Which camera to buy for a new baby

Before our son was born, I sold my old Olympus OM-D E-M5 and upgraded to its successor, the OM-D E-M5 ii, mostly for WiFi (which I almost never use) and the silent shutter feature (which did turn out to be really useful).

But recently a friend who is expecting asked me which camera to get. And after looking back at the pictures I’ve taken, my advice was:

Get the cheapest mirrorless and portrait lens combo you can find and the best iPhone you can afford.

Why?

Because while I do like some of the nice shots I took with the E-M5ii, I really love the videos I’ve taken with the iPhone X. (Note to new parents: more videos!). And of course I’ve also taken far more pictures with my iPhone than with my camera.

Current iPhones shoot amazing videos and it’s much easier to share them with family members as well.

This friend has a low end Android phone, so realistically, a nice smartphone camera will give him far more nice baby photos and videos than a more expensive mirrorless camera.

If you already have a nice smartphone, then I’d get a mirrorless system with a closer lens or portrait lens for more special moments.

An older Olympus Pen body with the f1.8 25mm or 45mm lens can be had for less than €600 and is great setup.