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This is the most common question we are being asked over and over again, even got asked this question at my birthday party on couple of weeks ago!
There is no simple answer to the question of what kind of camera should I buy, but will give now a general outline.
The 3 Main Choices of Camera Bodies on the Market Currently:
1) Old style cameras that still use photo film and you have to take it to a photography lab to develop your photos so you can see them
2) P&S Cameras (Point and Shoot) that are digital cameras so no more dealing with photo film and are very cheap price wise
3) DSLR Cameras (The term digital SLR is short for digital single lens reflex) are the best cameras currently on the market and almost all professionals use {saying almost since some professionals still use SLR (cameras that use film)}.
What do you plan to use the Camera for?
Reason for this question is very simple since if you plan to just take photos for fun and of family members you will not need that much of a equipment. But if you plan to buy equipment to start a semi-professional photography company that might lead to a professional photography company then you will need totally different equipment.
Why might you want to switch from a Film Camera to a Digital Camera:
With a Digital Camera you can take hundreds of photos at a time all on a memory card (stick) that goes inside the camera. Once you done taking the photos you open the camera memory card area, take the memory card out and then upload the memory card to your computer.
Look all the photos you took and then only put the photos you really want on a memory card or cd or dvd. This way you only develop the photos you want, unlike when it comes to film cameras where you have to develop all the photos before you see them!
Now the Difference between Digital Cameras:
As long as you only plan to take photos outdoor, general scenery with good lighting any current digital camera will do a good job as long as you follow the instructions and use the camera in the right settings.
But if you plan to shoot building at night time, family photos outdoor night time or sports inside small indoor arenas then you will need more specific equiptment. This is when it can be very expensive the camera equipment and you need to know what you are doing. It is since even if you buy the proper equipment things will not suddenly look professional, you need to get the experience before doing good photography work!
What kind of prices will it cost to buy a Digital Camera:
A very basic P&C Digital Camera can be found for $ 100.00 or even less.
A very basic DSLR Camera will cost around $600.00 to $ 900.00, with a two year older model but still new camera can be bought in some cases for less then $ 500.00 . But a Professional DSLR camera can cost easily over $ 8,000.00 as a example. The more expensive the camera costs the better quality it is, the same goes for the camera lenses.
Now what kind of lenses do I need to get good photos:
To be totally honest choosing the right lense or lenses is way more important then choosing the camera body.
But Before you decide what kind of lense or lenses you need or will need to buy, you have to realize that you have another choice to decide first. Do you want to buy the lenses that are produced by the company brand that made your camera or lenses made by a 3rd party company?
While 3rd party made lenses can be very good quality some 3rd party lenses that are much cheaper are not of that good quality, so before you buy a 3rd party lense that is to good to be true money wise I always recommend to research the company reputation and see other people reviews that bought that company lenses.
There are so many types of lenses that there can be a few chapters written by me just on this subject, so with this in mind I am going to just list briefly some of the most common lenses and what they are used for.
Since I and my company use only Sony Alpha Cameras I would show you Sony Lenses (but the camera body you choose to use it will come down to personal preference and there is again no true right or wrong camera for the record). For Sony Alpha Cameras as a example between Minolta & Sony Original Made lenses and all the 3rd Party Company lenses there are tens of thousands of different lenses you can choose to buy!
Zoom Lenses: Now if you will want a affordable Zoom Lense you can use 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6, while a much better Zoom Lense will be 70-200mm f/2.8 Telephoto lense. The affordable Zoom Lense is good for outdoor with good light photo shoots mostly. If you want to take indoor or low light photos you will need a Telephoto lense. The Telephoto lense is also a must if you want to take any kind of okay to good photos of say your children play indoor hockey or lacrosse.
Fixed Focal Length Lenses: The very basic starting Fixed Focal Length is DT 35mm f1.8 SAM lens and a higher end Fixed Focal Length Lense is 35mm f1.4 G-Series Wide-Angle Lens. The basic lense is used to take portrait shots, the G-Series lense can be used for both portrait shots and fine art photography.
Macro Lenses: The very basic starting Macro Lense is 30mm F/2.8 and a higher end Macro Lense is 100mm F/2.8. The entry level Macro 30mm lense is a good start to take close up photos, the 100mm lense gives you incredible close up to micro objects. Now when I say macro objects I refer to both things like bugs, butter flies as well as flowers and flower buds or even water drops on flowers.
What other Camera Equipment do I need to buy?
Beside buying the camera and a lense or some lenses you might also need to buy a flash, portable light system and a portable backdrop just to name some other camera equipment just as a heads up.
Rule of thumb that I follow and most other professional photographers follow is that you need 2 of everything when doing a photo shoot. What do I mean by this, well that is 2 body cameras, 2 flashes, 2 batteries and 2 memory cards as a example.
This is since you have to be prepared for anything that might go wrong during a photo shoot. If have no backup equipment and a part fails you can't continue the photo shoot and guess how the people that hired you will react?
What to be aware when buying a camera or camera equipment:
Best advice I can give anyone is do research online to decide what camera or camera lense you want to buy first. This is so that when you are ready to buy the camera or the lense or any other camera related equipment you are educated and know what you need and want.
Nothing worse then going into a camera department without having any idea what you need or want since they you will depend on the advice of that particular camera person. As well if you go into the store with no idea of what you need or want you most likely end up with the wrong camera equipment for you and overpaid for what you need to do with your camera!
Buying a camera might not seem like a long term investment but if you want to upgrade your lenses well then you suddenly realise why once you choose a brand you will end up as a long term costumer. Hence why is so cheap to buy entry level DSLR's now days. This is because camera companies try to get you to buy their product and then they hope you will spend thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars on upgrade equipment mostly on lenses!
If you go into a camera store and the sales person can't tell you the difference between say Canon or Sony or Pentax or Nikon then don't trust their advice since they don't know the products and all they are telling you about the product is from what is written on the product box.
As well if you find a sales person that tells you that a entry level dslr can do everything with just the starting body and lense that is included in the starter backage that is not true, since like I explained above you will need specific lenses to do specific style of photos correctly.
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