I guess last time you entered in a big mall you were disoriented in front of the huge choice of cameras divided in different brands, cryptic models, asking yourself the one millions dollars question: “which is the best one?”
If your aim is only to show off to friends of yours your brand new camera, possibly the most expensive one, like if you were buying the latest iPhone in a kind of race to whom has the longest, the camera objective of course, then you can just stop reading this post and go direct to the mall’s cash. If your aim is instead photography, than you are going to find interesting information.
Quite often the question that reach my hears is “which camera did you use to make this photo?” As if the difference between a good and a bad photo was into the camera you’re holding instead of your capability to understand the subject you have in front of you. Asking this question is somehow like asking to a good cooker which kind of pots he used to prepare his excellent food. This to start to discredit a first myth: you don’t need to spend 2000€ in cameras and equipment to obtain great pics.
The first question you need to ask yourself to clear your mind before going in a camera shop is what you really want to create with your photos. Do you want to have great holiday’s memories? Do you want to print them? Do you want to make travelling pictures or artistic photos? In any case pay attention, because a 24 mega pixel is useless if you wish to print 13×18 photos. On the contrary it will make the difference in the case you are thinking about to print panels.
Probably you’ve already heard some friend of yours telling “yep, I bought this camera because is a full frame”. This is like if this “full” could provide to the camera something more that is instead provided to the producer’s cash considered the difference of prices. The question beneath is always the same one, which is your scope? If you are looking for a “full frame” just because it is like that, then you’re going to waste your money. If the “full frame” is needed to take wide landscape pictures it is a good choice. If you buy it because you want to take long distance photos of wild animals than you are making a mistake.
This introduction is to remember that the photographer is you while your camera is just your tool. The best photographers are able to take great photos with every kind of camera. Then, clearly, as the tool is more advanced the more sophisticated could be the results.
If you are at the very beginning, I suggest you to choose a good compact camera that is quite controllable in order to understand the basic concepts of what is behind a good picture using as less automatism as possible. You really need to focus on the basic principles of the exposition, depth of field and etcetera. It has to have at least the options M – A – S – P (Manual, Diaphragm Priority, Time Priority and Auto programed) that you can find usually on a ring nut on the camera upper side.
If you are interested in long distance photos and you need to have different objectives than you could try a reflex or a compact with interchangeable objectives.
Talking about the reflex, the brands are more or less similar one to the other. At the beginning I may suggest to opt for an “entry level”. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to buy one of this basic level cameras. Photography is practice and it useless to start driving with a Ferrari. You would just risk destroying your car or at least not use its full potential. If still you are not convinced about a nowadays entry level you shall think that this cameras offer so many advanced functions that at the time of the biggest photographer were not even existing. Robert Capa, Andreas Feininger, Edward Weston and a lot more, realized their astonishing pics just with manual cameras. No autofocus, no stabilizer, no automatism.
To be photographer you need an essential element, the study of a good photography manual and the study of your camera’s manual. All the rest is experience and as soon as you are going to reach a certain level of it, you’ll soon understand your photographic needs and probably you could have already learned how to take amazing pictures without having spent a fortune.
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