Photography | How To Choose a DSLR Camera

© 2010 Wazari Wazir | The Photographers Equipment | Parliament Square

First of all, I would like to let you know that the above camera is not a DSLR but it was a film camera, among Nikon top of the line SLR camera before F6 coming out. I know you can find this type of topic or subject all around the internet, how to do this and how to do that, I’ve read some of them and I’m writing this article base from my own voice and experience, it is more like an advice rather than recommendation, before I go any further, I would like to let you know once again, I’m not going to recommend anything at the end of the article. I mean, I will not recommend you to buy this camera or that camera, this brand or that brand.

It’s up to you to decide on your own. Like I said, I will give some advice and few thought base from my own experience and if you are hoping to know which camera or which brand to buy you will be upset, read on if you wanted to learn from my experience since I will not make any recommendation or suggestion, just some insight and ideas to open up your mind a bit.

Lets make things clear, a camera is just a tool, it is not a robot, a camera can’t think on its own, in term of technical aspect maybe, because it was programme  to do so, but lets not forget some camera does  work better than the other, some camera are easier to operate than the other and not to forget also, some camera look better than the other, handle well than the other.

I want to discuss about DSLR camera here, I don’t want to talk about point and shoot camera even though, there are great point and shoot camera out there and some of them are more expensive than entry level DSLR. There are two type of DSLR on the market now, one is Full Frame Camera and the other one is “Non Full Frame Camera”, there are “Crop Factor” involved, 1.5x 0r 1.6x crop factor for some camera. Nikon camera usually have 1.5x crop factor while Canon have 1.6x crop factor, I’m talking about the size of the sensor, CCD or CMOS sensor that are widely use nowadays.

Crop Factor Conversions

Some of you will be confuse about this so called “Crop Factor”, what it is actually, I try to make it easy for you to understand. Full Frame Camera is a camera which is the size of their sensor (CCD or CMOS) is the same as the size of the original 35mm film camera which is 24 x 36mm, that is the size of the negative, I mean the size of the Single Frame of the 35mm negative film.

Full Frame Camera have that size while any camera in the market which have much smaller sensor size than 24 x 36mm is considered a camera with a “Crop Factor”. To make things easy for you, if you use 50mm lens in the Full Frame camera body , you will have 50mm focal length or point of view but if you use 50mm on a 1.5x “Crop Factor” camera body, you will get 75mm focal length or point of view, you can refer to the “Crop Factor Conversions” above for more details. Nikon “DX” (Non Full Frame) sensors measure 23.7 x 15.7 mm, while Canon has several (smaller and larger), e.g. 22.2 x 14.8 mm and 28.7 x 19.1 mm which is smaller than original 35mm negative film 24 x 36mm.

That’s why when we use 50mm lens on a “Crop Factor” camera body we get a beautiful “Bokeh”, we get a flattering portrait, simply because it  turn into 75mm or 80mm “lens”, a short telephoto lens which is good for taking picture of a portrait. If you understand this, you will understand why a Full Frame camera is more expensive than the “Non Full Frame Camera”, simply because larger sensor and more pixels are more expensive to produce than smaller sensor. Few example of Full Frame Camera is Nikon D700, D3, D3s, D3x, Canon 5D MKII and Canon 1Ds Mark III, they are quite expensive right?

There are advantage and disadvantage of using Full Frame camera. If you are using 200mm f2 lens on a 1.5x crop factor camera body, you will get an equivalent of “300mm Lens” but if you use 200mm lens on a Full Frame camera body, you will get 200mm exactly. Wildlife photographer will love using Crop Factor camera body because they will get a larger image of the animal in the frame with 400mm lens, because it will turn into “600mm” lens virtually (1.5x Crop Factor) even though the lens is still 400mm but the image captured will look like it was taken with  600mm lens.

The disadvantage of using Non Full Frame camera is for landscape photographer because the wide angle lens that they have is not as wide as it is, using 17mm lens will turn into 25.5mm lens on a 1.5x crop body while Full Frame camera will get exactly 17mm view. For landscape photographer, usually they want to captured  as much scenery as possible in the frame, that’s why nowadays a landscape photographer who can’t afford full frame camera like to have 10-20mm lens in their bag because of that crop factor. 25mm is still can be considered as wide but not as wide as 17mm “exact”.

© 2009 Wazari Wazir | The Photographers in Actions

What Will You Be using Your Camera For?

The next question that you need to ask yourself is, what will you be using your camera for? If you can answer this question, then it will be easier for you to make a decision, be truthful, be honest with yourself, only you can answer this question because only you know what you really want. I can only give my point of view base from my experience.

Do you like sports photography, portrait, landscape, travel photography or anything under the sun type of photography? I know it is not easy  to answer, I’ve that problem too when I decided to buy my first DSLR. At first you might think that you wanted to photographed almost anything but in reality, that is not going to happen, later on you will know what interest you more, some people like to shoot sports all the times, others like to shoot portrait and some people like to shoot landscape. Never mind thought, I will make it easy for you to decide if you being truthful to yourself.

© 2008 Wazari Wazir | Mount Kinabalu at Sunrise | Nikon D200 | ISO 100 | 18-70mm | f7.1 | 1/80

1. Landscape Photography – Most new DSLR nowadays are more than good enough for Landscape Photography, most entry level DSLR nowadays have enough Megapixel for us, sometimes more than enough for general type of photography. Most DSLR today at the time of writing comes with 10 Megapixel or more. So if you like landscape photography, this one should answer your question, anything from 10 Megapixel and above will doing just great, will doing a fantastic job.

Other factor to consider is, do you need full frame camera? If you have the money, why not, but most people who take the time to read this post will surely wanted something value for their money, so I will say that you don’t really need Full Frame Camera if your interest is in landscape photography even though Full Frame camera have its advantage, I’ve mention it before, if you are using 17mm lens on Full Frame camera body, you will get 17mm view but if you use 17mm lens on a 1.5x “Crop Factor, Non Full Frame Body”, you will get 25.5mm lens view, not as wide as 17mm view.

In Landscape Photography, the more view you can captured, the merrier, you can cover vast area, your picture will be much more breathtaking. If money is a factor, need not to worry though, you can still use Non Full Frame camera for landscape photography, there is a solution, by using UWA or Ultra Wide Angle Lens. You can buy yourself a 10-20mm zoom lens and you will get a wide view, as wide as 17mm view on full frame camera body. I don’t have Full Frame Camera Body, so I use 10-20mm UWA lens on my D200 camera body on my recent trip to India, it work well to captured Taj Mahal in all its grandeur.

Do you need high speed “Burst Mode” for landscape? I don’t think so, for those of you who don’t know what is “Burst Mode”, let me explained, Burst mode is the ability to shoot consecutive string of images quickly by holding down the shutter release, and is a fitting feature for sports and action photography. You will need hight speed burst mode if you shoot sports or anything that moves faster, I don’t think Mount Everest will run away, I don’t think the waterfall will run away, don’t you? So if you are into Landscape Photography, you don’t need Hight Speed Burst Mode or a camera with fast frame per second, three frames per second will do just fine, your subject won’t run away, don’t worry.

Most of the times, landscape photographer will use a tripod to take a picture and most of the time a landscape photographer will use the lowest ISO possible, something around ISO 100  or ISO 200 will do just fine, it is very rare a landscape shooters need to use ISO 400 and above, let alone using ISO 12800. So if your passion is landscape, don’t waste your money buying a camera that can shoot up to ISO 12800 with low noise because you hardly will use it. Why use low ISO, simply because low ISO will produce much clearer image, much better image, with almost invisible grain or noise and if you want to make a big enlargement, it will still look great.

And bear in mind also, how often do you want to print your picture at poster size, let me assure you any entry level DSLR camera today with 10 Megapixel or more are more than capable of producing better looking image at poster size, so don’t worry, unless you want to print a billboard size like an advertisement at the highway. If that is the case, I don’t think you will be reading this article.

If you love taking architecture, all those things above can be applied also, I mean, you don’t need high speed “Burst Mode” and you don’t need a Full Frame Camera to do the job because there is a solution but if you wanted to make an architecture photography as your bread and butter, undoubtedly Full Frame Camera is far better than the Non Full Frame Camera. You don’t want to charge an architect firm for thousand of dollars photography bills with your entry level camera, don’t you? I know it will do the job but “sometimes” your image and reputation does matter, your presentation and your tools does matter to those who hire you, they want to know where their money is spent.

© 209 Wazari Wazir | Photographer in Action

2. Portrait Photography or Weddings – Most people will shoot portraits, whether it is a picture of their family, friends or relative but to some people they like to shoot portrait the most, so which camera to choose? Do you need high speed “Burst Mode” camera or slow speed “Burst Mode” camera? There are two type of portrait photographer out there, the one who like to shoot with natural light or available light and the one who like to shoot in the studio or the one who like to play around with CLS or Strobist, who like to play around with Flash photography.

I consider myself as a natural light or available light portrait photographer because I like to shoot with natural or available lighting, I don’t like to shoot with Flash, but I do need flash for my official work because most of the time, I work under different lighting condition, sometimes too dark for normal photography without flash. If I shoot just for a hobby or for personal purpose, usually I don’t carry a flash with me.

Do you need High ISO sensitivity? I mean a camera that is capable of shooting at higher ISO with low noise visibility like ISO 6400 and above? How often do you need to shoot with low lighting situation, how often do you need to shoot indoor without  using flash? For an example taking a portrait of a person inside a mosque, inside a building, inside a cave or deep inside the rainforest without using flash?

I would like to let you know that most travel photographer don’t like to shoot with flash, I know there are some photographer  like Joey Lawrence who like to shoot with flash, in fact he like to use studio flash, for those of you who know Joey Lawrence will definitely familiar with his work, and among his great work is a portrait of Mentawai people in Indonesia. To tell you the truth is, Joey Lawrence is not a Travel Photographer, I know he travel a lot but his main source of income is coming from his commercial work, advertising work, he doesn’t make a living shooting travel photography most of the times.

Photographer like Steve McCurry, a National Geographic photographer is one great example as a travel photographer and most of the time, he rarely use flash, in fact more than 90% of his work is done with natural or available lighting. Why I take Steve McCurry as an example, because even though he is a travel photographer working for National Geographic, his main subject is not a landscape or historical building or an ancient monument, he is famous for his portrait photography, a portrait of a people all around the word. He is a great example of a photographer who like to shoot with natural or available light.

If you like to shoot with natural or available light and hate using flash, you will like to spent your money on a camera that is capable of shooting at a higher ISO Sensitivity with Low Noise, I mean, even if you use higher ISO like ISO 5000 and above, you will still get a decent or acceptable image for publication or printing with less visible of grain or noise. This also applied to those who like to shoot wedding photography with available light, because sometimes during function, a flash can kill the atmosphere, a flash can kill the mood and maybe become a distraction to some people who attend the event.

© 2009 Wazari Wazir | UMNO 2009 | No Flash | Available Light | ISO 500 | 300mm | F2.8 | 1/80

Referring to the picture above which I took during UMNO 2009, can you see the noise? Film like grain, that’s a drawback using High ISO with entry level camera, I take the picture using Nikon D200 using ISO 500. If I were using Nikon D3 which is Full Frame camera and using Higher ISO, like say ISO 1000, I think the result will be better than this one, further more, I can use higher shutter speed at Higher ISO to prevent camera shake, I use 1/80 shutter speed to get this picture, actually most of my picture are blur, out of ten frames, maybe one is “acceptable” like the one above, why don’t I use much Higher ISO than 500, so I can use fast shutter speed?  The reason why I don’t push higher than ISO 500 for Nikon D200 camera is because I know the result will be terrible, there will be more grain. You may asked then, what’s wrong with grain? That’s another “topic” to be discuss.

I hope by this time, you know why in certain situation Higher Sensitivity ISO does matter, Higher Sensitivity ISO camera but still produce better result does matter, your picture will look much better under low lighting condition, why I don’t use flash then, simply because I don’t want to interrupt our Prime Minister ( Former Prime Minister Now ) speech. I don’t want to bombard our Prime Minister with flash. Sometimes, it is more about the choice that we make.

You do need High ISO Sensitivity camera if you like to shoot under low lighting situation most of the times, it doesn’t necessarily shooting indoor but maybe you like to shoot a portrait of indigenous people deep inside the rainforest where the lighting condition is very low without using flash. If you like to shoot using flash most of the times, shooting in the studio most of the times, shooting at low ISO like ISO 100-200 most of the times, why do you need High ISO Sensitivity camera? You may say that, maybe once in awhile you like to go into the wild, like to go into the jungle, but “once in awhile” is not a very good answer for you to invest for super High Sensitivity ISO camera. Don’t waste your money buying something that you rarely use.

Do You need Hight ISO Sensitivity for Weddings? – If you like to shoot with natural light or available light then it is good to have a camera that can shoot at higher ISO with low noise visibility, sometimes if we use flash during certain moment during the wedding ceremony, it can kills the mood, it can be a distraction, sometimes shooting with available light can maintain the natural atmosphere of the scene or the event.

Do you need high speed “Burst Mode” for portraiture? – For most of the time, you don’t need fast frame per second camera at one press of a shutter button if your main subject is portraiture. Usually for portrait, we talk about head and shoulder shot and maybe full body with the person in their environment, if you like to shoot a person running or jumping, that one can be considered as action photography or sports photography.

We are talking about people here, an individual here, but if you like to shoot Candid Street Photography, people on the run, people walking along or crossing the street, maybe a fast frame camera will be a good choice, but then again if you are familiar with the legendary photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson work, you will notice that back then in the good old days he still can captured a decisive moment even using his film camera. Most of the camera during his era are only capable of taking picture one frame at a time, unlike entry level camera nowadays that can take three frames per second or more.

Having super fast camera that can shoot ten frames per second is great but if you are shooting portrait most of the times, you really don’t need to shoot like you are using a machine gun, take your time, you are not shooting people on the run, portrait photography and sports photography are two different things.

What about Wedding Photography? Do you need high speed “Burst Mode”? It is an advantage if you can have it but it is not a necessity, sometimes it is good to be able to captured a beautiful fast moving candid moment rapidly at maybe five to ten frames per second, sometimes every single frame that we captured can bring a difference. Like I said, it is not necessary but it is an advantage to have the camera with such capability.

Do you need Full Frame Camera for Portrait Photography? – My simple answer is no, full frame camera does have its advantage in term of digital image quality, but unlike landscape photography, a great portrait photography is more about people character, emotion, feelings. Sometimes a blurry picture work better than a razor sharp image but blurry landscape picture is only suitable for trash  bin.

Just be remember if you decide to buy a full frame camera for portrait purpose, you should try to get at least 85mm focal length lens because if you use 50mm for standard lens on full frame camera body, the impact is not the same as when you use 85mm or longer focal length. That’s why they call 50mm as a standard lens because 50mm lenses mimic the field of the human eyes if you use it on full frame camera body.

How often do you see a blurry landscape photograph  in the glossy magazine? Very rare, but it is common to see a quite blurry picture of a person or an individual in the magazine, sometimes a blurry photograph of a portrait does have more impact, have more emotional feelings than super sharp portrait. I didn’t mean that blurry portrait picture is good, I just wanted to differentiate between landscape photography and portrait photography in term of story telling and in term of acceptance by the masses, by the people at large. If you can’t afford Full Frame Camera, by all mean, get the right lens, this will solve the problem.

© 2008 Wazari Wazir | FEI 2008 | Terengganu | 300mm f2.8 | 1/3200 | ISO 200

3. Sports or Action Photography – Usually for most people who get involved in Sports Photography is a professional photographer, and most of the time they will use high end camera, a PRO equipment, for most sport photographer, their standard kit lens is a 300mm f2.8 and not an 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 lens which usually comes standard for most entry level DSLR. It is not rare things to see sport photographer using Nikon D3s or Canon 1D Mark IV camera body ( Among the Latest at the time of writing ).

So do you need Full Frame Camera for Sports Photography? It have its advantage and its short coming, one thing is that, full frame camera take a little bit extra time to processed the image and every second does matter for sports photographer, that’s why even though there are Nikon D3x or Canon 1Ds Mark III, they seldom use it because of the time for the camera to process the image can be a problem for them, large image files and slow to download. Most of the time they will use Nikon D3s or Canon 1D Mark IV because the file size are a little bit small and faster to processed than those very high end camera which is only suitable for fashion or advertising photography.

The advantage of using Non Full Frame Camera is that, you can get close to the action even though you are using 300mm lens with 1.5x crop factor camera, you will get 450mm point of view, meaning that you will get a tighter shot in the frame. If you are familiar with sports photography you will notice that, most of the time the picture are tight, filled the frame because loose picture will have less impact even though loose picture have it’s purpose. This also applied to wildlife photographer whereby a tighter shot will have more impact. You don’t need to spend for 400mm when 300mm lens will do the job because of the crop factor.

Do you need Hight ISO Sensitivity for Sports? – My answer is yes, you need it, undoubtedly, this is no exception if you want a very high quality output. Sports photography does not happen outdoors all the times, does not take place during a hot sunny days, sometimes sport photography happen during bad weather, happens when it rains but the show must go on. Sometimes sports happen indoor, inside indoor stadium where the lighting is crucial, where the lighting is not so bright.

You need a camera that can shoot at a Higher ISO Sensitivity with very little noise as possible because for most of the time you need to use higher shutter speed to freeze the action. Otherwise your picture will be blurred. Having a camera that can shoot at High ISO Sensitivity with low noise is not just an advantage, it is a must have in todays competitive sports event. For most of the times you will need to use fast shutter speed 1/500 and above to freeze the action even during indoor sports event like badminton, table tennis or “ping-pong” for an example. I’ve used ISO 5000 with shutter speed up to 1/2000 during Thomas Cup 2010 Games in Kuala Lumpur recently to freeze the action. When it comes to sports photography, the right  equipment is a must.

Do you need high speed “Burst Mode” for Sports or Action Photography? – I think by now you can answer it yourself, yes you do need that fast frame per second because in sports, every second, every frame will make a different between winning or losing and to have a camera that can shoot up to ten frames of a second is more than just an advantage but a necessity. If you shoot for newspaper or magazine and wanted to submitted your picture for international news agency, every frame captured does make a different among your competitor, every single frame does count.

Most sports shooters shoot like they are using a a machine gun, I know it, I’ve the experience shooting sports with some of them, some of the best sports shooter in the country, they really shoot fast, pressing on the shutter button until they get the shot that they want. Unlike film camera which have a limited frames, because most film camera can only take 36 of exposure per roll of film but with digital, you can shoot like crazy until your memory card is filled or until your battery runs dry, whichever come first.

Conclusion – A camera is just a tools but sometimes you need the right equipment to do the job, to get the job done. If you take photography as  hobby, you don’t have to worry so much, there will be nobody scolding you for not getting the shot, there will be no client getting mad at you because you missed a moment but if you take photography as your career or photography as a business, to bring foods on the table for your family, then every little things does matter. It’s up to you to decide, are you taking picture just for fun or wanted to make some money out of it? Only you can answer that, if you take photography as a hobby, I think any entry level DSLR nowadays are more than capable for most situation even though there may be some disadvantage.

Why not spend the extra money to buy some of the best lens available, a fast lens would be nice because lens does not get obsolete overnight unlike a camera body, a new state of the art camera body today will become obsolete in the next one or two years. There will always be new camera coming out. Great piece of equipment definitely will make the job easier, definitely make the “image better”. Ask yourself honestly, what do you truly want, do you want to be jack of all trade, master of none or do you want to be really good at something? It is up for you to decide.

* Maybe you like to check this out :  Why PRESS Photographers Use Direct Flash

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