It's 700mi to CO, 7 Bens in pocket, dark, wearing sunglasses

[Rivet Miscounter]

OK, so...this might be a hypothetical exercise...but it could happen, so fire away. (quickly)

Long story short...I've had a rough year. (yes, three months in)   So much so that I almost completely forgot about my best friend's 50th birthday party in Colorado Springs this Saturday.   I decided to take an extra "mental health" day to drive up from Dallas and railfan what is my favorite stretch of railroad...BNSF's former Fort Worth & Denver line between Fort Worth, Amarillo, and eventually the C&S parts in Colorado.  But enough about that...

If you had, say, $700 in your pocket and wanted to buy the best camera for railfanning you could for that money...what would it be?

Couple of notes:
1. I don't do Nikon, due to a customer service issue I had with them.
2. My previous railfan camera was a Canon 20D.  I wish I could buy a comparable camera today, but not in the budget really.
3. I've always been interested in the Sony a6000, but I'm not sure I want to (or can, given budget) go there.
4. I would like to have some combination of wi-fi/bt/nfc to ease in getting pics to the cloud.
5. I'm fine using my iPhone 7 Plus for most pics and it's fine for anything I'm doing MRR wise. (not saying I wouldn't use the new camera too, but it's not a purchase priority.)

[C855B]

I'm quite happy with my Canon SL2: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=43796.msg560093#msg560093

[tom mann]

Some things to think about.

1.  A fast shutter will be necessary to get trains without motion blur. Anything on the market can do this, so it's no issue. However, a fast shutter in non-ideal lighting conditions will require large aperture lenses and/or the ability to generate clean images with high ISOs.
2.  Generally, travel lenses on APS-C and Full Frame formats aren't great. 
3.  Check B&H for good prices on open box equipment.

If you gave me $700?  I would probably buy a used Panasonic G85 with a used 14-140mm lens.  Small, lightweight, and good for movies too.

[davefoxx]

If it was me, I'd use my smartphone to take the railfanning pictures and burn the $700.00 on something else . . . like more model trains!  Hi, I'm Dave, and I have a problem . . . 

DFF

[Jbub]

If it was me, I'd use my smartphone to take the railfanning pictures and burn the $700.00 on something else . . . like more model trains!  Hi, I'm Dave, and I have a problem . . . 

DFF

Yeah you do. Your trains are too big

[davefoxx]

Yeah you do. You're trains are too big

Bwahahahahahaha!!!  Never!

[peteski]

Yeah you do. You're trains are too big

But he has the piece of mind knowing that he models in the most popular scale in the world! 
Ho, ho, ho, ho!

[chicken45]

If you gave me $700?  I would probably buy a used Panasonic G85 with a used 14-140mm lens.  Small, lightweight, and good for movies too.

Video erotica?

[Dave V]

Don’t forget the narrow gauge in Colorado Springs.  It’s in my basement, LOL. Shoot me a PM if you think you’d want to see the RGS while you’re here.

[Rivet Miscounter]

Don’t forget the narrow gauge in Colorado Springs.  It’s in my basement, LOL. Shoot me a PM if you think you’d want to see the RGS while you’re here.

Oh man that would be awesome.   The schedule is tight but I'll PM you and see if we can arrange a visit.   Thank you for the invitation.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So, what did you end up with?

[Rivet Miscounter]

I guess you could say I took the DFF suggestion to heart.   

Not to buy more trains though.   Mostly just for "good financial decision" reasons....what I *wanted* and what I had *budget for* had a bit of a gap and I decided to hold off.   Good news is, I pulled out my trusty P&S Canon that I bought a few years ago and it performed admirably-ish given its limitations.

I'll admit I had "good-financial-decision remorse" when I was railfanning Trinchera Pass on Sunday and needed some long lenses.

I think I am going to shop around, and see if I can find some items on the used market possibly.  I liked the idea of the G85 but didn't have time to procure one. And seriously...to re-emphasize...the G85 has a LOT to like for being a few years old...it and the Sony A6000 came up again and again as cameras that still hold up when looking for a value type purchase.  Bad news is, all that press sort of holds the price up there so it is harder to find a really good deal on one.  I like the idea of the SL2, but I'm weighing the pros and cons between that and something like the 77D. 

And finally, I still like the idea of the Sony...the 6400 supposedly has a killer AF and was selected in more than one online resource as "excellent for sports" which is sort of how I vet out its worthiness for railfanning.   I came VERY close to purchasing one Thursday night.   I had sold some Z and had a few more dollars than originally thought and was evaluating "reaching" but it would have been close to double.   I think I may try to find a used 6000 body, spend my money on a good midrange lens, and then eventually buy a 6400 body or its replacement. 

But to say the G85 or any Canon option is off the table is premature.  The battery benefit of a true DSLR is significant.   I think I may rent one or all and test them.

[k27463]

I have a Canon 80D now...

I'd go for something like a Canon T6i -- it has the same 24MP sensor as the 80D minus a few things (internal processor, focus system is a bit weaker).  If you shoot in RAW the processor is a moot point.

Tamron makes a -really- good 18-200mm stabilized lens for about $200.

Not saying there isn't a better deal to be had as there probably is, but I'm a Canon guy 

Canon Refurb will probably have the best pricing on any of those -- they actually have an SL2 for $439 if you'd like to go for a slightly smaller body.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I just recently got a T7i. I realized I actually WANTED the smaller form factor. Lugging my 40D around was annoying. I hated taking it places. Now I think nothing of throwing the thing into my luggage when traveling (to good effect: http://railfanning.kapuscinski.net/2019/03/an-afternoon-in-indianapolis/)

[DKS]

I've actually come to be thankful for having been forced to sell off my mondo Canon system. $20K of DSLR gear is not the most convenient to lug around, much less use. And honestly, the number of times I've missed the power of that tech is pretty small these days. I appreciate being able to grab one lightweight camera (Canon SX S20 HS) and do most anything I need with it. If I was shooting professionally for commercial purposes, I'd still need that beastly DSLR, but I'm not any more.