There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Sensor size (FF, APSC M4/3) - Sensor size contributes a lot to the look and feel of your photo, but bigger isn't always better, APSC or some of the canon odd 1D/s/x sensors are slightly smaller allowing for better lens reach. Birders Love the 7D for this reason
FPS Again important to some, not for others. Do you love shooting sports? then FPS is the way to go same thing with birds/planes etc. Do you love taking meticulously composed shots? then who cares about FPS
AF points - AF is really important and it works wildly differently on different cameras. It can make the difference in getting "that shot" or not. But then again, maybe you're never rushing for that millisecond shot.
Ergonomics - This one is really underrated. I went from a 7d to a 5DII and the 5DII had aged really poorly ergonomically, I moved much quicker than I should have to the 5DIII simply because I wasn't able to get comfortable with the 5DII enough to get the shots I needed, which was a big deal when you're shooting weddings.
ISO/Low Light - Causal photogs sit on two sides of a fence here, on one side, you probably don't have a flash, and if you're buying a nice body, you definitely don't have an onboard flash, so low light is great. But then again, how often are you using that low light? maybe your lens only goes down to 5.6 but this is yet another reason to invest in lenses.
Other features - You know what I love about my OMD EM-1? being able to take an awesome portrait of my self. My Wife uses it too. Set up a tripod, pair the app, tap to focus, set the timer for 2 seconds and shoot amazing shots you dont have to guess on. Its awesome. Canon has lagged on this a lot with their high end cameras and its a shame. Same with focus peaking, flip out screens, even video.
You know whats not important? megapixels. It just isnt. Its a dumb race. For SOME its great. Being able to have a wide and close in the same shot is awesome. Knowing you have room to play with a digital shot for publication is amazing. Being able to produce highly detailed product shots is super helpful. Having a 40mb image of your daughter playing in the backyard sounds great, until you have 50,000 of them. On facebook, its still gonna look as good as your 12mp image for the most part.
Lenses last for ever, produce better results, and create better educational steps then bodies do. You'll become a better shooter playing with more lenses, not playing with more bodies. I used a canon 20-35 F2.8L for a long time, it went out of production in 1995 and was one of my favorite lenses. It wasn't quite wide enough or narrow enough on either end, but edge to edge it was sharper then the current 17-40 or the 16-35. I traded it out for the 17-40 and haven't regretted it for the most part, but the 2.8vs F4 is sometimes a regret.
Lenses stick with you, bodies are temporary.