AWAI Exclusive Free Report: How to Buy the Right Camera

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How to Buy the Right Camera

"The truth is, you can take great photos with lousy cameras and lousy photos with great cameras. Your decision rides mostly, then, on what you plan to do with the camera and where you plan to sell the pictures it produces." - Professional Photographer Rich Wagner

Photography is truly a field that has something for everyone. Whether you love gadgets and want the latest high-tech tools or you are always on-the-go and need something lightweight and easy, you can be sure there are cameras and gear out there to match your needs.

But with so many choices on the shelf today, how do you decide which is best for you?

This report lays out everything you need to know about different types of cameras and the pros and cons that go along with each.  It also answers frequent questions we get from our readers like...
 
"What does SLR stand for?"  
"How many megapixels do I need?"  
"Nikon, Canon... or what about this camera that's on sale?"  

We'll start by talking about the difference between a point-and-shoot camera and an SLR and what kind of camera belongs in your ideal kit...

The Difference between a Point-and-shoot Camera and a SLR

Cameras are generally divided into two main categories: Point-and-shoot and SLR.

Point-and-shoot Cameras - For the most part, point-and-shoots are compact, lightweight, and easy to travel with. They almost always have zoom capabilities (both optical and digital).  And, if you're just starting out, the camera you most likely already own, or the camera you'll probably buy first, will fall into this category.

SLRs - In addition to having lenses that are removable and interchangeable, SLRs usually offer many more options for controlling the camera, including the ability to change your aperture and shutter speed settings as well as shoot in "full manual."

The biggest (and probably most important) difference that distinguishes a digital point-and-shoot from a digital SLR lies in the quality of the pictures each is capable of making.

While point-and-shoot cameras have their own advantages (they're compact, easy to travel with, usually cheaper, and they auto-adjust almost everything to help you get the best picture possible), they cannot compete with SLRs in terms of image quality.

That is because digital SLRs have much larger image sensors. This larger sensor size produces a much higher quality image and, therefore, the pictures you produce with an SLR will be saleable in many more markets than those taken with a point-and-shoot.

How to Choose the Camera That's Best for You: The Ideal Kit

There's actually no such thing as the "Ideal Kit," no more than there is an ideal mate, or an ideal car. It's all subjective, and it all depends on what your photography goals are.

While it's always best to have at least one camera on you at all times, it's likely you'll want a different setup for each of the different kinds of shooting you'll do.

Here's a quick glimpse of some of the equipment most photographers carry...


Most professional photographers own a compact point-and-shoot camera they can easily slip into their bag or carry in their pocket.

Some will tell you they never leave home without it. All agree that a lower quality picture taken with a point-and-shoot is better than no picture at all. And sometimes, it's just not prudent to carry your bigger equipment around.

This is the first level of equipment you should have in your kit. At times, it'll be the only equipment you carry.

When you're buying a compact point-and-shoot, try to get one that has at least 5 megapixels.

Megapixels aren't all you should be thinking about though, because not all megapixels are created equal. Five megapixels on a point-and-shoot camera isn't the same as five megapixels in a SLR.

It's a start, though.  So let that be one of your buying guides.

In total, you'll want to consider the following when you're buying a digital point-and-shoot...

1. Megapixels.  These days, you shouldn't consider anything less than 5 megapixels.

2. Optical zoom.  If your camera comes with "digital" zoom, turn it off.  When you set your camera to use digital zoom, it's only enlarging a very small part of an already small sensor. While it may look OK on the computer, it will not print well. Most cameras allow you to turn off the digital zoom setting. You should do that and ignore anything the salesman tells you about digital zoom.  A good camera will have more than 3 x "optical" zoom.  The best have closer to 6 x optical.  

3. The size of your fingers.  When you're shopping for a point and shoot, it's best to start at a store where you can try out several makes and models.  In most cases, the smaller the camera, the smaller the buttons.  Shop around for one that feels comfortable.

4. Battery type.  Some cameras take AA batteries.  Others have brand-specific rechargeables.  It's nice to be able to pick up batteries in a store if you run out on a shoot, but it can get expensive and your battery life won't typically last as long.  Rechargeables are great if you can pack an extra set.

5. The size of the LCD screen. If you have bad eyes, the LCD screen quality and size are of prime importance. You’ll also want to be sure your camera has a viewfinder (a hole to look through to take your picture) in addition to the LCD screen because it’s incredibly hard to see your LCD screen in the sun. You’ll want to be able to look through the viewfinder on sunny days and believe it or not, this option isn’t available on all cameras.

6. Brand.  Nikon and Canon make great point-and-shoot cameras.  They're usually at the top of the line.  Sony has great point-and-shoots, too, but all their equipment is proprietary - it doesn't mix well with equipment and accessories of other brands. 

An important thing to keep in mind about point-and-shoots is that they tend to be highly automated. In other words, they make exposure decisions for you. That said, several models on the market-such as the Canon G11 and the Nikon Coolpix P6000 give the photographer both automatic and manual control.

Digital point-and-shoots are capable of producing images that can be printed up to 8 inches by 10 inches-perfect for uploading to websites like Facebook, or for sending to friends over the Internet.
But, if you want a professional image to print in a large format-such as a fine art print that you can sell-or would like to submit images to a stock agency, you'll need to use a DSLR.

A Digital SLR

Point-and-shoot cameras come equipped with zoom lenses that allow you to shoot wide-angle and telephoto pictures, but you're limited to the zoom range that is fixed to the camera. With a DSLR, there are literally hundreds of different zoom lenses to choose from, giving you greater creative control.

DSLRs have an image sensor that's significantly larger than those of point-and-shoot cameras and can produce a much higher-quality image. So when it comes to image quality, bigger is better.

Camera-makers have led us to believe that a camera with more megapixels is always a better camera. But that doesn't always hold true.

When you pack more pixels on a small image sensor, you tend to lose image quality. So, when you see a point-and-shoot camera with a higher megapixel count than a DSLR, it doesn't mean that the quality is going to be better. The pixels on a DSLR sensor are themselves bigger, yielding a better image.

Again, the type of camera you buy should be based on the type of images you want to shoot and how they will be used. For instance, if you are shooting still-life images or portraits, many of the entry-level DSLRs will perform well. However, you should try to select a DSLR with at least 12 megapixels. The Canon Rebel XSi and the Nikon D5000 are good choices for your first step up to a pro camera.  (Note: the Canon Rebel link above is for the body-only.)

If you want to photograph sports or wildlife for stock agencies, you'll need to jump to the next level of quality and sophistication -- the Nikon D300 or Canon 50D. Of course, your jump up in quality also ups the price.

Most professional photographers will tell you that their preferences in camera brands are largely dependent on how the camera feels and handles, not just on how many pixels or "scene" choices it has.

All professional grade cameras are ruggedly built and many have a fair amount of water resistance. With those in the water resistant group, you can shoot in the rain, sleet, and snow and never have a problem.

This doesn't come without a downside, though. Better-protected cameras are generally heavier. What's more, they scream "I'm going to take your picture!!!" and they make candid shooting nearly impossible.

It's very important to physically handle multiple cameras before you buy. It isn't enough to Google all the reviews and make your decision based on Internet statistics. A camera is like a pair of jeans. You've got to try it on before you buy and make sure it fits. Is it too heavy? Are the most common functions - changing your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and exposure compensation - easily manipulated on the body of the camera without having to search through the menus on the LCD screen?

The major players in digital SLR photography today are Canon, Nikon, and Olympus, with Canon and Nikon in the lead.

The major advantage to sticking with these brands is that they've been at this for a long time. They're not likely to go out of business (leaving you with a bunch of equipment you can't sell off, upgrade, or repair). And if you stick with Canon or Nikon, you'll have a large selection of accessories to choose from.

The rest comes down to price.  Typically, more expensive cameras buy you more durability and larger sensor sizes.  More expensive cameras also tend to take better pictures at night with less "noise" in your shadows and faster ISO speeds.

Manufacturers tend to improve their cameras every 18 months and update a number of their lenses annually. The same is true for camera bags, memory cards, tripods, and other accessories. So, be aware that there is always new or upgraded equipment coming on the horizon.

Of course, you have to start somewhere. Best you can do is purchase an entry-level camera and use it for a couple of years. When you're ready to upgrade, you can place your old equipment on consignment at a professional camera store or sell it to a mail-order outlet such as Adorama or KEH Camera.


The Canon Rebel XSi is a great starter SLR camera for beginners.  It has 12 Megapixels, and you can find it online for about $579 with a standard, normal lens (at the time of this writing).

The Canon Rebel XS is nice, too, (and typically sells for $499) but you'll only save $80 by choosing this model over the XSi and if you're interested in selling your photos as stock, those extra two megapixels can be enough to move your images up a notch on the online stock photography scale.XS.  (Currently only the Rebel XSi makes this size leap.)

The Nikon D3000 and D5000 have a similar story. But the D5000 will cost you an extra $200 to $300 for those extra two megapixels so it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. The D3000 is an excellent starter camera.



Everything more expensive than the Canon Rebel XSi and the Nikon D5000 is best purchased by considering the price you're willing to pay and what that price buys you - faster ISO speeds, more durability, a larger sensor size, and potentially newer technology.

Your best bet is to figure out how much you're willing to spend and then go into a store to look at your options.  Price alone will narrow your search dramatically.  And brand will help you narrow them even further.  

Again, Nikon and Canon are the biggest players.  Both make really great cameras.  And both will be easy to resell when you're ready to upgrade.

And beware of Sony.  Sony cameras need special adapters when you want to use anything that's not made by the Sony brand -- studio lights, external flashes, etc.  It's generally not worth the hassle to start down that road.

Lenses

When you're buying a camera in the store, your salesman will more or less tell you what you're getting.  But when you buy online, make sure you double-check to see whether or not your camera comes with a lens.  Usually, the description will tell you.  Or it'll say "camera kit" which implies you'll get both the camera body and a lens.

Most starter cameras come with an 18-55mm lens.  This will serve you well on the street and at family picnics.  

Most photographers, however, want something with a little more range for photographing things farther away and/or a faster lens for photographing things in low light.

Most likely, you'll expand your kit to include:

1. a "normal" zoom lens from around 28-70mm
2. a wide angle lens from 15-35mm, and
3. a telephoto lens covering 100-200mm

Sports photographers need telephotos in the 200-400mm range. Landscape photographers use telephotos and wide angles, sometimes as short as 17mm or so. And food photographers likely want a "fast" lens (more on that in a minute).

How to Buy a Lens

Quality lenses make a noticeable improvement in your pictures, so it's far better to buy a quality used lens than a cheap knock-off of a no-name brand.

A high-quality lens can last your entire photographic career, even when you upgrade camera bodies - as long as you stay with the same brand.

KEH Camera (www.keh.com) and Adorama (www.adorama.com) are reputable sites for buying and selling used camera equipment.

If you don't know what you want, start with the lens that comes with your camera and work your way through the ones listed above.  

Lenses are generally classified by their focal length and their maximum aperture.

A 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 zoom lens has a lens focal length between 28 and 135mm and a maximum aperture of f.3.5 - f5.6, depending on how far you extend the telephoto (zoom).

Aperture is like the iris of your eye.  The more you open up your aperture, the more light you let into your camera.  And, conversely, the more you close it, the less light you let in.

And aperture is measured in f-stops.  F-1.0 is the widest aperture setting you can get -- the most light your lens can let in.  And f-22 is the smallest -- the least amount of light you can let in.

So, with a 28-135mm f3.5- f5.6 lens, you can't open it up all the way.  You can only open it to f3.5.  That's the maximum aperture for that lens.  

Why is that important?

Well, think of it this way...

If your camera needs more light to hit the digital sensor in order to make a correctly exposed image, and it can't open up your lens to get the light it needs, it has no choice but to adjust your shutter speed.

If it does that - adjusts your shutter speed - you run the risk of getting a blurry image if you're in a low-light situation.  (Remember, the longer your shutter stays open, the more chance you have of getting camera shake.)

So, that's why food photographers often want a "fast" lens.  That is, a lens that'll let you open the aperture as close to 1.0 as you can get, so that your shutter speed can stay fast in dimly lit restaurants.

Do you need a fast lens?

Probably not.  Travel photographers might not care about speed as much as they do telephoto length.  But it's something to consider when you're adding lenses to your toolkit.

Most likely, the first lens you buy will be a 28-70mm f2.4 lens.  It's still considered fast, and it also has a nice telephoto.

And, if you can't decide which lens is best for you, start with the lens that comes in your camera kit. You can always trade up later.  

So which is right for you: Point-and-shoot or SLR?

Truth is, point-and-shoots are great cameras to start learning on because they don't typically have all the bells and whistles an SLR camera has. That means you can master basic photography techniques without getting bogged down in the technical specifics of your camera. (They're also great on trips where a bulkier camera might be more of a hindrance than a help.)

Besides that, almost all of the techniques in our e-letter archives and our Turn Your Pictures into Cash Program can be practiced on a point-and-shoot. Selective focus will be an exception. Other than that, their main drawback is when it comes to selling your work. They don't produce images of a high enough quality for most publications.

If you're technically savvy enough to jump straight into an SLR camera, and you want to sell your photos (not just take great pictures for your scrapbook), then you might be better off starting right out of the gate with an SLR.

Of course, having said that, no matter which camera you have, you will come across buyers and editors who would like you to use something else: a different format, a different film, a different pixel count, you name it.

When that happens, don't worry about it. Remember - the reverse is also true. There are buyers and editors out there who prefer to work with your type of camera, too. And, there are a lot of different markets out there. Each has its own requirements. You just have to learn to focus on the markets best suited for the equipment you've got.

In general, point-and-shoot markets include:

- Online stock agencies (though you'll have a lot more images turned down for image quality and size than you will with an SLR)...
- Supporting photos to go with a travel article on the web...
- Most newspapers...
- The family scrapbook...
- Fine art for pieces 8 x 10 and smaller.

SLR markets have no limits.  You can sell to:

- Stock agencies (both print and online)...
- Travel magazines...
- Newspapers...
- Text books...
- Fine art...
- Galleries...
- Web markets...
- Portraits...
- Etc.

PPI and DPI

Why do some pictures look great on your computer but blurry and pixilated when you print them out? The answer lies in PPI and DPI. Both are used to measure image resolution.

DPI (or dots per inch) refers to the number of individual dots of ink a printer or toner can produce within one inch of paper space. PPI (or pixels per inch) refers to the number of digital pixels per inch your computer screen and/or camera need to display a picture of the same resolution.

Technically, they're different (resolution in print vs. in digital) but a lot of people confuse the two.

What you need to know, as a photographer who wants to publish his/her pictures both on the web and in print, is that your computer screen displays everything at 72 ppi, while prints on paper generally require 300 dpi to make a quality reproduction. That means an image measuring 1050 x 1500 ppi will display on your computer screen as 15 inches x 21 inches (1050/72 = 15 by 1500/72 = 21). But that same image printed on paper at 300 dpi will only print to 3.5 x 5 (1050/300 = 3.5 by 1500/300 = 5). If you try to print it at 15 x 21, like it appears on your computer screen, you'll stretch the image and it'll appear blurry and pixelated.

What else do I need?

You'll need several other things to round out your camera kit...

Just when you're ready to make that shot of a lifetime, there is nothing more frustrating than running out of space on a memory card or having your battery die. So, always carry extra memory cards and an extra battery. If you tend to shoot a lot of photos, start the day with a large memory card in your camera and carry at least one more in a card wallet that fits in your pocket along with an extra battery.

If you want to shoot in low-light situations or make high-quality landscape images, you'll need a tripod and a shutter release. A shutter release sets off your camera without you having to touch it... thus preventing the camera shake that comes from pressing the shutter button when you're making longer exposures. Today, most shutter releases are a camera accessory made by the camera's manufacturer, so you have to buy them at a camera store or by mail order.

There are all kinds of tripods on the market - some of which don't provide much stability for your camera.

Here's what you need to look for in a tripod:

** Weight - The tripod should be heavy enough to support your camera and lens. Check to see if the tripod has a rating for how much weight it will be able to carry. You don't want to put a DSLR on a tripod that is rated for a point-and-shoot, and you most likely won't need a tripod that is rated for 25 pounds.

** Legs - Next, look at how the legs are extended and secured. Can you easily loosen and tighten the legs and ensure that they will not slip or collapse? Most tripods have a center column. Don't use it, because the camera is most stable when the center column is not extended.

** Height - Finally, the tripod, when extended, should place the camera viewfinder at your eye level when you are standing. You should not have to bend over to look through the viewfinder. You will really like this feature when you are waiting for the perfect sunset and constantly checking things through the viewfinder.

Bottom line: Take your time and you'll find the equipment that best suits your needs.

Your Most Important Asset

While there is a plethora of different camera equipment available on the market, hopefully this report has broken things down in a way that makes it easy for you to discern the main advantages and disadvantages of each option.  

Ultimately, what you plan to do with your pictures and where you plan to sell them will be the deciding factor for which particular brand and model of camera you buy.  

Remember, too, though that your most important tool as a photographer isn't your camera. It's your eyes. As you become more advanced in your photography, you'll learn to see things differently from the average person: the details/angles/lighting/etc.

The key isn't just purchasing the right equipment; it's being able to develop a photographer's eye. Practice with your new equipment and you'll improve your overall sense of the craft, how well you see things, and the quality of your photos.

Join us on one of our photography expeditions and learn to see the world through your lens.
We have several exciting events planned for the coming year, including photo expeditions in Ecuador, Rome, Puerto Rico, Thailand and beyond.

Seats always fill up fast, so be sure to put yourself on our Workshop Alert list to be among the first notified about these events, here: AWAI Photo Workshops

© Copyright 2010 by American Writers & Artists Inc.

**For a full list of cameras and their accessories, printers, scanners, and more visit B&H video's Digital Photography Page