So, do you want to get in to photography and take photos with that blurry background (also known as bokeh) but you think you have to shell out several hundreds of dollars just for a camera that can do just that?
Good news: It’s not so much about the camera, but the lens.
More good news: You can get a cheap vintage lens and pair it with a lot of different camera options.
I shoot with a pair of Panasonic cameras, a GH3 and a GF2. Both are Micro Four Thirds cameras, so their lenses are interchangeable. Even better, there are a ton of adapter options that will adapt a lot of mount types to an MFT mount. A quick Ebay search for “MD to MFT” and you’ll find a variety of adapters that can take the old MD styles and do just that, for around 12 bucks.
At the time of writing this article Roberts Camera, one of my favorite Ebay camera sellers, has a Minolta 50mm F1.7 lens for sale for $22.48 with free shipping.
So far we’re at roughly $35 for lens and adapter. But what about the camera? While the GH3 is still several hundred dollars used, there are other options. The Panasonic GF2 I purchased was only $70 used. At the time of this writing Ebay has several used GF2 choices in decent condition (or better) ranging from $65 to $100.
This means that you can have a decent camera and lens setup that can take some amazing shots for possibly as low as $100.
One other thing of note, the GF2 also provides RAW images instead of just .JPG files. A camera that can give you RAW for under $100 is an incredible deal, so I highly recommend this option for those of you just starting out. This will give you better flexibility to adjust your photos in Lightroom after the fact, making it an affordable (and forgiving) option.
I’ve included a shot of my setup, along with a couple photos I took today just to provide an example. I kept the aperture at F2.0 even though my aperture goes as wide as F1.4. I wanted to demonstrate that you don’t necessarily need to go as wide as F1.4 when making your purchase decision because that will drive the cost up.
