One of my favorite client whom I just photographed his first born e-maild me the other day to ask for my advice. I spent some time answering his questions via e-mail so I figured I should blog about it as well so everyone else can benefit from. My client is a lawyer, a very smart person. He had done his research so he kind of new what he wanted but he wanted my point of view which I very much was appreciated.
1. He didn’t want to spent too much money. His budget was $500
2. He wanted to know what kind of SLR to buy to photograph son?
3. Nikon vs. Canon?
I am not going to bore you with technical terms. The guys at Digital Photography Review do wonderful job at it. I am just giving you a my point of view as a professional photographer. It is true that higher-end cameras produce better quality image files (Ha! but not always make the better pictures though) ,but for your candid family photos these entry level DSLR should do their job. You need to learn how to use your tool. None of these cameras should take blurred photos of your kid chasing after the dog. And photographers what I am about to write is very basic entry, please do not send me angry emails about the technicality. I have a degree in commercial photography but I am not writing my thesis here. I just wanted to make it super simple for the people who are shopping for holiday.
1. It’s more but buy the newest one that you can afford, but the newest one isn’t always the best one. There may only be very small differences like size of MP which isn’t so important. Buy the next one at lower cost usually they offer pretty good discounts on older models. Digital technology changes so often and the digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras have shorter life spend than the old film SLR cameras. To me it makes sense to buy newest one you can afford. Buying photographer’s back up equipments are also very good idea. They are usually well taken cared of and used very lightly.
2. MP-Megapixels are not as important as ISO
: Manufactures are keep adding the megapixels to make you think as though they are worth spending your money on. Well, it’s good to have if you are into blowing up your pictures to the size of billboard or to use them as a mural at your home but 3megapixels were enough to print 8″x10″ size photos couple of years ago. Now you get the idea?
ISO/ASA was used to indicate the film’s sensitive to the light. Meaning if the film had a higher ISO it would react faster to the light. Therefor you can still take nice pictures in low-light situations. Now in digital camera ISO is used to indicate the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light. You basically want the camera that can give you the higher ISO number that you can afford. This means you don’t need to use a flash to light your subject. Well, it’s a personal preference. Do you want to know more about MP, ISO and lighting? You can take my photography workshop next time. Please check for blog update or email me about my classes. These classes will be offered at my Brentwood Studio or on a location. tammie@ambientphotostudio.com
3. Buy the package if there is a package offered with the DSL body and the lenses. Though the lenses included in these packages are not so great, but the wide angle lenses such as a 18-55mm comes handy when you travel. However for those nice blurred background portraits, you will need a lens that is longer than 85 mm. You can use standard 50mm lens too but generally 85mm and up are considered as a portrait lens on a 35mm camera. Lenses try to stick with same brand as your body, but I like Tamron lenses as well. If you can get lenses that can cover 2Xmm -1XXmm with smaller f number (Aperture) that you can afford to or even 2xx will be great.
4. DSLR requires much more accessories than the point and shoot cameras. So If you are not going to take time to really learn what your DSLR can do, just buy higher-end point and shoot camera ! I can assure you that you will be surprised what you can do with these little cameras. They can even create HD videos so you can always capture those precious moments of your kids in short video. Canon powershot G11 is often used by professional photographers as well. Nikon P3000 is equally good.
5. Where to buy? Internet store vs. Local Camera Store
I suggest going to local Camera stores and ask them to match the internet price because they can help you when you need to have your camera serviced.
So here is simple ABC steps to buy your new camera.
a. Go to manufactures sites to see which camera came out most recently. I suggest Nikon because I believe that Nikon has more affordable consumer level DSLRs than Canon at the moment. Both brands are equally good . As of today these two cameras seem to be the ones that are suitable for your family portrait need.
Nikon USA
Nikon D3000
Canon USA
Canon Rebel Xsi
b. Do your research, read the consumer reviews such as on Amazon.com or google
c. Stick with your budget.
Especially when you go into the camera store, the sales person will try to sell you many accessories as possible. Just stick with your budget.
One thing you must buy! Please buy the lens filter. Just a glass filter should do since you are not buying super expensive lenses. It doesn’t have to be super expensive ones. I suggest Tiffen or Hoya filters. This is just to protect your lenses from scratched. You can upgrade your body every few years but you can keep using these lenses until you have enough money to buy really good lenses. Maybe I will talk about Optics on my next entry about photography. Please send me your questions via facebook or e-mail. I will try to answer them within my knowledge.
Happy Shopping!
(oh yes, you will still have to wait few more days to see rest of photos) 
