Fujifilm X-T1, all I would have to do is acquire and underrated and cheap superzoom lens, namely, the XF 18-135mm, which could make an excellent travel lens, and one I could share my experience with all of you in the future. This would replace the range that could have been provided by two Pentax lenses, the one I currently own, the DA 16-50mm 2.8, and the other one I thought of purchasing, the DA 50-135mm 2.8, both great lenses, but besides great image quality, I would not really be using those f2.8 apertures, but mostly f8, plus the Fuji XF 18-135mm brings weather sealing and the promise of good image quality.
Now, let's see if I can find one within my budget. I might just found one.
Please, do take care of yourselves and your families, this pandemic is not over yet.
UPDATE February 24, 2021. Today I did take a different decision. I went all the way to a budget argument, and re-evaluated the concept of versatility. A respected vendor abruptly lowered the price on the Pentax 50-135mm 2.8, just way to low to believe it, and I went for it. It looks like Pentax is becoming my landscape camera of choice. That's just say how much the experience a camera provides, and a justifiable low price, can change someone's mind. I am open to that, and I'll see what happens.
