PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This post is an updated compilation of several shorter posts Scott wrote in the past trying to answer the question, “What camera should I buy?” Scott no longer selects his favorites. There are simply too many good ones available. But please note: The newest camera is NOT always the best camera. Also – this is not intended to be a white paper nor is it intended to cover every possible option. The idea is to get people started on the right path to picking the camera that’s best for them.
Asking me what camera you should buy is sort of like asking me what kind of car you should buy. There are too many variables to formulate an easy answer. But maybe this will help.
Start by knowing the answers to THESE questions before you ask me YOUR question.
1. What subject(s) will you photograph most often? Weddings, portraits, wildlife, sports, landscapes, still lifes, food, fashion, etc.
2. What gear (if any) do you now own?
3. If you had to choose between ease of use and power, which would you select?
4. Do you want a compact pocket-sized camera (point and shoot) or a DSLR?
5. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being a working pro and 1 being someone who usually shoots with a disposable camera) how would you rate your skill?
6. What is the MOST money you’d be willing to spend on a camera?
7. How long do you think you might keep the camera?
8. What do your friends use?
9. Do you have a local camera store that can offer you support?
If you have thought carefully about these questions and have the answers – you should then be closer to knowing what the perfect camera for you might be.
Hopefully, your interest in photography is strong enough that you’ll read this entire article. That will give you the best chance of making the right decision.
The Photographer Takes The Picture Not The Camera
I know that beginners especially want to know what camera they should buy. They are more likely to think that it’s the camera that takes the picture, not the photographer. Unfortunately for them, that’s not the case. There’s no secret, magic or special camera that will make you into Ansel Adams.
Let’s start with goals. What goals do you have with your photography? Photographing the kids is much easier and less expensive than photographing wildlife. Making studio portraits will require a different kind of camera than that used by sports photographers. Do you want to turn pro or just make pictures you’ll share with your immediate family? Understand this simple truth: There is no perfect camera. And not all cameras are designed for all types of photography. Many photographers have more than one camera, depending on how many photographic pursuits they are engaged in at one time.
You’ll need to take into account a wide variety of factors when selecting a camera, and the first is budget.
Your Budget
Good equipment can sure make it easier to capture great shots, but you do not have to be Bill Gates to afford good quality equipment. Depending on the kind of photos you want to make, and how accessible your intended subjects are, you should be able to get a good camera outfit for around $500-$600. But if you want to specialize if wildlife or sports photography, that budget will dramatically increase. If you want to specialize in food, medical, aerial, high fashion, again – the budget will dramatically increase.
Regardless of budget, you’ll need to start with some basics. And I am making some assumptions here. I am assuming you are looking for a digital camera. Few film cameras are sold these days. Our emphasis here at Photofocus.com is digital photography, so I am not going to cover film. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t know what kind of camera you want, a film camera is the wrong choice almost all of the time. Later, if you really want to learn all aspects of photography, a very good quality film camera can be had used from Ebay for less than $300.
If you are serious about producing quality photography, you’ll need to invest in a digital interchangeable lens camera (ILC) with at least one lens. Commonly referred to as DSLRs, or mirrorless ILC, these cameras offer speed, choice, and control. The convenience of smaller format ILCs, combined with their ability to work with affordable lenses, make these cameras a good starting point for most types of photography.
Point-and-shoot cameras USUALLY don’t deliver enough control or digital data to deliver professional quality photos. You can get some decent images with the higher-end digital point-and-shoot cameras, and as time goes by, you’ll see more published images come from these cameras, but generally, they don’t have sufficient focal length, dynamic range, response or image quality. Another problem with point-and-shoot cameras is that they are often too slow for some types of photography.
Therefore, I highly recommend an ILC camera. Medium and large format cameras are also an option, but not a practical one for most due to their cost, size and learning curve. ILC cameras offer a wider range of lenses, are usually less expensive, easier to carry, easier and faster to operate, and provide the most flexibility to photograph a wide range of subjects.
Why ILC Over Point-And-Shoot?
Shutter lag is the interminable span of time between the moment you trigger the shutter and the moment the camera actually captures the image. You won’t face this problem on a high-end ILC but point-and-shoot cameras are commonly slow. If your goal is to capture spur of the moment and candid opportunities, you’ll have far greater success with the ICL camera. This is especially important in wildlife, sports, baby and some other forms of photography. It’s impossible to calculate the number of times I’ve waited for a subject to move just a few inches this way or that. Having access to instant response in the shutter release is absolutely essential in such cases.
Digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLR) have one advantage over mirrorless ILCs. With a DSLR you can look through the lens (TTL.) This is the term used to describe what happens when you look through the viewfinder of an DSLR. (Mirrorless cameras and compact cameras use an electronic view finder (EVF.) You’ll see the actual composition recorded on the sensor. With point-and-shoot film cameras (most digitals have an LCD view screen), you’re usually looking through a viewfinder and not through the lens itself. This factor can introduce something called parallax error, a visual distortion resulting from the difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points. In other words, you’ll photograph a slightly different picture than what you saw through the viewfinder. Parallax error increases as distance to your subject decreases. This makes photographing close-ups without TTL problematic. While many newer cameras use “live view” to show you what the lens sees on the camera’s LCD, this is hard for some people to get used to, so for some of you, TTL might be the best choice.
Lenses – With ILC cameras, you have a wider range of lenses available. Whether you need a macro lens for close-ups or long telephoto lens to pull in wildlife, you’ll be able to attach one to your ILC camera body. This is something you can’t do with a point-and-shoot camera. Yes, there are macro attachments and digital zoom available on point-and-shoot cameras, but they are almost always for appearance sake and are quality compromises due to low-quality optics.
F/stops – By using a variety of interchangeable lenses, you’ll have a wider range of available f/stops to work with, giving you greater creative control with depth of field.
Shutter Speeds – ILC camera bodies also offer a wider range of shutter speeds, often from 30 seconds to 1/8000 of a second, as well as bulb setting. A wide range of shutter speed settings is a requirement for good general photography. Most point-and-shoots have a very limited shutter speed.
Metering – ILC camera bodies have more sophisticated metering systems. They also give you the choice between different metering patterns such as matrix metering, spot metering, and center-weighted metering. Many even permit you to shift the point of focus.
Auto focus – ILC camera bodies will give you faster auto focus. This is especially useful if you want to include fast-moving subjects in your photography. Most point-and-shoot cameras won’t permit manual focusing, something that is essential for landscape and close-up photography.
Filters – Lenses on many P/S cameras don’t allow for the use of filters. At a minimum, you’ll need to be able to attach a polarizing filter.
Flash – A modern ILC camera body gives you much greater creative control when using flash. You’ll be able to use more than one flash, and you’ll have other creative controls, such as rear-curtain sync and repeating flash.
Depth of Field Preview Button – A main reason I recommend the ILC camera over a point-and-shoot camera is the depth-of-field preview button. The DOF preview button shows the effect of your chosen f/stop on your image. You see what the film or sensor will see. This way you can fine-tune your image before pressing the shutter and avoid unpleasant surprises in the final image. I don’t know of any point-and-shoot camera that features a depth-of-field preview button, but most midrange to pro-level ILCs offer one. If you’re serious about any sort of outdoor or nature photography, I don’t recommend buying a camera without this feature.
All that said, there are some very good compact cameras out there. And while they will not deliver the image quality or flexibility of even an inexpensive ILC, they can make great – even salable images.
Assuming you want an ILC camera, here are some specific features to look for in a digital camera body:
Depth of Field Preview button. In my opinion, this is essential but Live View may make this less important.
High ISO noise reduction.
Full range of shutter speeds, from 30 seconds and bulb to at least 1/2000 second.
Spot meter capability.
Full range of exposure mode options, including manual, aperture priority, and shutter priority.
Continuous auto focus and focus tracking.
Capability of using a cable release. This reduces photographer-induced vibrations.
Multiple focus and spot meter points.
Motor drive. Most new cameras can achieve at least three frames per second.
Custom function capabilities that allow you to configure the camera for the way you like to work.
Built-in or add-on vertical grip with shutter release. This feature makes holding the camera in vertical orientation much more comfortable and makes working in the vertical orientation easier and more efficient, particularly for photographers with bigger hands.
The camera body feels right. This is very subjective. You should hold the camera in your hand and decide if you like the way it fits.
What haven’t I talked about? Sensor size for one. Most cameras costing $500 or more have very high-quality sensors that deliver more than enough information to make large prints. Do note that simply having more megapixels doesn’t mean better image quality. You want the physically largest sensor you can afford, not the one with the most pixels crammed on it. This is why even cheap ILCs tend to deliver better picture quality than compact cameras. The sensors in the ILC are physically larger than the sensor in the compact camera.
I haven’t talked about battery life, since most modern cameras have batteries that last a long time. I haven’t covered other technical or specialty features because frankly, if you’re reading this with interest, it’s probably because you’re new at this. That means you should stick with the basics for now. Later on, you’ll know what to look for when the time comes to upgrade.
Hybrid
There is one class of cameras worth mentioning here that don’t fall into the compact camera or ILC camera designations. I call these hybrid cameras. Cameras like the Fuji X100T which is a rangefinder style camera with a fixed lens. It’s superior in quality to the average compact but lacks the flexibility of an ILC. These sorts of cameras are great for people who want to compromise somewhere in the middle.
More About Sensors
I’ll now switch my discussion to ILCs. You can choose from a variety of sensor formats. Some cameras have a full-frame (FF) sensor which mimics the exact size of a 35mm piece of film. Some cameras use what we call a “crop-sensor.” This means that the sensor is smaller than a traditional 35mm piece of film, which means you have less depth-of-field, but the appearance of more focal length. Depending on which camera company has the hot hand, and what the current trends are when you read this, FF may be in vogue compared with crop-sensor cameras, or the other way around. To beginners, it shouldn’t be that important. You really can’t go wrong with most modern-day sensors, regardless of size. With one caveat….
Megapixel Madness
The camera buying public is often tricked into thinking the camera with the most megapixels is best. That’s simply not true. There are lots of details I could cover here, but they aren’t really that important. Suffice it to say that almost any modern digital camera costing $500 or more will have a sensor large enough, and offering enough megapixels to produce superb images.
Picking A Brand
Should you buy Canon or Nikon? Olympus, Panasonic, Fuji, etc.? Any current, brand-name camera system on the market today will give you very good results. Some things to take into consideration when choosing a brand are availability of lenses. Someday, you may want to add to your collection. Also consider things like image stabilization, ruggedness, custom features, and how easy it is to use. If you buy into a system that has limited lens choice, you may be held hostage to that camera system to your detriment. Most companies are making camera bodies that support multiple lens choices so this isn’t crucial, but worth mentioning.
Canon 600D + Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5
Another way to win here is to consider what you currently have access to. What are your friends using? If many of your friends are using Canon, and you buy Canon, you’ll have a ready-made “technical support” group (as well as sources for borrowing lenses.) Likewise, if all your friends are using Nikon, buy Nikon for the same reasons.
One point here to consider. When it comes to ILCs, Nikon and Canon together have the lion’s share of the market. That means it’s probably going to be easier to find accessories, educational materials, support, etc., when using these brands.
There are lots of choices out there. If you stick with big brands that offer large lens lines, you’ll be fine. Don’t agonize over this decision. Remember, you can’t go to the store where Stephen King buys his pens, and expect to write great novels. You can’t go to the art supply store where Van Gogh bought his paints and brushes and expect to make great paintings. And you can’t expect to buy cameras with secret powers either.
Gear Is Good, Vision Is Better
Photography is about having a vision, a good eye, passion for the subject, great light, access, storytelling and heart. The camera equipment is just a tool designed to help capture the rest. I don’t know a single professional photographer who’s ever told me an editor refused to buy an image because the photographer used the wrong camera. It’s your eye, your vision, your ability to tell a story with the camera and your desire that matter most.
Now just go out and buy the camera, whichever one it is, and start shooting. Good luck.
(Since many of you will ask, I will mention that at one time or another in my career, I’ve used just about every camera brand on the planet. I change my cameras as my personal photography goals change or new items come out that I think will make a difference FOR ME. Currently, I am using almost exclusively Fuji cameras and lenses, although I still shoot a Canon 1DX with long telephoto lenses for birds and wildlife.)
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