Last couple of years my photography has been a lot about shooting sporting events. Some drifting, some running, once even a rowing race, but mainly cycling events.

Doing all this on film is all sunshine and rainbows as long as said sun is up. The moment the weather turns for the worse, which usually means a proper downpour, me and my mostly 1972 lineup of Nikons have to find shelter, or I'm going to have to start a mushroom farm on my lenses to pay for new ones. As much as I can hide myself and my gear, the show goes on, and I'm missing it.

Thus a need arose for a camera that can handle the moody Dutch weather without a shadow of a doubt that it won't get flooded, and maybe handle a splash or two while on a boat in case I ever need it.

The research started with the non film options, which quickly got discarded as too expensive for them to be used once in a blue moon. Then I looked at the Canon Sure Shot A1 and admitted that plastic would not handle the things I'd put it through very well. Finally, I decided on something from the Nikonos line.

Nikonos V seemed like one of the options, but potential electronic failures at this age scared me a bit. Nikonos IV was just a less-packed version of the V, and the Nikonos II looked a bit less comfortable than the III.

So for about 270€ I bought a Nikonos III from Japan. I knew some people had bad experiences with buying stuff on eBay from there, so I wasn't convinced. In the end, I got a clean example with what I think must be fresh seals, really well packaged, and in a record time of 3 days. Shout out to Yuni Camera Japan.

About the build and comfort of use:

The camera is built like a brick, yet sports what I really think is a gorgeous design. I heard some horror stories about how fragile the internals are, but so far mine has held up to the abuse and misuse of learning all its quirky features.

The user comfort is incredible, thanks to the design being focused on this camera being used with diving gloves on. It sits firmly in hand, the outer shell is grippy, and the shutter release is nice and big. The viewfinder is also accurate and so gorgeous and bright. I have a bit of an issue with how small the user side of it is, but I still love it.

With some acrobatics, I have been able to use this camera one-handed and while riding bicycles. The focus as well as the aperture are on knobs placed on the sides of the lens, and the lens can be rotated both ways so you can choose which setting is closer to the hand holding the camera. As you change the aperture, the lens also moves indicators of the focus patch automatically, which helps with zone focusing.

The shutter speed dial is right next to the shutter release, which also doubles as the film advance lever, further making it nice to use the camera one-handed.

Now what are the downsides of this camera:

The camera is NOT a rangefinder, so you better get good at eyeballing the distance to your subject, or invest in an external rangefinder to put on the cold shoe.

Yes, the cold shoe, as the camera requires a screw-in adapter and a PC sync cord to have a flash. That adapter has been a pain to find, so if anyone has one, hit me up.

Another quirky thing this camera has which unfortunately does get in the way is that the distance as well as the aperture is shown at the front of the lens. To change either the focus or the aperture, you have to flip the camera around, which does slow you down a bit on top of using an external distance and light meter.

Due to this being a diving camera that needs to be sealed well, the film change is quite a hassle and usually needs to take place on a table. To rewind the film, you have to pull the rewind lever up to engage the mechanism, which in most examples of this camera is a finicky operation. Due to my lack of knowledge, I already fried a couple of frames of my first roll by popping the camera open without rewinding sufficiently.

Then you have to take the lens off, pop the body open like a can, and only then can you change the film—so now there are 3 parts of the camera laying around. I'm not even going to mention that if you want to have this thing well and truly sealed against water, according to the official manual as well as some forums, every film swap also means re-greasing all of the O-rings.

It's a bit of a handful, but I've been having a blast with all of these limitations.

Now for the lenses:

I have only the 35mm f/2.5. I never felt the need to get more, despite there being an 80mm as well as a 28mm (though that one is only for underwater use). I have seen some rarer stuff popping up on eBay like a 20mm as well as a 15mm, but they all seem to be for underwater use only.

The lens is not the sharpest thing in the world, having quite a bit of vignetting wide open, and becoming fully sharp only around f/5.6. From f/5.6 onwards, the sharpness is incredible, though. I honestly like the rendering of this lens even wide open, but I would understand if it isn't for everyone.

Did it do its job?

Yes. No matter the weather, no matter the humidity, it's amazing not to have to worry about anything getting damaged. Due to its small size and robustness, it also has been a great travel and daily companion, as I don't have to worry about the camera bumping into something or getting in the way. It's a hell of a fun camera to use, and it's been my daily carry during winter.

One recommendation:

Keep the ISO above 800.

The lens is quirky, and it makes no sense to be using 100 or 200 ISO in this thing, as the conditions in which you will use this camera will not have enough light for those stocks. You also want to keep the aperture over f/5.6 to make focusing easier.

400 can do the job in some fog or maybe snow, but anything more than that and you're again going to find yourself wide open at 1/60th of a second. 800 ISO is a golden middle where you can still shoot in the sun thanks to a max aperture of f/22, and won't be stranded under heavy cloud cover or in the darkness of the water.

I have put Kodak Portra pushed to 1600 as well as 3200 through this thing, and I highly recommend using that in dark situations. Kodak Ultramax 400 pushed to 800 has also done the trick for me in more than one situation.

Final impression:

I admit it is not a camera for everyone. It's quirky, has a limited choice of lenses, and needs an external light meter as well as a rangefinder if you want to ensure accuracy.

But...

I wouldn't want it any other way. It's a blast to use, it's well made, the sound of the shutter is amazing, the form factor is great, and it's worry-free with no batteries or need to check the weather.

Highly recommend.

TLDR:

The Nikonos III is a brilliantly quirky, weather-sealed mechanical marvel that brings carefree shooting to the worst Dutch downpours and cycling conditions. Though it demands a bit of patience—requiring zone-focusing, an external light meter, and a meticulous film-changing process—its rock-solid build and sheer reliability make it an absolute blast to use. Ultimately, it delivers unmatched peace of mind for outdoor and action photography, proving to be an endlessly fun daily companion.

(USA) I have an opportunity to buy this camera with an M. Zuiko 14-42mm lens for about $120 altogether, would this be a good setup for a beginner just starting out? I may be able to get it for closer to $100 if that would be a more appropriate price. Any thoughts or suggestions? I've done a lot of research and M43 seems to be the best option for what I want (portable, small, capable, not bulky/clunky feeling, good for outdoor/nature excursions where photography isn't the main focus.) This camera gets decent reviews but is also a bit outdated, is it worth it for this price? I see just the body going for $80-100 in untested condition online, this one is tested and also local so I can check it out before buying.

I'm not super familiar with digital camera technology, but my mom has been wanting one of a few years now.

She has an older 35mm and other lenses from back in the 80s/90s and she's hoping to get a digital camera that is compatible with those lenses.

She's retired and I think she'd enjoy having a camera that she can get nature shots with.

Being as I'm inexperienced, please go simple on me. My sister and father will all go in together on it, so we can get one up to 1.2k at most.

Edit: US customer

This will be a super long read so to those who get to the bottom then thank you!

Over the past month I have been working on this design and I now feel like it’s in a position where I can share how it was built, firstly I want to say that this is not a tutorial, there are a couple of things with the design that work ok after some tweaks but could be redesigned to work right after printing, therefore I want to treat this as a “how it was built” vs “how to build” post.

Exact specifications of the camera are as follows:

Case size: 100mm x 100mm x 100mm
Battery: 10,000mAh Mophie Powerstation
Camera module: Arducam IMX477 HQ
Mount: C/CS
Power output: 5V USB-C
Buttons: Sleep/Shutdown, FPS, ISO, W/B
Mainboard: Raspberry Pi 5 - 4GB RAM
Storage: 16GB SanDisk Micro SD
Ext Storage: Over 100mbps USB3.0 drive
Display: Waveshare 4” 720x720 HDMI
Battery life: Approx 8-9hrs idle - 5-6hrs Rec
Tilt sensor: MPU6050 accelerometer
Cooling: Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler

General design:
All parts were modelled in Autodesk Fusion with parts I mostly had on hand, I had to take extra care in adding ventilation to the correct places as I found the plastic to warp slightly if it got above 60 degrees, with the active cooler it now sits at no higher than 50-55 which is just on the limit but I haven’t encountered any issues so far. The battery sits on a “shelf” that is connected to the left side panel for easy access if disassembly is needed, a small cutout for the flat USB-C cable was also made so it also firmly holds the cable in place when removing or reinserting it. All side panels were made with a -1mm tolerance again for easier access when removing and M2 threaded heat inserts were used for all screws except the camera module. The Pi 5 and displays motherboard sit on another shelf at the bottom of the case which should allow for I2C usage for the screen (I couldn’t get mine to work for some reason but the pins align perfectly so I believe my unit may be defective for I2C), this allows for a cleaner design and lets the Pi sit higher for better cooling and IO access.

Assembly:
After all parts were printed, I installed M2 threaded heat inserts into the mounting points for the front, left, right and rear panels, also adding an additional 4 inserts for the display board and Pi 5 to screw into the case. The order of assembly was preparing the panels with their correct components such as for the front panel, screwing in the camera module and soldering the Dupont wires to the 3.3V Filament LED and press fitting it into the cutout at the top. I added a small drop of superglue to the wires to prevent them from pulling on the LED just in case. There is room to store any excess cable underneath the shelf that the Pi is mounted to so nothing should pinch against the case, I also made sure to connect both the USB-C power cable and HDMI to Micro HDMI adapter to the Pi (the adapter comes with the waveshare display and also fits perfectly as you can use the standoffs from the screen) and attached the displays USB-C power cable and routed it under the shelf at the bottom. The front panel was then able to be mounted using the 4 M2 screws.

I then moved to the rear panel as I needed as much access as possible for the GPIO pins so I left the side panels and display till last, I attached the 4 buttons and the USB-C output to the rear panel, for easier assembly I used a 60mm x 10mm magnet and attached all ground wires to it leaving one Dupont cable ground wire for the GPIO to prevent having too many cables in the system, all other cables were then routed to their correct GPIO pins, the USB-C output jack simply uses the 5V and any GND GPIO pin. Just for fun I also added a small vibration motor from an Xbox controller trigger to create a small haptic when a button is pressed or when a USB drive is inserted but this does need to be mounted to a part of the case and not a side panel. I then routed the cables as neat as possible in front of the GPIO (Making sure no wires come into contact with the active coolers fan) and mounted the panel to the case exactly the same as the front panel.

I then moved onto installing the display, out of the box the display and driver board are attached with very strong adhesive, I removed this from my unit so they were separate as it now sits under the pi, this is an EXTREMELY difficult task and I advise to take extra caution if you are to try this as you do run the risk of destroying the screen, the display also doesn’t use the typical DSI ribbon cable that connects to the pi, so you will need a 51-pin extension cable with a 0.3mm pitch followed by an adapter to reattach it to the screen. The extension cable can be routed again under the display board through the shelf so it comes out of the front of the unit and behind the camera module. For easier assembly I attached the extension cable to the driver board and then left the adapter attached to the screen. I then peeled the adhesive backing off and seated the screen into the top of the unit making sure to attach the cables in their correct orientation.

The left side panel was now ready to be installed making sure to insert the 90 degree USB ribbon cable from the display board into the lower USB2.0 Port on the Pi and flat USB-C cable from the Pi through the hole on the side of the battery shelf, this way the battery can be installed from the right side ensuring a snug fit once assembled, I left a very short amount of cable before sliding the battery in to make sure it had a cleaner look. (When sliding in the panel I had to make sure not to snag any cables including the display ribbon cable, I went through the right side of the unit to lift the display cable above the battery so it wouldn’t pull on them when it was slid into place. (I printed a small cover as seen on the left side of the unit to cover the USB plug for the screen)

Finally the right side panel needed to be prepared, this has a cutout for an extension button that connects to the Pi’s power button, this is where my design was slightly flawed, under load the Pi will sit at anywhere from 50-55 degrees, so as I printed my parts with PLA, I started to see the button warping and no longer making contact, I chose to print the button from ABS although I could have tweaked the design to make the button baseplate thicker as it is quite thin, however I haven’t seen any warping since using a different material. Since the button pivots up towards the Pi’s button, there is a small plastic block that holds the button in place at the very top of the button baseplate, this was mounted in the centre but again the button did not work correctly, since moving the block it works perfect every time.

Software:
The system runs ApertarOS which allows for easy external button management and also rotary encoders if you want to add any other accessories, it also features a Web GUI, WiFi management, multiple camera module support including IMX477, IMX585, IMX294 etc… and a magnitude of other features, to see everything related to the software check out their GitHub page as there has been so much development and time spent on making the software what it is now. There is great support for it too, any issues I encountered during setup or making adjustments were always solved by the community. The software is also updated fairly frequently to bring even more new features and bug fixes runs very smoothly on a 4GB Pi, Apertar do say you can potentially use a 2GB Pi but this is best used as a photo only camera.

https://github.com/Apertar-Studio

I made some tweaks to the software to map the buttons to their correct functions and GPIO pins, added a custom splash screen for the logo of my camera on startup and shutdown and also added the cameras name in the metadata of the images.

As mentioned above, there is a small vibration motor attached to the unit, this was made as a separate service on the Pi to detect button presses and emits a small 130ms pulse when a button is pressed, holding the ISO button for 2 seconds will send it back to “Auto” and subsequently the vibration motor will emit a 230ms pulse to indicate it is complete. When inserting a USB drive into the Pi again the motor will emit 2 400ms pulses. (Of course during recording the motor is disabled to prevent any frame shakes)

The status light also has a few functions such as blinking during recording and turning on and off when pressing the power button at the back. I removed the blinking during photo capture as it made no sense to have it anymore.

The power button at the back runs on a separate script, pressing once will make the display go into a “sleep mode” and pressing again will wake it up, as mentioned above the LED also turns on and off with the display, pressing and holding for 3 seconds will perform a safe shutdown on the Pi.

The supported resolutions for the IMX477 are 1332x990, 2028x1080 and 2028x1520, this is a limitation of that certain module, the IMX585 and IMX294 are both to my knowledge capable of 4K output. In 1332x990 and 2028x1080 modes you can select from 24,25,30,50 and 60 FPS however in 2028x1520 you can only select 24,25 and 30 FPS, again better modules will support higher framerates.

You also get the option to take still images as RAW DNG, PNG, TIFF, JPEG or to add a RAW DNG to any other file type. Video mode records in cDNG stills which can be compiled and edited through Davinci Resolve.

The camera also supports input and output devices although I have not tested them yet, I believe on my camera they will work through the USB3.0 ports.

As a final touch I added button labels to the back of the unit and a serial plate to the side with the Pi information, mount type, build date and revision number, then installed the Smallrig cheese plate to the bottom of the case, this is attached by 2 1/4-20 screws.

Again I would like to say I don’t class this as a tutorial but rather how I built it, if you decide to build one for yourself please DM me and I will be more than happy to send over the STEP files but please keep in mind that I have made some changes to the parts post printing so there are some things that may fit different or need tweaking. Also if I have missed out anything in this post please ask away in the comments and thank you for the positive feedback from my previous two builds! I will add pictures from the camera in the comments soon.

Hi everyone , I’m taking pictures on my phone with a third party camera app and I edit them with free lightroom. I wanted to step up so I thought why not get a camera. I am currently on vacation and L just remembered that I have an old canon eos 700d in a closet but I don’t remember what lenses I have. I’ll check when I’ll come back from my vacation.

I just wanted to know if it’s still correct in 2026 and if I can learn photography with it or if I should buy a new one.

Thanks in advance for all your feedbacks

Edit : some photos I’ve taken on my iPhone 12 mini

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Hi all, I'm old enough to have grown up with film cameras. I recently got a disposable camera for taking pics over the summer, and I really enjoyed it. I'm a complete amateur and I don't plan to get into the photography world, but I would enjoy taking some analog pics.
So I went through my stuff because I recalled having still the ones I used when I was younger. I would like to try to use one of them more regularly but I'm not sure which one is worth.
I have:
- Yashica 108 multi program: that was my father's. I never used it but it looks like it's in good condition. I could assume this would be easy-ish to use nowadays.
- Kodak instamatic 50: this also was my father's, I never used it but I could imagine being more difficult now to find the film/etc (I have no clue how to use it, btw).
- Nikon EF400SV: that was one of the cameras I was using the most.
- Olympus trip 201: that was one of the cameras I was using the most.

Since many of those which needed batteries have been forgotten in a closet, the batteries leaked and damaged the cameras a bit. So I would need to repair/properly clean them before trying to make them work. Hence I'm asking: for someone who just wants to try them out without big expectations, which one of the models would you recommend? Thanks!

• ⁠Budget: 500 USD / 450 EUR, Including lens
• ⁠Country: Finland
• ⁠Condition: Used is fine, good condition.
• ⁠Type of Camera: DLSR(?)
• ⁠Intended use: Photography
• ⁠If photography; what style: Wildlife Photography

• ⁠What features do you absolutely need: Weather sealing would be nice, but not necessarily a deal breaker if that’s above my budget at the moment. Open for any suggestions on additional features.

• ⁠Portability: Enough to fit into a smallish bag? As long as it’s nothing gigantic i’m fine with it.

• ⁠Cameras you're considering: NIKON D3100? That’s one I saw on a used camera site that operates in Finland, says it’s a good beginner camera, and it’s for a decent price.

• ⁠Cameras you already have: None.

• ⁠Notes: I know very little about cameras. I’m mainly interested in taking pictures of small animals such as insects, and would be cool if I could just get a decent camera that I could attach a macro lens to in the future. But I really don’t know much about that, and I know those get pretty expensive.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you :)

Budget: £500 for the body £150 for lens. Total £650 but will look at considerations for total cost of £800

Country: UK

Condition: preferably used

Type of Camera: Mirrorless

Intended use: Photography and videography

End use: Social media as a hobby

It photography: what style: (andscape, portrait and street

If video what style: Vlogging, stills, documentary type

What features do you absolutely need:articulating screen, microphone or ability to add a mic stabilisation. Interchangeable lens.

What features would be nice to have:
Weather sealing,

Portability: How portable does it need to be?
(Pocketable or shoulder strap. I want to be able to carry it with me or not take up too much space on travels and hiking

Cameras you're considering: go pro mission 1 ILS, small and light, different lens, durable
DJI OSMO pocket 4P, small, has a 60mm telephoto lens, image stabilisation.
Canon R50/ Sony a6000takes photos as well as videos, different lens.

Cameras you already have: I have an old Eos m10(15-45mm) for photos and a go pro 12 for videos and my iPhone 15.

Notes: I I’m looking at buying the go pro and the dji because I’ve got my old camera for photos already.
I want to upgrade my videos from my go pro, they make the backgrounds look small. I want a longer focal length but still have that quality of the go pro.
If I’m upgrade camera I’ll also look into one that takes great photos too hence the canon and Sony selections.

Hi everyone!

Hope you’re all doing well!

I’m a beginner looking to explore nature, wildlife, and astrophotography. I’m planning to purchase the camera setup below to start learning and exploring the beautiful outdoors around the SF Bay Area.

I’m also considering adding a 180–600mm lens for bird and wildlife photography, while planning to invest in a dedicated astrophotography lens later.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the camera and lens combination I’ve chosen. Do you think it’s a good setup for a beginner? Are there any alternatives you’d recommend?

My maximum budget is $4,000, including lenses and essential accessories.

I’d really appreciate any suggestions, recommendations, or advice from experienced photographers!

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone! I'm looking for a replacement for my very old 550d. My main goal is to find a slightly newer and more compact camera that I can use more easily, of course I'll go on the used camera. Looking online a bit, I found the models included in the title, the Sony a6000 and the Canon M100 (or the M50), which I could find at good prices on the various used sites (around €300) and I wanted to have some advice on which of the two to choose, or even if you have some other mirrorless model to recommend that I could find with a similar or slightly higher price. I mainly use the camera for traveling portrait photography and hints of street photography.

Thank you all for your answers!

Topic title basically sums it up. My wife has been influenced and asked for a g7x. i obviously refuse to get it above retail but i could always sign up to get notified for drops or get on a queue to purchase locally at retail price.

But i wonder if an a6100 with a pancake lens would basically be what she wants in a g7x? i honestly don't know what it is about the g7x that is so appealing but any thoughts on how to make an a6100 with pancake be easy and get basic pictures like what she wants with the g7x?

I bought this Sony DXC-390P with a Fujinon TV Z VCL-616WEA thinking i was buying a C mount camera and lens. From all i read on the internet this camera should have a C mount and it only kinda does? The small thread on the 3rd photo looks like it but this whole screw bayonet mount around it is nothing i've ever seen. I'm trying to put this lens on a mirrorless (with a c mount speedbooster to make the image circle a little bigger) but i did not expect this lens to have such an odd mount. Does anyone know if any adapters for this thing exist? The screw on the lens is about 45mm in diameter. You put it on the camera and rotate the black ring on the camera (not the lens) to secure it in place.

I'm looking to possibly get a friend of mine a camcorder for his birthday something he can use for vlogging and making short films. I'm out of my element here when it comes to knowing which brands are good and what has good video quality. I know panasonic, canon and sony are the typical recommendations but a bit too pricey for me right now. 4k quality would be ideal but 1080p max quality is fine long as its 60 fps. Might split it with other people but want to get something budget friendly any recommendations max probably is 600$ CAD if I'm getting it with other people 300$ CAD possibly if I get it by myself.

Trying to figure out if these are worth restoring and videographer but don’t know a whole lot about film cams

Is sony alpha a6400 better than sony alpha zve10 mark II? I want to buy a camera for basic shortfilm creation and never recorded a video with a camera before.

I got 850 dolars in australia and i dont know whats good to start on and progress on, there are a lot of options and its just confusint at this point, i was going for the used market.

I am a "novice-enthusiast" and probably always havebeen and willbe haha.

I've used a Canon Powershot S110 as my digital toy for... probably 10+ years now (yikes) - I replaced one once for $80 when it had a lens error issue.

So I actually took it my camera to use for WORK and unfortunately the screen was damaged in its use- my boss has offered to replace or repair it which I appreciate. But it doesn't look like they're $80 anymore... and a brief chat with local camera shop says it is a $200+ repair if they can get the screen. I don't have a blank check from my employer but a comparable cost replacement or a repair is the guidance I've been given.

I've been out of this game for like a decade... What should I do here? Get another used S-series Canon for like $300? Just pony up and repair it? Should I be looking at anything else? I don't really need or care for WiFi, GPS, etc-- just want a good somewhat compact dedicated digital camera.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or recommendations you may have.

So my daughter is turning 6, and after a year of her shooting around with kid cameras, and seeing how good she does with the autofocus on my Fuji xe2, I decided I wanted to get her a upgrade that has atleast AF, and flash, preferably something light close to what she already has. I have this Olympus and this Sony laying around so I was wondering if that was a good option, or if you guys had any recommendations, something in pink or purple or blue would be a bonus lol. Her birthdays at the end of November so I still have time to order, any help is very appreciated!

(Top photos are her current cameras, the below are what I have as options currently)

• ⁠Budget: $100 I could go up a little

• ⁠Country: US

• ⁠Condition:

• ⁠Type of Camera: definitely wanna stick to digital

• ⁠Intended use: she mostly takes photos sometimes video

• ⁠If photography; what style:

• ⁠If video what style:

• ⁠What features do you absolutely need:AF, Flash

• ⁠Portability: pocketable is a plus

• ⁠Budget: $90
• ⁠Country: US
• ⁠Condition: New
• ⁠Type of Camera: Retro 110
• ⁠Intended use: Funsies
• ⁠If photography; what style: Lifestyle
• ⁠If video what style:
• ⁠What features do you absolutely need: point and click
• ⁠Portability: sure
• ⁠Cameras you're considering: Nikon Z FC
• ⁠Cameras you already have: Nikon D3200
• ⁠Notes: Hi

First of all, I apologize for my lack of knowledge on the subject. I am learning.

So, I am an artist and I am wanting to make some artsy short form content of my well... art.

I went out and bought the instago 360 ultra. I liked that that it was small, came with all the bits and bobs, and most of all it was magnetic, so I could stick it to things. Also, I felt like I just needed something a little newer.

Truth is, the video sucked. I tried all the settings, imported it from the camera, from the card, to the computer, to the phone, everything. And it just sucked. I want to use a editing system like capcut being frankly the video footage is secondary and the art is first, but I still want it to look good, I just want it easy to edit on my phone.

I pulled out my old camera, a Sony Alpha 5100. I have two lenses. A FE 1.8/50 or something and the one it came with. I transferred the footage via dongle onto my phone, popped it into capcut and it looked IMO miles better. The issue is, is that it is an old camera. I took good care of it but the software is clunky, it uses micro usb to charge, it just isnt as streamlined as the other camera. Plus, it overheats.

Neither option is ideal tbh. I dont want to use my phone being I draw for long periods of time and want access to my phone. I dont want to use the big camera due to inconvenience, but I cant get the small camera to look good.

I have about another week to return the small camera. I bought it for around 600 with tax, SD card, etc. I dont know if I should keep it in hopes that maybe I can figure out how to use it, or If i should somehow make my old camera work.

In my head, I know that both options wont really work, but I need suggestions. What should I do? I do not want to spend more then I already have, but I am willing to return the small camera and buy another camera with that money. And please be nice, I have no clue what I am doing and I am trying to learn.

Edit - Adding questionnaire

Budget: ~ 600 USD

Country: USA

Condition: Any

Type of Camera: Any

Intended use: Cinematic Video

End use: TikTok

If photography: what style: n/a

If video what style: pretty shots of me making art

What features do you absolutely need: I want a flip out viewfinder (just in case I want to

What features would be nice to have:

Portability: I like it small, but it doesn't have to be micro,

Cameras you're considering: I would like Sony so I can use the lenses I have

Cameras you already have: Sony a5100

Notes: see above