Which camera should I buy?
Students ask me all the time which digital cameras I think they should buy. There is no shortage of this kind of advice online, but here's how I think you should approach buying a camera.
If you've already bought a camera, check out the Suitable Cameras page to see if it's suitable for use on PhotoSchool workshops and courses.
Which camera should I buy?
SOME THOUGHTS ON WHERE TO START WHEN IT COMES TO BUYING CAMERAS.
A warning
First of all, a reality check. The majority of photographers, including many amateurs but also aspiring or semi-pro / professional wedding and portrait photographers, buy cameras that far exceed not only their needs, but their personal photographic skills and knowledge skills as well.
A more expensive / the latest / newer / higher resolution camera won't make you a better photographer.
Mastering and understanding your camera's main functions, perfecting your lens (or indeed focal length) choice, and being aware of how to use LIGHT and COMPOSITION effectively in your photography WILL make you a better photographer.
So read the following if you're researching buying your first DSLR or considering upgrading your current camera.
But remember that in practically all cases, from amateur to professional use, you're far better off spending your money on extra lenses than the latest camera body or the camera one notch up from yours in your manufacturer's marketing plan.
Better still, buy a more modest camera and spend the money you saved on holidays or trips or days out to get you out there and take the ****ing pictures in the first place!
A second warning
Don't get hung up on counting / comparing megapixels / 'resolution'. The chances are, if you have one, your current camera ALREADY HAS all the pixels you need to produce good results from even a modest digital camera and lens combination!
Why? Because modren printing technology doesn't need much more than 6MP to print a high quality A4 size print*. That's right - JUST 6MP is all it takes!
We won't go into looking at different types of digital camera sensors and their strengths and weaknesses (that's covered in the PhotoSchool Online Course) - but it is important for you to know that most modern cameras are more than capable of producing high enough quality prints of up to A4 in size.
It can be useful, in terms of keeping your shots looking as sharp as possible, if your camera has a higher megapixel count (eg. 16MP, 18MP, 24MP etc) and you often crop your shots to a much smaller size and view them on larger displays or make large printed enlargements. If not, however, and you normally print or show your pictures without any cropping, or never print large enalrgements, your 8 / 10 / 12 / 15MP camera body may well be all you need right now.
So think seriously about the functions the camera you've been considering has to offer. Do you REALLY need to pay for them? Do you need all those megapixels? (remember more megapixels = bigger image files = more storage space required and longer time for your computer to work with them) Do you really need dozens of autofocus points? Weatherproofing? Wifi?
Here's another thought that some may find hard to swallow. Just because camera manufacturers load their new products with new functions and features doesn't mean that you need them! All modern camera manufacturers produce models that it's possible to learn and improve your photography with - don't feel you need to go out and buy the top of any of the ranges to start learning!
Start simply or modestly and buy more eqiupment and expand or specialise your camera system as / when / if your interest and skills grow.
*(assuming a properly prepared print-ready file at 300 dpi)
...Have a close look at the Fujifilm range of X cameras, specifically the X-Pro1 as a second hand option or the X-Pro 2 as a new camera purchase - at around £250 for the X-Pro1 body alone on Ebay at the moment, these are AMAZINGLY GOOD VALUE.
What's so good about them?
The X-Pro1 (16MP) and X-Pro2 (24MP) benefit from this compactness of design and feel a lot more like classic rangefinders to use - somehow less 'professional' and 'obvious' for candid, street or portrait photogrpahy but (and because of the mirrorless design) able to produce results which rival and often surpass DSLRs with a much higher MP count - there are plenty of comparisons online between the X-Pro1 (16MP) and, believe it or not, the Canon 5D Mkiii (22.3MP), with many judging the Fuji camera and lenses to produce higher qulity images.
Other reviews rate the older X-Pro1 higher than even the Leica M9 (crudly put, like saying your Mercedes / BMW coupe outperforms a LaFerrari).
Switching to the X-Pro 1, if you have substantial experience of DSLRs, is a little bit of a shock to your photographer's system, but I can highly recommend it, as long as you're not heavily into sport, very fast action or very long lens work (even though 3rd party lenses can be used via adaptors, with the cheaper varieties they can only be used at their widest apertures). Documentary, travel, and general family and leisure subjects are easily covered with this camera system, and it's particularly welcome by anyone who prefers to shoot with a couple of fixed focal length lenses (my choice is the Fujinon 18mm - around 27mm in full frame - and 60mm lenses - the full frame equivalent of 90mm), rather than a single 'standard' zoom. The Fujinon lenses are very well built and easily match Canon L lenses for image quality - and remember, that's on a smaller, cropped sensor!).
Fuji's essentially come very close to making modern digital 'rangefinder' camera, without the Leica price tag. Back in the days of film, rangefinders had separate viewfinders from the lens that took the picture, but you were still able to focus the picture-taking lens by means of a devilishly cunning 'rangefinder' system that superimposed a set of images over each other in the viewfinder - you simply turned the focus ring until they aligned, to focus the lens. Other pros of the rangefinder design are much quieter operation (no mirrors to clack out of the way) and a more compact design (no need to build in a 'pentaprism' or SLR mechanism for allowing view thorugh the picture taking lens - meaning a much lighter camera and lens combination to carry around than even most cropped sensor DSLRs.
Speaking as a professional photographer who uses Canon digital SLRs for work and (sometimes) Nikon film SLRs for pleasure, my recommendation for those considering buying in to an entry-level system is currently the Canon 760D camera (24.2 MP), along with the Fuji X-T20 (24MP) (right).
My preference is for Canon rather than Nikon for new photographers as Canon's ergonomics and interface design are a lot more friendly to those put off by cameras bristling with buttons and options - that's not to say that they aren't there with Nikon, it's just that the Canon's approach to design and ergonomics seems a little more inclusive than Nikon's!
At any given price point, you'll find very few differences between Canon and Nikon digital SLRs - and both have some outstanding and some very mediocre and over priced lenses in their ranges too!
My advice would be to test the water with the Canon 760D and kit lens if you are completely new; if you are already a committed photographer and starting to take notice of image quality and lens performance, buy the 760D body only and instead of the Canon kit lens, get the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 - better value for money than the Canon version, streets ahead of the Canon kit lens in terms of sharpness, but without the weather-proofing or premium quality or build that you have to pay extra for with Canon L-lenses (the top of the range ones with the red ring around the lens barrel!).
Second hand, the original Canon 5D Mki is still the best way into full-fame digital photography, and it will actually deliver sharoer and higher quality results than most of the 18MP range of cropped sensor cameras (bigger pixels = sharper images!) but beware well used 5D Mki models or any that weren't refitted by Canon to fix the design flaw of a detaching mirror (my own 5D experienced this a few years ago and whilst it's a relatively cheap repair it can be potentially disastrous if the loose mirror damages the sensor.) But here's where the design flaw is on your side - use the argument to barter down the price of a 2nd hand 5D if it hasn't had its mirror overhauled, as you'll need to allow additional budget (£50 - £80) to do this.
...Fuji may have just rewritten all that's possible with consumer level DSLRs with the recent release of the X-T20.
24MP and 4K video are probably reasons enough for a second glance, but for me, any camera manufacturer with the courage to stick to traditional infallible film-SLR layout of controls has me pretty much converted.... and that's before seeing any of the incredibly impressive sample images that are floating around online.
For the last 5 years we've used Canon DSLRs exclusively at PhotoSchool workshops to demonstrate the topics we teach and for hiring out to students. I'll just add here that I'm on the cusp of switching entirely to Fuji's mirrorless range, and probably the X-T20, as a replacement system...
And for a mirrorless DSLR alternative...
...Look at the Olympus line of OM-D cameras.
Sturdily built and with a raft of hi tech options and nice-to-have , many photographers content to stick with just one camera and lens combination find smaller, 'mirrorless' cameras like the OM-D series the perfect solution.
There are a couple of interesting options for people or wildlife photographers, too, like the option to shoot with a completely silent shutter. I'd recommend the OM-D line over the other viewfinderless offerings from Sony, Canon, Nikon etc - it's much better to shoot at eye-level than at arm's length, for all kinds of reaons! The OM-D line does use electronic viewfinders, though, so you'll be looking at a digital display rather than real reflected light through the viewfinder - make sure you are happy with this design feature before orderiing! The OMD is also a 'four thirds' camera, which means that the proportions of the viewfinder / image area are slightly squarer than other Digital SLRs and traditional 35mm film cameras.
I've got a soft spot for Olympus cameras as my film photography kicked off in the 1980s with Olympus film SLRs (I still own one today!), but until the OM-D series came along I have to say that I found most of their digital cameras have lagged behind - at least on paper - most of the specifications of cameras from Nikon and Canon.
The crucial thing to add here is it's always a case of having to compare image quality and optical results (if those kind of things matter to you). For example, there are many image samples out there that show if you know what you're doing, the difference between megapixel specification, for example, is sometimes negligible. It's worth mentioning though that the OM-D series does also currently stop at a maximumof 16.8 MP, which, realistically, is probably fine for all PhotoSchool students but professionals who absolutely need to output very large size final images.
In the future if Olympus increase the resolution on their top of the OM-D range to match those Digital SLRs in the 24MP range, there's little to fault the system for ANY users. But that shouldn't put domestic users off buying one today!
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