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What Camera Should I Buy?"

This commodity is meant for those that have ever asked, or take been asked the question "what camera should I buy?"

If you are a professional photographer, and so I am sure yous accept heard this question more than one time. Feel free to refer this guide to friends to assist them in determining exactly what kind of photographic camera they should purchase.

So, let's kickoff from the pinnacle for all of yous thirsting photograph-bugs. My first question is, "Do yous want a camera that volition help yous take pictures like the ones below?"

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Well, we have good news and not so good news.

The adept news is that all you need to accept the photos shown in a higher place is the almost basic camera yous can notice. In fact, all of the shots shown above were taken with an iPhone 3 and iPhone 4.

Don't believe me? Well, cheque out the Original iPhone Manner Shoot by the FStoppers, and our follow upwards Tribute iPhone Fashion Shoot by SLR Lounge.

Ok, and so what's the not so skillful news? Well, the non then expert news is that in order to take corking photos it actually has far less to do with the actual camera and more with the photographer's skill and expertise. Bottom line is that you need to learn photography and lighting.

Learning photography and lighting are definitely across the scope of this article, simply at least nosotros can aid you in deciding "what camera you should buy" right now.

the-camera-is-a-tool

Know That the Photographic camera is Simply a Tool

The whole purpose in showing you the images from our iPhone photo shoots above, is to bulldoze home a single point,

spending more money on camera gear volition not necessarily aid yous in creating better photos.

In fact, our photography studio (Lin and Jirsa Photography) receives 2-iii applicants a day, each with several thousands of dollars of professional equipment. However, each year nosotros only find a handful of applicants that really shoot well enough to work for the studio.

Then, the question goes beyond "what camera should I purchase" or "what is the best photographic camera to buy" every bit you need to know that a photographic camera is merely a tool. Having a nicer camera will open up more flexibility and options every bit a photographer. It volition allow you to capture more particular, or shoot in situations that would otherwise not be possible. It can also brand your job as a lensman easier. However, it will non make y'all a better photographer.

This would be similar to the argument that buying a sports automobile makes you a professional race auto driver, or that ownership a $500 frying pan makes yous a professional chef. A professional photographer should be able to go keen results regardless of the camera he or she uses. Ok, and so let's move on in helping you determine which camera is right for you. But, first things commencement, let's simplify things a bit and define each photographic camera course for the purpose of this article.

camera-types

Camera Types Broken Downwardly

This may exist an oversimplification of sorts, merely information technology is necessary. Nosotros are going to pause down digital cameras into five basic types that we can easily reference in this article:

Point & Shoot (P&S) – Indicate and Shoot (hither on referred to as "P&S") will refer to bones point and shoot cameras without advanced DSLR functionality such as the ability to shoot RAW, control advanced camera functionality, or bandy lenses.

The Nikon Coolpix series, Sony Cyber-shot series and Catechism PowerShot serial are all examples of P&S cameras.

Avant-garde Betoken and Shoots (AP&S) – Advanced Point and Shoots (here on referred to as "AP&Due south") volition refer to all advanced point and shoot cameras, as well as micro four-thirds cameras with avant-garde functionality and interchangeable lens systems. We understand that many micro four-thirds and mirrorless camera systems can take DSLR quality photos, but let'south put them in this form regardless.

The Nikon 1 series, Catechism PowerShot Chiliad serial and Sony NEX series are all examples of AP&S cameras.

Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) – DSLR will refer to all entry and enthusiast level full-sized DSLR systems with avant-garde functionality and removable lenses.

The Canon Rebel series and Nikon D3000+ series are examples of entry and enthusiast level DSLRs.

Advanced Digital Single-Lens Reflex (ADSLR) – Advanced Digital Unmarried-Lens Reflex systems (here on referred to equally "ADSLR") will refer to all "prosumer" and professional level DSLRs including crop and full frame cameras.

The Canon 6D and Nikon D600 are arguably "prosumer" ADSLRs while anything above the Catechism 5D Mark III or Nikon D800 would be more than forth the lines of a professional ADSLR.

Medium Format Cameras (MFC) – Medium Format Cameras refer to all ultra-high resolution professional medium format cameras and digital backs.

The Hasselblad H4D-50 and Pentax 645D, and Phase One are examples of medium format cameras.

Four Basic Questions

Deciding on which camera to purchase comes down to 4 simple questions. The first 2 questions will determine the class of photographic camera that you should buy, while the 2d ii questions make up one's mind the brand and model.

Choosing a Photographic camera Grade

1. What Is Your Budget?

2. What Are Interests and Goals with Photography?

Camera Make & Model

3. What is Your Photographic Specialty?

4. What System Do Your Friends Use?

your-overall-budget

Setting an Overall Photography Budget

Let'due south be honest,

if we all had $100,000 to spend on camera gear, deciding which photographic camera is right for you really wouldn't be that big of a question.

We would simply purchase the nicest cameras bachelor in every size shape we desire. This is why budget is the biggest and well-nigh important question of them all when it comes to determining which camera you will buy.

The 2 Part Budget Question

How much yous want to spend on your camera is the first part of that equation. Merely, how much yous desire to spend on lenses and accessories is really the larger part of that overall upkeep equation. You don't demand to spend this money all at one time, but you practise need to decide if you desire to continually invest in new gear.

This is what we refer to as an "Overall Budget" and information technology should be composed of 2 pieces. The first piece is an "Initial Buy Budget," which is the amount that someone tin afford to spend on a camera right this moment. While the second piece of our budget is our "Ongoing Purchase Budget" which is the amount someone wishes to spend on lenses and accessories for their camera over 3-v years.

Paul and Amy – A Real Earth Case

Let's farther illustrate by walking through two examples:

Paul – Initial Purchase Budget $ane,000; Ongoing Purchase Budget $500

Amy – Initial Purchase Budget $1,000; Ongoing Purchase Budget $5,000

While Paul and Amy'southward Initial Purchase Budget are both identical, our recommendations to them will not be the same. Why? Considering Paul has an Ongoing Purchase Budget of $500, he would be better off purchasing a less expensive AP&S arrangement than a DSLR system. AP&South photographic camera systems have excellent image quality and their related lenses/accessories are also much less expensive given the smaller size and format of the cameras. This means that with Paul's Initial and Ongoing Purchase Budgets, he would take a much more than powerful overall camera system going with a AP&S camera with plenty of lenses and accessories rather than that of a DSLR camera with only one lens and a limited amount of accessories.

While Amy has the same Initial Purchase Budget as Paul, we would recommend that she purchases the appropriate DSLR that best fits her photographic interests and her initial purchase budget. The lenses and accessories purchased with her Ongoing Purchase Budget will proceed to serve her, even if and when she decides to upgrade to a new DSLR body in the future.

Moral of the story, when setting a budget, it is of import to remember and set your Overall Budget, rather than just an Initial Purchase Budget.

What Are Your Interests and Goals with Photography?

The adjacent question in determining the Photographic camera Course is to inquire:

what are your goals and interests when information technology comes to photography?

Are you truly interested in learning photography equally a hobby; practise you want to get a professional person photographer; or are you simply interested taking ameliorate photos? Why are these questions of import?

It doesn't brand sense to spend thousands of dollars on a DSLR system, a micro 4/3 arrangement, or fifty-fifty an avant-garde betoken and shoot if you lot accept no intention or desire to acquire photography in depth.

You would essentially be wasting dollars on a arrangement that has features and abilities that y'all will never use. In fact, the vast majority of people that accept gone to Costco and purchased a kit Canon Rebel or Nikon D3200 already have a camera that is far across their photographic needs and understanding. For this reason, for the photographer that doesn't wish to heavily invest in their photographic education, a nice P&South system will give you the all-time overall results since they are designed to be uncomplicated and more often than not automated.

Recommended Camera Classes Based on Photography Budget & Goals

OVERALL Upkeep

$500

$i,000

$ii,500

$10,000

$25,000

$50,000+

Hobbyist

P&S

AP&S

AP&South

–

–

–

Enthusiast

–

AP&S

AP&South | DSLR

DSLR | ADSLR

–

–

Professional

–

–

–

DSLR | ADSLR

ADSLR

ADSLR | MFC

The table above shows our three levels of interest (Hobbyist, Enthusiast and Professional) along with our recommendations on the camera organisation type based on their Overall Budget. Remember that the Overall Upkeep also includes lenses and accessories equally well. Allow's explain each of these further to clarify:

Hobbyists – Hobbyists enjoy taking photos and want to learn to take better photos, but are not necessarily interested in investing a lot of time into learning photography. This is probably the category that the majority of people fall into. Portability and ease of use is the primary need for Hobbyists.

P&S or AP&Due south camera arrangement will provide more functionality then they would probably ever demand. In improver, since P&S and AP&S systems are designed with beginners in mind, they by and large have more sophisticated automated modes which yields improve pictures when starting out. Professional results tin be achieved with an AP&S system, so there is really no reason for the Hobbyist to ever spend more than than $ii,500 on their equipment.

Enthusiasts – Enthusiasts are avid photographers who not only savor photography, only also savour learning about photography. They invest quite a bit of time into learning photography, besides equally shooting. Enthusiasts want to create professional quality images, just aren't necessarily interested in making a living off of photography. Quality, features, and portability are the Enthusiast's needs.

An Enthusiast will probably want to skip the $500 toll point all together since they nigh probable wont be able to get the camera and accessories they desire. Whether they are shooting on an AP&S or basic DSLR system, they will be able to continue their progression in photography and capture amazing images. If the Enthusiast has plenty of room to spare in their budget to spend on their hobby, then they may desire to step into an ADSLR. However, I would by and large recommend Enthusiasts to stick to an overall budget between $2,500 and $10,000. In that location is really not much if any demand to step beyond $10,000 unless the Enthusiast simply enjoys collecting gear.

Professionals – Professionals (or aspiring professionals) are heavily invested in their photographic education, every bit they shoot or programme to shoot for a living. While they may also shoot for fun, quality, functionality and versatility are the primary needs of professionals and aspiring professionals.

Professionals and Aspiring Professionals actually demand to bound past the $500, the $one,000 and in my stance, fifty-fifty the $2,500 Overall Upkeep points. An Aspiring Professional person needs to be willing to spend at to the lowest degree $10,000 on their gear, but it doesn't need to be all at once. It is totally fine for an Aspiring Professionals outset out with beginner DSLR bodies and buy pro-quality lenses until they are set up to move upwards to an ADSLR body.

Most established Professionals will have at least $25,000 worth of equipment. Depending on where the Professional is in his or her career, it isn't unusual for the Professional photographer to take $fifty,000+ worth of gear. In fact, it isn't unusual for a commercial lensman to have upwards of $100,000 – $150,000 in gear if they are shooting with MFC (Medium Format Cameras) and high-finish professional lighting equipment.

Which Camera Make/Model is Best For You?

Nosotros accept discussed our Overall Budget and Goals/Interests with photography which goes into helping us choose a Camera Grade. Now nosotros have to determine which specific make and model is right for united states of america. This is going to come down to ii additional questions which we talk over below:

What is Your Desired Photographic Specialty?

type-of-photography

What is your desired photographic speciality, or better yet, what type of photography near interests you? Do you primarily shoot sports, or are your interests more in portrait photography? Of class, there are non a lot of us that tin beget to have a specific camera for everything we shoot. We will all end up doing some portraits, sports, landscape and everything in betwixt from time to fourth dimension with the same camera.

Merely, information technology is important to decide what type of photography most interests you. Knowing your primary photographic specialty will help determine specific features yous will want in your camera.

the-bigger-the-camera-the-better

Bigger is Not Always Better

The reason for this is simple. Let's all dream for a moment and imagine nosotros have $100,000 to spend on a camera torso. Well, if we have $100,000 we should buy a MF Phase One camera and fourscore megapixel digital back, right? NOT NECESSARILY!.

Let's say we want to primarily shoot activeness and sports. An action or sports lensman needs focal range, high frame rates, skilful low light sensitivity, lens versatility, tough structure and a system that is skilful on the go.

Having an expensive medium format camera system with 1-2 frames per second, poor low light sensitivity, a limited line up of telephoto lenses and overall a less portable and more sensitive body construction is going to just prevent you from taking the best photos possible. So clearly budget isn't the only question because "bigger is non always ameliorate." Information technology is important to empathize our chief photographic interests in order to decide the all-time camera, or rather the best tool for the job.

While there are tons of potential specialties of photography, again we are going to intermission information technology downward into a few basic specialties which are each discussed beneath:

Important Features for Unlike Specialties

Activity/Sports – Alive activity and sports photographers need to get equally close as possible to the activity, likewise as need to react quickly to the action. For this reason, Frame Rate, Crop Factor and Megapixels are the 3 principal camera features you lot volition want to look into.

You lot volition want cameras that have higher frame rates (vi+ frames per 2nd) to permit you lot to capture the action with several frames per second. In addition, the cameras Crop Factor (sensor magnification) as well as its megapixel resolution (to crop in post production) will aid you in getting as close as possible to the activeness.

In this category, cameras similar the Catechism 7D and Nikon D7000 are great middle of the road DSLRs for action and sports. While the Canon 1D Series and Nikon D4 Series systems are their flagship cameras sports and action photography.

Editorial/Style – Editorial and mode photographers need high quality color representation as well as item (which means resolution/megapixels). High quality sensors with strong color reproduction is crucial for authentic skin tones, textures and colors.

In addition, having plenty of megapixels will capture plenty item to allow photographers to crop in on an paradigm while still maintaining a loftier quality printable file. In the ADSLR market place, the all-time camera for this task is actually the Nikon D800 and D800e with the Canon 5D Mark Three trailing. In the ultra-high stop MFC (Medium Format Photographic camera) market we have cameras such equally Phase Ane, Hasselblad, Mamiya, etc.

Nature/Landscapes – Nature, urban and landscape photography is a picayune less enervating every bit far as overall features. The main consideration here is the camera's sensor itself. Specifically, how much detail and Dynamic Range can the sensor capture. The more Dynamic Range captured the better. Unfortunately, the more avant-garde sensors that capture more Dynamic Range volition also finish up costing quite a scrap more.

Currently, Nikon really has the corner on this market place with the D800E, D800 and D600 having the best overall dynamic range.

Portraits/Glamour – Portrait and glamour photography tin be washed with most whatever photographic camera because the primary focus in this type of photography is the overall lighting. By and large these photographers are shooting in controlled situations, hence virtually anything from a Canon Rebel to a Nikon D800 will work just fine for portraits and glamour photography. All the same, my favorite ADSLR cameras inside for this field of photography is the Canon 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800.

Events/Journalism – Upshot (wedding ceremony, corporate, etc) and journalism are extremely demanding areas of photography in terms of photographic camera features. Withal, the about crucial features include strong performance in depression-calorie-free scenes, weather sealing, and good overall performance in regards to resolution, frame charge per unit, etc.

If yous are a professional (or aspiring professional) I wouldn't recommend using annihilation less than an ADSLR within this field, my 2 favorites once more being the Canon 5D Mark Three and the Nikon D800.

What System Do Your Friends Use?

I know this seems kind of ridiculous, but hear me out. Your final consideration in the photographic camera brand should have something to practise with what those effectually you are using. This isn't to say that this cistron should be to a higher place features and budget, it should just be a a consideration. Let me explicate.

Let'south say you lot have narrowed your search to two cameras, one is a Catechism camera and 1 is a Nikon photographic camera (the proverbial contend). Lets say that both cameras are identical in overall features; or amend yet, they are identical in the features that matter to you. Both cameras too fit in your budget and either would work just fine.

At this point, the decision should come downwardly to what those around you use. If you lot are surrounded by Canon users, then you are ameliorate off going Catechism. If y'all are surrounded past Nikon users, then besides, yous are ameliorate off going Nikon. The reason for this is simple. If those around you are using the aforementioned camera make and like models, and so they will be able to assist you when y'all have questions. Yous will exist able to loan/borrow gear to/from each other. Overall, it will assist y'all to grow as a lensman that much quicker since yous can build on their feel.

This is why it belongs in this equation as a final consideration before purchasing your camera.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has been of help to you lot in understanding what type of camera you should purchase. After you have answered the simple questions posed in this article, so all it comes down to is selecting the camera that best fits your desired features and budget.

Before long, nosotros volition be posting a camera buying guide with our favorite cameras in each price range for each type of photography, so be sure to check back!