Choosing the Right Camera for YOU

Ok, taking a break from my long post on exposure to discuss another issue that repeatedly crops up in photography groups that I’m in – choosing a camera!  Whether you want to get into photography or just upgrade, it always seems impossible to choose from the huge selection that is out there.  A friend of mine and I recently upgraded our cameras and so we spent a fair bit of time researching and comparing, and I thought I’d post a bit about what I learned. I’m a Canon girl so that’s mostly what I know, but my friend opted for a Nikon so I did research a bit on her behalf.  I ended up going with the Canon 6D, and she opted for the Nikon D7100. I am going to limit this post to Canon and Nikon cameras, mainly because that’s all I really know about, but also because those are the two most common makes among professionals (unless you get into the really high end stuff, which I am not qualified to talk about at all). My newest camera (the 6D) and my very first DSLR (the XSI)…  

There are a few key considerations that I think you need to keep in mind when choosing a camera.  The first, and most obvious, is price and value for your money.

Price – Getting the Most Value for your Money

As I said, price is generally the primary consideration for most people, especially when starting out.  It doesn’t make sense to buy a high end Canon 5D Mark III or a Nikon D800 if you’ve never used a DSLR before, and you’re not even sure if you’ll like it, unless you have a lot of excess money lying around (even then, I still wouldn’t recommend it).  The biggest mistake I see most newcomers (and even amateurs/enthusiasts who are upgrading) make is blowing their budget on their camera.  They then spend the next few years paying it off, and have to save up again to buy lenses, lighting, flashes, and all that other fun gear that is useful if you want to bring your photography to the next level.  In my humble opinion, lenses matter a lot more than the body of the camera you are using.  Don’t get me wrong – I would never come back from my 6D and it’s worth every cent it costs.  But I will tell you that if I throw a cheap lens on it, and put my L-series lenses on my 6 year old Canon XSI, the image quality between the two is comparable. As an example – here’s the same picture taken with the 6D and the XSi.  Same lens of average quality (50mm 1.4), same settings (slightly faster shutter speed on the 6D to compensate; f1.4; ISO 200), both cropped from a much larger image (about 1/10th the size of the original).  As you can see, both are capable of taking high quality images that can be blown up.  There is a significant difference between the two, but you would see less of a difference if I put a poorer quality lens on (I don’t have one unfortunately to use as an example).

I guess what I’m getting at here is, buy the camera that you can afford, understanding all the added costs like lenses.  You are wasting your money if you buy a high end camera and then can’t afford the glass that allows it to perform to it’s full capability. Another common misconception I see is people assuming that if they blow the money on the camera, they will instantly become good enough to start charging people, and then will use that money to buy more lenses and gear.  I think there are a few problems with this approach.  For one – plain and simple, you’re not good enough.  To pretend that you are is doing a disservice to your clients, to your future reputation, and to yourself.  With all due respect to those of you who’ve done it, I personally think you owe yourself the time to learn and grow and do it for fun, and to develop a style that is yours before you’re forced into taking the pictures other people want you to take because you don’t know the type of pictures you want to take.  When you take that leap is a decision only you can make, but I do encourage you to be honest with yourself and somewhat objective about your work. I’m not going to go into the value of each individual camera, but if you’re at the stage where that is what you are looking for, the site http://kenrockwell.com has lots of reviews comparing camera to camera at various price points.  While not all photographers like the site, I generally find it to be a good review of the different features and prices of each.

Nikon vs. Canon

As I mentioned, if you’re first getting into photography, you will likely have to make the choice between Canon and Nikon.  There are other options (e.g. Pentax), but those are the big two in intermediate/advanced/professional photography, and the ones with the most accessory options.  I don’t think there is really a wrong option – the models at various price points have different pros and cons, but generally they are considered to be fairly equal quality-wise.  The main thing you need to know is that you are buying a camera system – when you make your choice, you usually won’t ever switch – so choose wisely.  The reason is because the accessories aren’t interchangeable, so it’s a huge expense to switch systems later on.  While they are largely considered to be fairly equal, there are a few differences.

• Nikon offers a cropped sensor option on their full frame cameras.  That basically means that if you want to upgrade in the future to a full frame camera (I will get to that difference in a second), you can use all your cropped sensor lenses on your new, expensive camera.  For the reasons I’ve listed above, I don’t think this is a really big advantage, as I don’t think you should spend the money on a full frame camera if you can’t afford the lenses for it.
• I’ve heard that Canon is more user friendly, but I don’t know if I believe that.  Neither of them are user friendly if you don’t know what you’re doing, and once you do, they’re all relatively similar.  I can use my friend’s Nikon as easily as I can use my Canon, it just takes me longer because I’m not used to the settings.
• Canon has a wider lens selection, but Nikon’s is also more than sufficient, so I wouldn’t let that factor too much into your decision.

A few other things you could consider when making your choice:

• If you have any friends and family who are photographers, what do they use?  The main reason I suggest considering this is because if you have questions or even want to try out a lens without having to rent it, it’s nice to have the same system as the people you know and are going to go to for advice.  Quite often I am sad that my friend with the D7100 and I use different systems, as we’re together so often that we could likely save a ton of money by just borrowing lenses off each other.  Not everyone likes to do this though, so that’s your decision.
• Actually go to the store and try out a few – not just models you are considering but higher end ones as well, in case you ever want to upgrade.  The reason I say this is because I think comfort and set-up are important – how does it feel in your hands?  From what I’ve heard from people who’ve switched, that’s what it came down to.

Full Frame or Cropped Sensor?

Nikon offers two different sensor sizes – full frame (fx) and 1.5x (dx).  Canon offers three – full frame, 1.3x (APS-H) and 1.6x (APS-C).  I believe the 1.3x crop sensor is only offered in the professional level 1D Mark IV, so for the purposes of our discussion here there are really only two options – the full frame and the 1.6 (Canon) or 1.5 (Nikon).  The difference is essentially like taking a picture with a pre-cropped image.  If you were to put the same size lens on a cropped sensor and a full frame, you would see more of the image with the full frame (Disclaimer: I stole the following image, but all the rest are mine).

The terms full frame and cropped sensor are kind of misleading, as they are actually rather arbitrary.  Back in the good old film days, the rectangle that captured the image was one size – 24 x 36mm.  Modern day digital cameras that have a sensor approximately the same size are referred to as full-frame.  For cost and size reasons, Canon and Nikon both also produce cameras with smaller sensors – in fact, only the high-end to pro models of each have full frame sensors.  The price difference from the highest quality cropped sensor to the lowest end full sensor is about $400 (the Canon 7D retails for about $1499 and the 6D for $1899 for just the body).  The reasons for this are fairly intuitive – a full frame camera is much bigger, heavier, and more expensive to make. So why would anyone want a full-frame camera over a cropped sensor?  Quite simply, full frame sensors produce higher quality images.  Because there is a bigger surface area on the sensor, they are able to perform much better, producing clean images with low noise, especially in low light.  But honestly, unless you are a professional photographer, they aren’t necessarily worth the money.  As I’ve mentioned, the price and weight are two big disadvantages.  Not only do the bodies cost more, but so do the lenses.  To be able to shoot images of the quality that you will be able to see a difference even between a Canon 70D and a 6D, you will require high end lenses that don’t come cheap.  For example, my friend that bought the D7100 over the Nikon D610 was able to use her super-telephoto lens that she had from her cropped sensor camera, without having to upgrade.  Because I opted for the full frame, I still need to buy a telephoto lens.  Because I believe in buying lenses of the same or better quality as my camera body, the telephoto lens I want is going to cost me another $1500+. It may seem counter intuitive that I’m telling you not to waste money on a full frame camera when I bought one myself, but let me clarify – I don’t regret my decision.  I do genuinely see a significant difference in image quality, and my goal is to get to a level where I can produce professional quality images, so it made sense for me to make the leap.  That being said, I’m also ok with only having one or two lenses and buying the high end ones as I can afford them (and as I find that I need them).  I’d rather spend my time learning and getting good with one or two lenses than being able to shoot a wide range of situations and instances.  It helps that I’m not (and don’t desire to be) a professional.  If I was counting on this to make money, I think the lenses and the gear would matter more – would you want to hire a professional photographer that doesn’t have the proper gear to do the job? Another image from my new 6D:

My girl Hera with her quadding harness

You will get a few photographer snobs who will tell you that if you don’t have a full frame camera, you aren’t really serious about photography, but I personally think that’s nonsense.  In fact, almost all of the professional photographers I know have a higher end cropped sensor camera as their back-up or every day camera, like the 70D.  And if you’re still curious about the quality difference, I encourage you to check out this website – this is another friend of mine, and I believe he shoots with a 70D.  I think he produces beautiful, professional quality images: http://nickparaykoimages.smugmug.com/Prints

So Which Camera is Right for You?

To summarize, when starting to shop for a camera you need to set a budget for yourself.  I really encourage you to not spend the most amount of money you can afford on your camera body, especially if you are getting into the range where you will need to buy your first lens separately.  If you take one thing away from this post, it should be to spend the money you have on high quality lenses.  A camera body can (and will need to be) upgraded eventually – lenses, if you take proper care of them, will last much longer.  For this same reason, I personally would lean toward investing in full frame lenses, even if you have a cropped sensor body.  You can use the full frame lenses on a cropped sensor body, but not vice versa – so if you do find yourself wanting to upgrade, you can continue using all your old lenses on your new body. If you opt for an entry level camera it will come with a kit lens, and that’s absolutely fine.  The kit lenses that come with the entry level cameras are not the best quality, but they often provide a good starter, general purpose lens.  If you do end up opting for a higher end camera, you may have the option to get it with or without a kit lens.  If this is an option, I encourage you to do your research on the different packages and the lenses that come with them.  I would personally only buy the camera with the kit lens if the lens that comes with it is one I would want to buy separately.  Keep in mind that if you are at a place that offers both kits (bodies and lenses) and bodies separately, you may be able to negotiate a deal on a body with a better quality lens at a lower price.  Again, at the end of the day, the camera you opt for needs to be the one you are happy with, so take your time shopping and ensure you are happy with your choice. Just my two cents.  🙂