Photography | What Camera Should I Buy?

What camera should I buy? I’ve always get this kind of questions coming through my email. Yes I’ve been through this before but it was during camera film and back then it was not really difficult to make a decision, because there is no such things as Full Frame or Non Full Frame Camera and we have no problem about which camera is good when it comes to HIGH ISO performance, since the ISO is largely depend on the type of film that you are using and not like todays camera  whereby each camera from a different manufacture have different quality when it comes to High ISO performance, some camera have little “noise” when shooting with the same High ISO setting than the other.

Actually I’ve written quite an in depth article regarding which camera to choose, you can check my previous article here and there you can have a little bit of insights about what is Full Frame Camera and what is Non Full Frame Camera. 

I believe those who have come here and wanted to know what camera to buy is a newbie or someone who have found an interest in photography as a hobby or maybe wanted to be serious with photography, make money from it but if you are still new, then off course it will be frustrating or maybe confusing for you to get one, which one?

I believe those who wanted to make a living or make money from photography, have years of experience before they decided to do so (maybe one or two years) photography experience. I don’t think those of you who wanted to make money from photography decided to make money the very next day they came out from the camera store.

It will take awhile for you to really understand your camera and once you understand a little bit how camera works, the relation between ISO, Shutter Speeds and Aperture to get the right exposure, then you will have to embrace a lifelong photography journey, I mean to learn photography will take a lifetime.

I’m talking about some basic composition, how to read the light, how to use natural light to your advantage, how to use reflector, how to use flash and so on and so on and you also need to learn how to edit your photo, whether you wanted to use Photoshop, Aperture from Apple, Lightroom or other kind of editing software.

Before you learn all those things you need a camera to start, so which one? Frankly speaking, nowadays for anyone who wanted to start a photography as a hobby, any entry level DSLR camera which cost something around RM2000-3000 is more than good enough for most situation, for general photography and if you are Flickr user, you will notice that most of the great images there are taken by hobbyist and most of them are not using professional level DSLR.

Talking about Megapixels, most entry level DSLR nowadays have 10 Megapixels and above to begin with which is more than good enough I wanted to let you know that some of my pictures taken with Nikon D200 which have only 10.2 Megapixel are being printed  for Wall size  Pos Malaysia Jinjang and the quality is great, so whether you have enough megapixel is not an issue. 

So back to the question, what camera should I buy? If you plan to take a picture as a hobby, casual picture taking during weekend, to take with you during traveling, to take you family picture, any entry level camera nowadays is more than good enough, yes off course they are lacking few things compared to his big brother “professional level DSLR” which double or triple the price of the entry level one, but trust me, they can do most of picture taking just fine.

Among the reason why Professional Body are more expensive than their entry level camera is that, their body usually tougher or made with better material than the entry level one, most of them are weather sealed, meaning that, if you take the professional level DSLR out during  a little bit of rain or any bad weather condition, they will still doing fine and if they get knock somewhere it will also be fine.

You should know why they are robust, most professional photographers using their camera everyday, like photojournalist, adventure photographer, wildlife photographer, studio or fashion photographer, they need to have a very good and tough camera body to work with compared to casual weekend shooters where most of the time, they will shoot during weekend when they are free, so you really don’t need a tougher camera body, unless each weekend you take your camera for a mountain climbing, then you need a tougher camera body, so if your camera get knock here and there it will still be fine.

On the other hand we need to be extra careful handling entry level DSLR because their body is not that tough compared to his big brother. You may ask, so which one, Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus, about the brand, it is up to you, I’m not a camera salesman but I’ve use Nikon and Canon camera and they are good in their own way and Nikon and Canon are among the most popular brand when it comes to DSLR. It is better for you to use the same brand of a camera that your friends use, especially if your friends have years of photography experience behind so whenever you have a problem, you can always ask your friends about it rather than asking your facebook friends where you have never met in real life.

After you get the camera, the next step is to study how camera works, read the manual, buy photography books, at least try to get one, attend photography class or join photography outing, and trust me, the more you know about photography and what makeS great picture, the more you will love your camera but along the way you will also notice about your camera shortcomings,  and maybe no longer meets your requirement, you need a better camera not because your current camera is not good but because of your greater understanding about photography, or you start liking photojournalism than landscape photography or maybe you decided to start a business then you will know which camera is more suitable for your photographic endeavor.

I started my Digital Photography with Nikon D70s which only have 6 Megapixels and currently I’m using Canon 5D Mark II with 21 Megapixels, during film days I’m using Nikon FM2. I’ve taken my Nikon D70s to Taman Negara Pahang and also have taken it with me to the summit of Mount Kinabalu and it works great up there.

Back to the question once again, with newer entry level DSLR nowadays you can’t go wrong, maybe your decision is based on your personal preference, I think when it comes to technical aspect, any brand are more or less the same. If you need more information about different type of sensor, Full Frame or Non Full Frame camera, which is good for Sports, Landscape, you can always visit my previous article here and have fun. 

Camera is just a tool, but after awhile you will know which tools is right for you…