So what camera should I buy?
When I’m out on a photo shoot, people often ask me what type of DSLR camera I recommend. (First let me say when we say DSLR camera we are talking about a Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera, one that has replaceable lenses.) I could easily turn them to any number of cameras like the one I use professionally, but instead I usually encourage them to stick with their cell phones or compact cameras. Sometimes I get the feeling that those same people are thinking I’m a camera snob that thinks I’m better than them. Let me clear the air and tell you why I think 90% of people are better off with a cell phone camera or a compact camera.
5. They Are Not Convenient To Use
"the best camera is the one that's with you"
One of the most over used quotes in photography is “the best camera is the one that’s with you.” Most people outside of the photography world assume that larger cameras take better pictures and although there may be a sliver of truth to that, it's the wrong way to think. The truth is that owning a larger DSLR camera seems like a good idea until you stop using it altogether, because it's too inconvenient to travel with. I'm a professional photographer and own a couple of DSLR’s. I do not ever casually walk around with my professional cameras. I pull them out for paying jobs, and I pull them out for individual images that I have already scouted, otherwise I use my cellphone camera. If you don't already carry a dedicated camera with you today, you certainly won't casually carry around a DSLR.
4. Your Pictures Won’t Be Any Better With A DSLR
Factors such as lighting, timing, and composition have far more impact on great photos than the camera ever will.
Most people don’t realize this, but I would say that over half of the pictures that they love on the internet are taken with cell phones. Amazing pictures are more about the perfect lighting, the perfect timing, and then playing with the settings on the camera such as shutter speed, ISO, aperture for depth of field, and taking your time for perfect composition. 80% of people never touch these settings on their cameras, and yet that is what makes the difference between a great photo, and a typical photo. Compact cameras and cell phone cameras have become so great at capturing quick photos in auto, that in most cases they will turn out better looking photos than the dedicated DSLR’s. This is what they were designed to do. DSLR’s have their own benefits that I’ll get to in number 3.
3. You Are Paying For Features That You Won’t Use.
Do you want to sit at a computer for hours making sure your photos look great?
DSLRs are powerful cameras because they have more manual options than other compact cameras. If you aren't already using every manual feature of your current camera (even if that is a cell phone), what makes you think that you will become interested in manually controlling a much more complicated DSLR?
Are you interested in manually choosing your White Balance with a Kelvin setting? Are you itching to choose your cameras ISO based on your current lighting conditions? Does slowing down and choosing your shutter speed and aperture before every image you take excite you? Do you know how to use Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop so that you can process the raw images that your new DSLR can produce?
If you aren't interested in learning to use a DSLR in full manual, you probably don't need this type of camera.
2. DSLR’s Need Accessories
Often it's the accessories that cost more than the camera.
Whatever the price of your new DSLR, you’ll find yourself spending hundreds of dollars on top of the original price. First off you will need a memory card. Because of the size and cost, you will find yourself wanting a camera bag. Because of the weight of carrying it around, you might want a comfortable strap. Also be prepared to lose your lens caps on a regular basis. Flashes are also common purchases for a DSLR, all adding up to more expense. This leads to our last point.
1. What You Actually Want Costs More Than You Think
Individual lenses can easily cost 2x more than what you paid for your camera, and they make the biggest difference in equipment when it comes to quality images.
I was thinking that this category could have been covered in #2, but it is slightly different. While the above features mentioned can add up to $500.00 extra in a hurry, it’s the replaceable lenses that are one of the most cited reasons for buying one of these cameras, that will run up the cost.
The DSLR’s usually come with decent lenses, but they are slightly vanilla in nature. Many people will want a macro lens, telephoto, or perhaps a wide angle, and this is where the big cost can come in. A starting lens can easily be had for under $200.00 but they usually have smaller apertures, plastic housings, cheaper lenses, let in less light, and lack features like image stabilization. To get features that the professional photographers use to get the shots that the average customer wants (background defocus, sharp images, fixed aperture zooms, etc), prices can easily exceed thousands of dollars per lens usually outpricing the camera body. These lenses are also more crucial in getting perfect images in most cases than the camera bodies themselves.
So What Type of Camera Should I Buy?
In conclusion I will recommend some great little cameras for you, and remember, for most people, carrying around a great little convenient camera or good quality cell phone will be your best opportunity to take great pictures.
The first thing I would recommend is that you take just one week, of upping your photo game with the camera or cell phone that you have. After that, if you enjoyed getting into the mindset of taking quality pictures by not letting the camera do all the work, then it may be time to go to a DSLR and start the steep learning curve.
If your cell phone is out of date, the advances in photography between the years 2014 and 2017 are staggering. Any new cell phone from 2016 and onward will give you fantastic results, especially in full auto mode. Some of the notable ones are the iPhone 7, 8 and X; the Samsung S7, and S8, and the Google Pixel and Google Pixel 2. If you want add even more quality, step up to their bigger brothers, (the plus models) which all have a few more camera specs in them to get your automatic pictures looking better than ever.
Compact zoom cameras are incredible these days. Some of them can zoom 30x and more (all without getting an extra lens), and they fit into a pocket or a purse. They will also allow easier access into playing with aperture, shutter speeds, ISO and color balance. Some of them even allow you to shoot in RAW format. Here are some noteworthy ones and a great DSLR to consider from my Amazon affiliate account.
Please share this blog with another friend who you think could use some advice on a camera. Also, let me know in the comments what other articles you would like to see posted here to help with your photography game.
You can take great images with just about any type of camera