Hi Blanca,

I can't give advice on specific cameras - since I never had aspirations as a photographer. I always liked our little mirrorless systemcamera Olympus PEN E-PM1 and thought it made nice close-up shots. The autofocus is decent but lacks picture quality under not ideal light conditions (see my "ideabooks") but you could change the objective and put a makro on it!

The only advice I will give you is to think about your budget. I got our camera for 250 € which is a bargain! You should prepare to pay a lot more if you want decent photography equipment.

I am using a Panasonic Lumix for some years now (I got a newer edition last year) and I'm really happy especially with the macro because I love flowers and taking pictures of them! If you want a small Digital camera that you can carry with you all the time this may be a good choice.

Anja

Thank you so much Carl and Anja! There are so many options.

Anja, would you please let me know which model you are using?

Does yours have the Leica lens?

Gratefully,

Blanca

Thank you Blanca for post this question , I must buy a camera too , always push back but I have , all your advices would be welcome

Blanca, it is a DMC-TZ81 and yes, it has the Leica lens! I got this last summer, they probably have another model out now. I'm using the macro very much because I like to take pictures of small things in nature and I'm happy with it. It might be not the best for diffcult light situations (not enough light) but I bet you don't have that problem in California...

Hi Béatrice,

Yes, deciding on a camera is very difficult. I have waited far too long.

Thanks again Anja! The Leica lens is a big plus for me. I live on the coast two miles from the ocean. There are many foggy days especially in the mornings.

Perhaps something I can recommend in similar price range is the Sony Alpha a5000 or Sony Alpha a6000. If you prefer Canon, then maybe the Canon EOS M3.

Hello Brian,

I appreciate the recommendations. I will check them out.

Many thanks!

I tend to keep with Canon equipment as I know the control panels well. I bought a bigger Nikon and find the Canon more user friendly. Mine is dying a slow death. When I turn it on, the lense doesn't always extend and open...

My daughters gifted me a Nikon DLSR (forgot which model) as they think my old Sony Point and Shoot needs to retire. I tried using it and it was ok if you are set to take lots of pictures. My iPhone (7) is so much convenient now for me in taking “spur of the moment” pictures though. Plus I get to send my pictures and videos in my messages quickly. Here’s an iPhone pic of Emerald which I get to markup with my name right here in my phone.

Thank you, Kristi and Maria!

Maria, that is wonderful quality from a cell phone, which is always handy.

I don't have a cell phone because there isn't reliable cellular reception here in my rural area due to a lack of towers. I've only had Wi-Fi for a few years (and the best available service is still very slow).

That's a gorgeous Emerald, so full of color!! Years ago I had one like that with lots of red where as most of them I see these days are very pale. Maybe it's time to try another one!

I continue to go with my Sony Cybershot which I had for years. Easy settings and for me the macro works fine. I actually bought another one on EBay as they have been replaced several times over in stores. Small and for me, efficient and I don't need to read the instruction every time I want to use it!! It doesn't however take good pictures of red, for that I think you need a more sophisticated camera.

Donna

I can say I use an old (5 years now) Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a dedicated 60 mm f2.8 macro lens. However, you have to really want to take photos to use something like this. For example, when I post pics of things like my Worsleya I take ~20-25 separate images by focusing at different planes and then adjust each image in terms of clarity, contrast, etc. using ACR then I stack them in Zerene Stacker go back and make final adjustments in ACR before sharpening using PicCure (I'm not good at sharpening so do not use Photoshop for this as it requires actual ability). I never use flash as this will cause shadows unless you have a multi-flash set-up to avoid this. If you have very bright diffuse light I would also recommend a polarizer (I do not use this as my pics are taken indoors and I do not have enough light as it costs you 2 stops when using a ploarizer). I love photography as much as my plants so for me it is fun to do all this to get the final image I want. Whatever you do, you should be prepared to shoot in RAW format as you have way more latitude for adjusting highlights/shadows, etc.

The great thing about an advanced P/S is that in general because the sensor is smaller (1" or less) you have a larger depth of field. Besides the Panasonic mentioned above and the Canon with the 1" sensor you could consider the Sony with the 1" sensor. I bought my daughter one of these and can confirm it takes wonderful images.

There truly are too many options :o) Dan

Hi Dan,

Thank you so much for the detailed (and very helpful) information. I always enjoy your gorgeous photographs. The final camera decision still eludes me.