Just as a picture is worth a thousands words, a camera can cost a pretty penny depending upon what you need. Any person planning on committing to photography for a hobby or profession should be expecting to spend at least a little bit of cash on equipment; new gear is one of the best and worst parts of calling yourself a photographer. You can get started taking pictures for under $100 or you can spend as much as you want as there is a lot of expensive high end gear. Since there are so many options for new photographers, lets skip all of the cool accessories (filters, lenses, tripods) and break down your most important first purchase: The Camera.
What Do You Need in a Camera?
The first step in buying the centerpiece of your equipment is figuring out why you need a camera, and what you expect it to do. For instance, an all-manual digital SLR (such as Canons Rebel) can be great fun for many photographers, but youll find carrying and managing it to be a great inconvenience if youre just looking to shoot pictures of your friends out on the town. Heres a few key questions to ask yourself to help decide what you need:
- Do I want to use film or digital?
- Am I taking pictures for fun or for a career?
- Am I comfortable using a manual SLR?
- Is image quality a make or break issue for me?
One of the reasons for the wide range of equipment is that every camera works differently and has its own pros and cons; youll need to balance these with what you need. Professional photographers or those wanting to become professionals, often don’t want to give up image quality for a lower cost while the average person doesn’t care about the extra 0.5% of clarity for their family collage picture frame display. It’s completely up to you.
What Can You Spend?
There is really no limit when it comes to spending money on camera gear. You can get a small pocket sized automatic camera for around $100 or you can spend thousands on a high quality SLR or DSLR camera. Even a nice manual SLR that runs on film can still cost a pretty penny, so make sure you know what youre getting yourself into before you buy it. Before you pull out your wallet, ask yourself these questions:
- Can I really afford this camera?
- What features do I really need?
- Will this camera work for what I’m buying it for?
Sure, nightvision, a 13,000 frames-per-second shooting option, and a gigantic touch screen sound like cool options, but do you need all that to shoot a family gathering? This works both ways if you want to work as a professional, dont sacrifice on flexibility and results just to get a cheaper camera up front. You’ll end up having to buy a better camera later, so it’s often best to wait a little longer so you can buy exactly what you need. Youll be glad you did.
If youre honest with yourself about what you need from your camera and how much you can spend on it, youre going to be a lot more satisfied with your purchase down the line. If you need help figuring out how different cameras perform in different situations, do some research online and see what other customers say!).
No matter how much you spend or dont spend, your camera will probably cover the bases.That’s because many consumer level cameras work great in 90% of situations. Mostly because the majority of people take pictures to put them in a picture frame at their home or office.Some of the photos in a recent Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated were shot with a disposable camera so dont think for a second that a lower budget is a handicap. As always, the most important thing is to have fun and take great pictures so you can enjoy looking at them whether you hang them on your wall or display them in a decorative picture frame on your table..