Let me say it plain, because somebody needs to. Camera prices right now are out of control. And do not even get me started on memory cards. (Go look one up yourself. I will wait. See? Told you.)
Here is the part that really gets me. A Fujifilm X-Pro2, a camera that is roughly ten years old, still sells used for about a thousand dollars. A thousand. For a used camera. Something is wrong with that picture, and it is not the camera.
This channel has turned into something I did not exactly plan but I am proud of. It is about getting people started. Real people. A teenager saving up a little at a time. Somebody on a fixed income who just wants a solid, well made camera in their hands. Not a toy. A real camera, one that feels like something when you pick it up.
And here is my whole argument for the experienced photographers out there. Instead of telling young people they need the newest thing, put a good, decent, interchangeable lens camera in their hands and teach them. Mentor somebody. That is how this whole thing keeps going.
You want proof it can be done? I did a video a few weeks back on the Nikon D80. Ten megapixels. CCD sensor. Interchangeable lenses. A genuine camera. I got it for 130 dollars. One hundred and thirty. That is not a typo, and that is not a fantasy price from ten years ago. That is now.
And it does not stop there. The Nikon D600, a full frame camera, goes for around 300 dollars, and comparable Canons are sitting right there at the same kind of price. My own Nikon D7100, with a decent kit lens, lands under 300 dollars, and I will put that combination at the top of the list for anybody who wants to hold a real camera and change lenses on it.
Meanwhile, my XT1 has 1,200 shutter actuations on it. One thousand two hundred. That camera has barely been used, and I plan to run it into the ground. You just have to look for these deals. They are out there. You do not have to hunt for a month. You just have to look.
Now, I know what the marketing wants you to believe. That you need the 1,500 dollar camera. Or the 2,200 dollar whatever. Do not be a prisoner to that. (And yes, after this video, Hasselblad is probably not sending me a camera to review. I accept that. We cannot all be friends.)
Speaking of 2,200 dollars, I am tired of camera companies rolling out a 2,200 dollar monochrome camera like it is some kind of revelation. You want black and white? Set the camera you already own to black and white. Done. It will be perfectly fine, and you just saved yourself two grand. I got so worked up talking about this I ran out of breath, which tells you how I really feel about it.
Here is the bottom line, and it is the whole reason this channel exists. People ought to be able to buy a camera at a cheap price and get into photography without selling a car to do it. You do not need to spend a fortune on cameras and lenses to get started, and you do not need to spend a fortune to keep going. It can be done. I just showed you how.
And one more thing before I go. Thank you for the support in the comments on the gatekeepers video. I saw it, I appreciate it, and it means more than you know. If you get what I am saying here, you get me. If you do not, well, that is your problem, not mine.
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