During the holiday season I had several people ask me for advice on what sort of camera to buy for their children. That’s a big question and not one with a ready black and white response. There are a lot of really great cameras on the market in every price bracket.
The first thing I always say is “I am NOT an expert. I’ve only just dipped my toe in the photography arena and am not a technically minded soul – so don’t just listen to me.”
The second thing – “Why does your child (wife, friend, you) need / want a new camera?”
The response is almost always – “So they can learn to be a better photographer and take better pictures.”
This is the one part of the question I feel confident in answering. It is the same thing I see written in all the professional photography forums and in quotes by masters in their field. The camera does not matter. Find some food for thought on that here. Yes – if you are doing portrait photography as opposed to landscape you might choose say a 50mm prime lens or a wide angle lens, but -
It is not the camera that makes the image – it is the photographer. It is the artist’s eye and mind that decides on the things other than camera body and lens, things the camera can't tell you. The person chooses subject matter, time of day, light, composition, angle, white balance, filters, etc. Some of the pictures that inspire me the most are not taken with the fanciest equipment. What moves me is when the photographer has been moved – has clearly taken the time to study her subject and wait for just the right moment to engage. You can feel the difference between an image snapped in 10 seconds without any thought or consideration and one that has been steeped in appreciation – recognition of the subjects’ beauty or value or story, and love for the possibility of what they see and are trying to create. And yes, sometimes you can and do make an image in quick response to your subject – like in street photography or photo journalism, but even then you are practiced at your art. It is your time, experience and instinct that make the image – not just the camera.
The next thing I always do is ask them questions. Find a way to narrow down the search.
- What is your budget? That is a bottom line. Figure out what you are able to spend and begin looking for cameras in that price range.
- What do you want to photograph? Do you really need a DSLR with a 70-300mm zoom lens? Will you be out on safari for a year or shooting friends and family at parties? Do you want to capture flowers and bugs – then you may want to invest in a macro lens, not a zoom. My first digital camera was a Canon Elph and I loved it. The images were clear and it gave me the option of a manual mode where I could learn about changing things like my white balance and ISO. The thing that helped me improve my skills during that time was, again – not the camera, but the online photography groups I joined. People there taught me how to “see” differently and therefore create more interesting end results. Really take the time to consider what area of photography interests you the most. If you are not sure yet - get an affordable camera – shoot everything you see – and then figure out where you will focus your energy and step up the equipment you have.
- What feels best in your hand? I loved this bit of advice. I’d narrowed my search down to a Canon and a Nikon – by doing tons of online research – then went into a camera shop and tried them both out. My final decision came down to the fact that one just felt better when I held it. The body and the lens can get heavy in your hand after a while – better be sure you can hold it with ease.
- Why not rent one for a week? This is a big purchase and that is an option. Look online for possibilities of that in your local area.
Have fun in your decision making process. When I got overwhelmed with all the technical information available to me I would go online to Flickr groups and type in different types of cameras I was considering to see what I thought of the images / to explore if I could see any differences. For example, Canon’s seemed to produce more red colors and Nikon’s more blues. Does this matter to you?
The last thing I always do is direct people to someone more knowledgeable than me. Ken Rockwell does reviews on all sorts of cameras and is a great source of information. Go to his website here and spend a bunch of time doing research. Good luck!!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 9:00AM 
