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Comment by qbasic_forever | Hacker News Reader

Consumer point and shoot is totally dead and replaced by smartphones.

But enthusiasts who wants to practice the craft of photography are thriving. Cameras have never been this good, especially for their price.

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I'd add especially when buying used in good condition. A D700 for example goes for around 300 bucks. And that is a truely professional DSLR, the smaller sensor actually doesn't matter if you don't plan to prind barn door sized and then brake out a microscope. Back the day, it was Nikon's low light king (obviously not anymore) and basically the same camera as a D3. So still plenty good for ethusiasts and amateurs. For difference to a Z6 you get a lot of good glass (always a better investment than camera bodies) and there should still be some money left over to go to exotic and beautiful places to actually take pictures. If you want more resolution, a D750 goes for a little over double a D700 and a D800 can be had for around 500.

If you earn your living through photography, things are of course different.

D700 has a big sensor but less MP. It doesn't matter, I got a Zfc(20MP) for my studio when the photographer complained about our D8xx(36MP) cameras being too heavy and not having articulated screens, and it's been fine so far.

That shows an interesting thing, doesn't it? Pro, people using cameras as tools to be used every day to earn a living, care about other things than amateurs. And I agree, a D700, especially with a battery grip, is heavy. It can be used as a hammer so, in a pinch, between shooting.

I love messing around with my bicycle's parts and adjustments to be 1% more efficient or whatever, so I understand where guys who take photos of test charts and use 2x heavier lenses because they have a little bit better corners or less aberrations wide open are coming from :-)

> I got a Zfc(20MP) for my studio when the photographer complained about our D8xx(36MP) cameras being too heavy and not having articulated screens

As someone who used to lug around the D700 everywhere I went years ago (I stopped when I got my Olympus mirrorless), this complaint from someone about D8xx in studio use blows my mind.

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