I have acces to smartphone, pocket camera (high iso, decent zoom), bridge camera (superzoom) and a pentax K3II, as we share the lot in my family. Each of them is typically not the cheapest but a better representative of its category, we like ’good’ pictures and invest a bit in cameras.
The phone is what you have always on you, and that’s why you use it. Quality is nowadays good enough for the occasional picture, in normal daylight.
The pocket camera is what I use when I want a better camera than the phone but it needs to be small to carry or go unnoticed.
The bridge I typically skip ( I have to admit it is a good camera , competing with my dslr for many uses)
The pentax dslr with aps-c has my preference .
- I like to choose lenses, and this gives you the little extra (light, reach, sharpness..) On pentax APSc there is wide(r) choice of lenses, so easier to find your choice.
- I prefer aps-c for its extra reach in tele and the lighter lenses. I am not tempted by FF , it’s bit heavier especially if you include the (telel)enses... On the wide end I have the 10-17 fish-eye, some wide primes and and never felt the need for a ”wide” FF. I don't mind using fullframe lenses, both old vintage or new when convenient - had never the feeling that a lens performed incorrect because it was FF lens on APSc..., it is just more choice on lenses. Sometimes I prefer a 28-75 as my standard APSc lens which is actually a FF format....
If there would come a pentax APSc wit 50 mpixels, I would upgrade my K3II, but if I am honest I even crop my 24mpixel images occasionally...without regrets, so maybe it’s not needed.
---------- Post added 05-04-22 at 02:25 PM ----------
Originally posted by Viking42 +1 to that. I'm pushing 60, and I do a lot of hiking in the mountains, often in very remote areas, and I struggled with a heavy camera backpack on longer hikes. It just got so uncomfortable after a couple of hours, and the weight being all on my shoulders often put me off balance on steep rocky scrambles (high center of gravity). Pretty scary at times, almost losing my balance, in areas where a fall would mean a chopper rescue. To make things worse my pack had the tripod off on one side, which put a lot of the weight on one shoulder. So I recently bought a Lowepro pack with a wide padded waistbelt and a tripod holder in the center. This shifted all the weight to my hips, and keeps it all centered. Perfect! I can now carry more weight for longer distances in total comfort. My posture is better too - more upright, less hunched forward - which saves so much energy. And it puts the center of gravity lower so it's much more stable and balanced.
I highly recommend a pack like this for anyone doing long hikes with heavy gear. Worth every penny.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Svend
I am also a backpack addict.
I have a medium sized one with a sideloader ( you can release one shoulder strap and sling it on the other shoulder and easily grab the camera), when needed.
This one carries 3..4 lenses and a camera and a little space for stuff (rain jack, drink).
The second is bigger and has a waist strap, which indeed is a relief for yor shoulders/back to support the weight and improves stability when hiking on rough ground (even when younger than sixty! ) The bigger one I use when I need space for both camera/lenses and other stuff for the longer hikes (clothes, food,...) or just more camera gear...it has two compartments, both can be equipped for camera gear when needed.