Yay - Photography - Equipment If You Are New to Photography

I just read another blog that discussed whether you should buy a cheap used camera when starting out.  In the article, the author was comparing a Nikon D800 to a Nikon D40X.  One of his most important points was that the lens is the most important element to consider.  So what's the answer?  What camera/lens combination should you get?

That is actually a complex question.  It partially depends on your budget.  And what you'll be using it for (portraits, landscapes, street photography, architectural photography, etc.).  Keep in mind that every camera has a rating for how many shutter clicks you will get before it fails.  If you buy a used one, how many photos have been already shot with it and how long will it last?  Perhaps it would be better to buy a new one of a less expensive model?  I did that for my beach camera - a Panasonic FZ30, which takes great photos and video, but in low light it has quality problems.  However, that is seldom a problem at the beach during the day, so it has been a good camera for that.

Other things to consider - does it have VR (vibration reduction)?  This may be called something else on other cameras.  How high an ISO does it have so you can shoot in low light?  My Panasonic is not so good with this one.  Is the camera weather sealed?

As far as lenses go - you can find some very good used ones and save quite a bit.  And there are some new off brand lenses that are of equal quality to the brand made for the camera.  So shop around and read reviews.

The bottom line is this, as I learned a long time ago in a photos class - eliminate the variables.  Back then, it had to do with cameras, lenses, and film processing.  Now we don't have to worry about film processing.  Variables are now about proper exposure, focal length, ISO, RAW or Jpg, and camera and lens quality.  The more variables you can eliminate, the better the results you'll get.

Never forget, it's your vision that will make a good or bad photo - the camera and lens is just the means to capture that vision.  You just have to make sure the camera lens combination has the ability to capture what you envision.

The above photo was shot with a Canon 40D and 24-105 f4L lens in RAW mode, then processed in Lightroom and Portrait Pro.  It is my other beach camera now and is a bit heavier than the Panasonic.

This photo, of the same person, was taken with the Panasonic FZ30 in .jpg format.  It has a 12x zoom lens build in.  Both were taken in daylight.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I will try to answer.