By Inna Sumra M. A. in Photography, Cr. Photog., M. Photog., ARPS (UK).
Take your photography skills to the next level! After this article, join me on a creative journey as I take you through several pieces guaranteed to help make family memories come alive – capturing precious moments of children and even turning everyday objects into stunning works of art.
If you are you are looking to buy a camera or upgrade your present camera, you are at the right place. But it is a big decision; you have some homework to do! But I will help you take better family pictures.
I have prepared this guide to help you make the decision a lot easier. My guide is not biased towards any products or dealer, my only goal is to help you.
With the arrival of digital photography, things changed a lot. You don’t need to buy the film, process the film and pay for the prints. And best of all you don’t have to wait for the results.
What do you photograph?
First you should think about the subjects that you would be interested in photographing the most. This will help you decide what kind of camera and accessories you will need. You may be interested in taking family pictures, or pictures of their children. You may even be interested in landscape or wildlife photography.
You need to photograph your loved ones to capture moments you don’t want to forget. You want to document special occasions, family reunions, and vacations. You may want to get an up-close look at artwork or architecture locally or during your travel. You may have an interest in taking pictures of wildlife in their natural habitats. Go ahead and unleash your creativity through photography.
There are different types of digital cameras. We won’t talk film cameras.
Is point and shoot a good camera?
These start up at Kodak PRINTOMATIC 5MP Instant Digital Camera at about $50 and go as high as Leica Q2 Monochrom Digital Camera priced over $6000.
Pros: The point and shoot cameras are simple in complexity and easy to operate. They are small and easy to carry. Some of them are waterproof as well. Some have video cameras built in them. Some have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built into them. That would allow you to connect to your other devices. Some of them have an LED flash built around the lens, which will reduce ugly shadows. Some of them have built-in GPS, so the camera can mark the location where the photograph was taken. This could be useful to someone who does a lot of travelling and wants to photograph the various locations.
Cons: You cannot change the lens, so the view of the camera remains the same. Usually, the sensor of the camera will be small and the resolution of the image will not be as good as DSLR or mirrorless cameras.
Often the zoom feature of the camera will be achieved digitally rather than optically. That will limit the quality and size of your enlargements. Some of the point and shoot cameras do offer optical zoom that is built into the lens.
If you are planning on using the images for social media only and want a simple to use design, a point and shoot camera may be all you need. Don’t go for the cheapest one, go for middle-of-the-road.
Is DSLR better than mirrorless?
A digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera has a prism and a mirror mechanism in the camera. The light coming through the lens hits the mirror and is reflected into the prism. When you look into the camera through the viewfinder, you see the image of your subject through the prism. When you want to take the picture, you push the shutter button and mirror moves out of the way. This allows the light to fall on the sensor and create the image. This mirror and prism mechanism adds to the bulk of the camera.
DSLR cameras come loaded with features. They allow you to change to a macro lens for very closeup photograph to large telephoto lens for photographing birds.
Some of the DSLR cameras come with a 35 mm sensor which is 24×36 mm in size and is equivalent to a 35 mm film frame. That is why is commonly called full frame size.
Another popular sensor size in DSLR cameras is APS-C (Advanced Photo System film negative – Classic) sensor. This sensor is 25.1×16.7 mm in size. So, a full frame sensor (35mm) has twice the surface area of the APS-C. A larger image area of full frame camera has twice as much area for the light gathering pixels and provide a higher resolution. A camera like Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR Camera comes with 24-megapixel sensor (24 million light gathering pixels) to Nikon D850 DSLR Camera with 45 MP sensor. All brands have cameras with a range of sensors, so these are just examples.
You will be able to change the lens on a DSLR. The size of the touch screen LCD can vary but 3-inch diagonal size is common. On some cameras, the screens can tilt up or down for easier viewing. The screen can help you compose the image and review the image after you capture the image. If your subject moves or a car passes behind your subject, you can always take another shot.
These cameras can have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, built-in high-resolution video cameras and GPS capabilities. The large sensor on these cameras can allow you photograph in relatively low light.
The hot shoe will allow you to attach the flash on top. You can be photographing and sending the images to the social media almost immediately. These are the workhorses for lots of photographers.
What are the advantages of a mirrorless camera?
A mirrorless camera is like a DSLR but there is no mirror and no prism, so the light coming through the lens hits the sensor directly to create an image. You can see that image through the electronic viewfinder or on the LCD screen on the back of the camera.
You can change the lenses on these cameras just like a DSLR. And these cameras are more compact than a DSLR because they do not have the prism or the mirror mechanism; a lot of professional photographers use mirrorless cameras.
You may have noticed that a 35 mm sensor with 36×24 mm size has a ratio of 3:2. So an uncropped image can print 6×4 in or 12×8 inch print.
Mirrorless cameras are available with another sensor size. It is called Micro Four Thirds. This has a ratio of 4:3 with sensor size of 17.3×13 mm.
The mirrorless camera will take you from something like a Canon EOS M50 Mark II Mirrorless Camera priced around $500 to Fuji and Sony cameras close to $10,000 mark. Cameras like Sony A1 Mirrorless Camera boast of 50 MP sensor and are popular among pros.
Just like DSLRs, these cameras will come loaded with features. You can get all the features of a DSLR minus some weight.
Do I need to consider a medium format camera?
These are bigger cameras with sensor size close to 60×45 mm and 50 – 100 MP resolution. The camera without the lens or other accessories could cost you from $5,000 to $35,000. This is high-end pro gear. I will stop there, but there are cameras with 150 MP resolution that you can buy. You would want to set a budget for your photography project. This will include the cost of camera, lens, storage cards, tripod, camera bag, spare batteries etc.
What camera features are most important?
Autofocus is an automatic focusing system found on the modern digital cameras. Some cameras do it by detecting the contrast level in the scene. The majority of them do it by phase detection, and now Canon has a dual-pixel auto focus technology. The autofocus helps you capture sharp detail in your subject. It is very useful to capture fast-moving subjects such as sports or wildlife or photographing little children.
Autofocus is used to help you lock onto a subject quickly so you can get the perfect shot—even when things are moving fast like race cars. Unless you are a pro, autofocus is a must.
Lot of cameras can focus on a certain spot depending on the movement of your eye. This is called eye operated focus or eye controlled autofocus. Many cameras have over a hundred auto focus points. If you look at a certain AF point via the viewfinder the camera will focus on whatever is located at that point. If you were photographing many children, looking at an AF point over a certain child will cause the camera to focus on that particular child.
What is image stabilization and do I need it?
Image stabilization reduces the blurriness resulting from slight movement or shaking of the camera. This is done either inside the lens or inside the camera. If it is built inside the lens, the gyroscope inside the lens causes some of the lens elements to move in the direction opposite to the shake.
If image stabilization is not built into the lens, it may be built inside the camera. If some movement of the camera is detected by the gyroscope, it will cause the sensor of the camera to move in the opposite direction. That helps reduce blurriness from the camera shake. So, it could be built into the lens or the camera. The camera or the lens may or may not have built in image stabilization. Do not assume it is built in your camera or your lens.
What is ISO and does it matter?
ISO is an abbreviation for the International Standards Organization and is a setting on digital cameras that adjusts the sensitivity of the image sensor. It determines how much light will be required by the camera to create an image. A camera at a higher ISO requires less light to create the image. A camera with higher ISO, in theory, would be better, but often high ISO leads to a grainy image.
What kind of exposure mode should I look for?
The camera can operate in aperture priority, shutter priority, program mode or completely manual mode. Now that is a mouthful; let me explain.
In aperture priority, you select the size of aperture, that is the opening inside the lens where the light goes through. And bigger aperture allows more light to go through. The camera will decide how long that light must fall on the sensor to create a good image. That duration of light falling on the sensor is the shutter speed. The camera will decide calculate the shutter speed if you put the camera in aperture priority.
In shutter priority, you will select the shutter speed. For fast moving objects you will need to select fast shutter speed. For landscape and still subjects you could use slow shutter speed. So, if you put the camera in “Shutter Priority”, and select the shutter speed, the camera will calculate the correct aperture for creating a good image.
In program mode, the camera will select the best combination of aperture and shutter speed depending on the amount of light in the scene.
In manual mode, like the pros, you need to select both aperture and shutter speed. And you would need a meter or experience and judgement to decide, what that shutter speed and the aperture would need to be.
You would want a camera that has the shutter priority, aperture priority, program and manual mode. It will give you the flexibility to use different settings in different type of photography.
Is there anything else that I need to think about?
A timer on the camera will allow you to put the camera on the tripod, push the shutter release on the camera and quickly jump in front of the camera.
A tripod will hold your camera steady. Look at the folded size of the tripod. That will be important: a bigger tripod is usually steadier and shakes less. A carbon fiber tripod will be lighter and generally more expensive.
A normal lens with a focal length of 50 mm, on a camera with a 35 mm sensor, will have an angle of view of about 45 degrees. A lens of 100mm focal length will have an angle of view of roughly 22 degrees. A wide-angle lens with a focal length of 25 mm will have a field of view of around 90 degrees. Remember that lens from one brand of camera like Nikon will not fit a Canon. Selection of the lens is a subject by itself.
A macro lens is useful for photographing very small objects like flowers or closeup of someone’s wedding ring etc.
Get a good quality UV filter to protect your lens from the dust.
What type of digital memory card will I need?
Make sure you know what type of card the camera stores the pictures on. This is called the digital memory card. It may be a SDXC, SDHC, microSDXC, microSDHC, CFexpress type B, CFast, etc. Make sure you get the right card for your camera, and that you have a spare. Some cameras will take two cards, so get two; it is a great investment. Some cameras can send the images directly to your laptop, where it has to be connected by Wi-Fi or a cable. Avoid the hassle by just shooting on the card. It will be much faster!
What type camera bag is the best?
What type of camera bag you get depends on how much camera equipment you need to carry and if you need to protect it from the rain, dust, shock etc. It will vary if you need to carry it on person or in the trunk of your car etc. It is your personal choice.
Where is the best place to buy a camera?
Compare prices from multiple vendors and look out for sales or discounts. Don’t forget to factor in shipping costs when shopping online.
The first of two types of vendors are mail order outlets like Amazon, B&H Photo Video, Adorama, etc. You cannot see the products, but there are numerous choices.
The second type of stores are like Best Buy, Walmart, etc. You can see the camera in their store. Compared to B&H and other mail order stores, the choice will be very limited since there are not many photography stores left in the malls.
So, which brand is the best?
Nikon and Canon are equally good. Fujifilm has some beautiful cameras that are very popular with pros. Sony is a good brand in mirrorless cameras.
Do mirrorless cameras beat cellphone cameras?
For sure. A cellphone is handy and people always have it on them.
What do I do with the camera manual?
Make sure to read the camera manual. You can download the manual even before you buy it. It will give you complete information about what the camera has or does not have. Reading the manual will help make sure you get better pictures!
Thank you for reading.
