Choosing A Camera

Often when I am travelling with clients they ask me for further guidance on how to use their camera better.

Some cameras are more useful than others as your skills and creativity grow; a simple point and shoot camera will never give you the tools to learn more about things like exposure and so I thought that I would write a few pointers for anyone wondering what camera to buy.

Camera marketers would like you to believe that their brand is ‘better’ than another. It isn’t. At the same price point, the vast majority of cameras of whatever brand will deliver images generally very similar in quality and appearance. There are very few indeed (if any) whose lenses and image processing software combine to produce something so obviously “brand x” that it is immediately recognisable.

A key question is your intended use. Do you want to become a photographer or is the camera just to keep records and memories? It’s fine if that is all you want, by the way! Choosing your path at an early stage may make upgrading later easier and more cost effective.

If your idea of photographic nirvana will be shooting a concert indoors, a compact camera may not suit well because they have poor low light performance without a flash and a flash might not be a welcome distraction at a concert.

For anyone hoping to shoot moving subjects or wildlife, the shutter lag in a compact camera can be very frustrating. Some compacts have lag times as long as 1.5 seconds and that is plenty of time for missing what you decided to take when you pressed the button. A professional camera has lag so short it is measured in milliseconds as a comparison!

To properly capture moving subjects control of the shutter speed is needed. To properly control depth of field so you can isolate (or not) your subject in the composition will require control of the aperture. Compact cameras often have only rudimentary control of these functions available to the user.

Battery life will be low which means carrying spares on long days. A typical realistic average would be perhaps 350 shots per charge. Compare this to over 3000 shots from a fully charged professional DSLR and you quickly see the limitation.

Compacts usually have fixed lenses. This can be fine for street and candid photography – the 35mm equivalent on the Leica X1 for example is outstanding.. A fixed lens is less useful when you come to shoot your child’s sports day or your friend surfing from the beach. Autofocus is usually slow as well and few compacts have eye level finders, relying on only the LCD for composition.

So if you are setting off on holiday and looking for a camera you can grow with as your skills and learning improve, I suggest that you consider the smaller consumer DSLR cameras that are available. You can change the lenses, you get much better shutter response and better metering, autofocus and low light performance. In time, you can upgrade the body and your lenses will simply stay with you.

Which one? Well, that is up to you of course. Best advice – go to the shop and use the ones you have shortlisted. See how they feel. Are they comfortable in your hand? Do the controls make sense? Can you reach them? Is it as good in the hand as it was in the magazine or on the web? Importantly: do you like it?

Now you have a great camera. Go out and shoot it! Visit National Parks. Take a workshop. Travel overseas and see what you can find. Your camera is a passport to new lands, new friends and new adventures!

Looking to find the best guided photography tour in New Zealand? Then visit www.tlphoto.co.nz to find the best advice on photo tours for you.