Finally, that moment is here! You have outgrown your phone camera, your point and shoot camera and now you want something a bit more serious. If you are looking towards photographing wedding photography, new borns, or concerts, you have found out that unless you work with more professional gear you are not really taken seriously. So time to take that next step.
Buying a new semi professional or fully professional camera isn’t cheap. In many cases, the prices alone will give you a heat attack. But if you been saving up some money your first decent DSLR of mirrorless in achievable. Perhaps the black Friday or Christmas deals are coming up and you decided you wanted to profit from that moment as much as you can.
Armed with your money you venture out, ready to buy your first camera, only to come back home completely overwhelmed by all the choices. What is the smartest buy for my money?
If you browse the world wide web you’ll see thousands of opinions on what is best. The camps are very divided and at times seem at war. DSLR, Mirrorless, Nikon, Canon, Sony, Leica, Pentax, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, etc. All really good gear, with really good photographers using them. And the one shouts louder than the other calling top spot.
Oh and do not forget to mention the many many options of objectives/lenses you can choose from. It all can seem so incredibly overwhelming.
So, now what? What to choose.
Well, I am not going to tell you to pick the very expensive Canon, or go for the Sony mirrorless. What I am going to give you are a few thoughts that you can use to make that selection a bit easier.
First, keep in mind that the joy you get from the camera you buy does not depend on the camera alone, but the capabilities of the camera compared to your skill level. There is nothing more disappointing than spending a lot of money on a very expensive, big professional edition of a camera only to find out that you cannot take the dream pictures because you do not know how to work a pro camera.
Yes, you can grow with that camera and do not need to buy a new one in a very long time but are you able to stay motivated throughout the process of learning to take better pictures if you are struggling to do so with the pro-version, or is it better to start cheaper, with a semi-pro, that is designed to teach you?
Second, don’t listen to the shouting on the socials! Read them, get yourself informed but don’t just follow that one photographer, just because you like his or her work.
The type and brand of camera suitable for you depends on many things, mainly:
Budget.
For what are you going to use it.
How are you going to use it.
Your skill level as explained before.
Let’s get into the “for what” first. The best choice in camera and even more so for lenses depends on what you what to photograph with it.
Is it concerts and festivals? Is it weddings? Is it landscapes? Is it trees? Is it animals? Wildlife? Travel? Portraits? Cities at night? So many options so many different results. I could go on and write a booklet about what to choose for what goal but I am not doing that here. I will give you some examples and things to consider in this:
Concerts and festivals are often in low light with fast moving subjects and high lights. Besides that you are often moving around between people or fences, or even a mosh pit. There you have to endure rain, heat, flying beer cans, etc. So, the camera and the objective you choose has to be capable to deal with all of that. You need a camera who can handle some abuse, has a good sensor to capture all the light available and because you are walking around a lot, easy to handle. The lens you choose has to have a good dynamic range so you can frame the subject easily, even from a distance. It also needs to be light sensitive (low aperture) and fast.
Weddings are a completely different type of ballgame. You need to be fast, easy to blend in, easy to move but also be capable to deal with every possible light and weather. Your camera needs to be light, it needs to be able to efficiently use battery and have a good sensor for the different types of light. Your lens needs to be able to go from wide angle to close up really fast.
With portraits, you often look for the soft fuzziness around the edges (bokeh), for sharp lines, and for the beautiful light settings. This can be achieved with most semi-pro camera’s, however if you want to do more extreme editing you might want to go with a camera that provide a lot of data in their raws. You look for a lens that allows you enough distance but being close enough to your model to guide
Landscapes, nature and travel looks for a light set of gear so you can hike easily, a camera that is flexible, and a lens with great dynamic range. And maybe even a tripod to get those beautiful misty mornings.
While wildlife, often it is necessary to keep your distance. A great zoom lens that can work in all circumstances but is light to carry, and of course, if you have to wait a long time, perhaps a good, fast flexible tripod.
So many things to consider and that is only the “what” side of the equation. Not the budget side or the How side. Though, those two are a lot easier.
The budget is always the most controlling or limiting one. You cannot spend more than you have. Often the advise is that it is better to spend less on the body and more on the glass work. But sensor capabilities are important in some types of photography.
The “How” is also a bit more simple. You don’t want to spend five years taking pictures only to end up in a hospital with an injury to your back, neck, shoulders or hands due to carrying around too heavy gear. You also don’t want to go out into nature and find that your camera is not equipped to handle wet weather of is able to take a bit of abuse during a festival.
These are things you can consider before buying the camera that is right for you, some camera’s just are a bit more sturdy than others.
When you considered all these things, you will often come to the conclusion that you still have multiple options. My advise is at this point, rent!
Find a company where you can rent the camera and lens you are considering buying and try it out in a shoot. You can rent multiple combinations and it will help you make a decision much easier. Even if you already have experiences with photography, challenge yourself and your believes by renting something you don’t know yet.
In the end, if you really want to make the jump, you are going to have to choose. This choice will never be the perfect one but make sure it is the one that brings you the most joy and allow you the most growth.