Often, we are asked “what is a good camera for someone just starting?”. Before this can be answered you must first ask yourself a few questions like, what are you interested in photographing, what sort of budget do you have, is this going to be a hobby, or are you looking to make this into your job? Let’s also talk about a few terms used in photography so you can understand your choices.
Basic terms to know:
DSLR and Mirrorless: DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex, this basically means when you look through the viewfinder, you are looking through the lens via a mirror and prism. This is so you can focus and frame your photo. A Mirrorless camera (the new technology) uses the camera’s sensor to feed a video to the viewfinder instead of a mirror, making the camera smaller and lighter. DSLR’s use less batteries versus a Mirrorless camera. The Mirrorless allows you to see what your photo will look like before you take the photo.
Crop (APS-C sensor & micro 4/3) or full frame:Here we are talking about the sensor size in the camera. A full frame camera has a sensor that is the same size as a 35mm film negative. Crop sensors are smaller which affect the size of the camera and lenses. There is also a slight decrease in low light performance with a crop sensor, but with modern cameras this is negligible.
Interchangeable Lens Bodies (ILB): These are cameras where you can change lenses for different applications. When we talk about DSL Rand Mirrorless cameras, we are talking about ILB cameras.
Compact and crossover cameras: These are cameras with a lens, generally a zoom lens, integrated into the camera that cannot be changed. They are best if you want something better than a cellphone, but you do not want to carry a lot of lenses around. Crossovers are bigger (they will not fit in your pocket) and have better zooms lenses, but the lens is still attached to the camera. The Nikon P950 and P1000 are loved by birders (people who want to photograph birds) because they have amazing zooms yet are lightweight and easy to use.
Prime and Zoom Lenses: A prime lens is a fixed focal length lens like 50mm. You need to move in closer or away from your subject if you want to fill the photo more with the subject. Zoom lenses allow you to use different focal lengths like 70mm-200mm. The prime lens is usually less expensive and often sharper and faster, where the zoom allows you flexibility.
In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS): This allows you to shoot at slow shutter speeds or lower light by reducing vibration or shaking.
Now that you have the basic lineup of choices, let’s talk about different cameras for what you want to shoot. If you are going to shoot as a professional or a serious hobbyist, you will want to go with a DSLR or Mirrorless, as they will offer more specialized lenses and higher quality.Whether to get a DSLR or Mirrorless is going to be a budget issue, yet I would recommend going Mirrorless if you can because the DSLRs are being phased out as the newer Mirrorless are becoming the mainstream.
Most people will start off with the cropped sensor cameras.They are less expensive yet still give you great photos with a smaller setup,so they are easier to carry around. If you want to shoot wildlife or sports you may want to keep using the cropped camera as they give you an advantage of a crop factor. This crop factor lets you photograph things further away with smaller, shorter focus length lenses. Shooting with a 200mm on a crop camera is like shooting with a 350mm or 360mm lens on a full frame body. The larger the number, the greater the magnification or smaller field of view.
If you want to shoot higher mega pixels or wide-angle photos, full frame cameras are better at these. Wide-angle are often used for landscape and architecture photography, and you can get more pixels on a larger sensor. To understand mega pixels better, read our blog on the subject here.
https://schillers.com/blog/the-megapixel-question
Here are our favorites for first time cameras.
Let’s talk about lenses. When you buy a camera that can take different lenses (DSLR and Mirrorless bodies) it can be bought as a body only or with a kit lens. These lenses are great to start with, mostly if you do not know what you want to photograph. 90% of what you want to photograph can be photographed with these lenses. These are often good lenses but not the best.As you improve you may want to buy another lens but start with the lens that comes with the camera. When you are ready for more lenses, consider if you are going to want a full frame camera in the future. You can buy lenses for a crop sensor camera that will not work well on a full frame camera, but all full frame lenses work on both crop and full frame cameras. The other general rule with lenses is “you buy the camera you can afford; you invest in lenses”. A good camera lens can last you several camera bodies, so when you spend, put your money on lenses, they are really the number one factor in great photography.
One last point. When you are looking for your first camera,come in and hold one. How it feels in your hands is very important. You can also ask our friendly staff for more details about the best camera for you. We will ask what your budget is, because there is a large range in camera pricing.We will also ask what you want to use it for. Photos of the family, your kids are getting into sports, you are going on your dream vacation, or do you want to go pro? These will all affect which camera will fit your needs best.