Cameras

Wondering How to Choose Your Next Camera? In this post Kim Brebach from Get the Picture shares some advice on the topic.

As on any journey, the next step depends on where you start. If you’re a pro shooter, you won’t be reading this because you’ll know what you need or want. If you’re a serious amateur, you’ll also have an idea of what camera you want next but you may still be looking for some clues. If you own a Point & Shoot you bought 2 3 years ago and now want something more serious, you’ll find this useful too.

Built-in Obsolescence

We hear this so often. Obsolete means disused, discarded, antiquated but, chances are, the camera you bought 2 3 years ago probably still works fine. The most likely reason you’ll discard the old camera is that you’ll replace it with a newer one that offers much more. So it’s really you who’s making the old one obsolete, isn’t it?

I’m just making a point: as long as the gadget performs to specs, it hasn’t lost it’s intrinsic value. When it’s overtaken by more advanced technology, it simply loses its market value. That’s where the obsolescence idea comes from your friends have newer cameras and make you feel embarrassed. Then again, you may have progressed and need a camera with more functionality or one that delivers better image quality.

Digicams

They’re at the head of the obsolescence curve because the models change as often as most people change clothes. And since these cameras cram everything into a fixed package, you can’t keep any part of it. The best you can hope for is that one of your family can use the discarded camera. The list below shows current model digicams in the higher end of the price range (US dollars)

Source

Where you’ll feel the most pain in changing over is with high-priced fixed-lens cameras like the bottom six on this chart. Why? Because you’re shelling out DSLR type money ($500 +) and there’s nothing you can salvage when you want to upgrade. And, by the time you’ve decided to do that, you won’t get much for it on eBay any more.

My advice is: don’t spend too much on a pocket camera. You don’t need to. What you need to work out is the kind of camera you really need, and then see how little you can get away with spending. These are the key criteria for most buyers:

• Size ranges from shirt pocket to mini-DSLR size
• Optical zoom range mega-zooms now go to 20x
• Build quality, ease of use, controls (from auto to full manual)
• Speed of focusing, shooting and refreshing
• Image quality, ability to shoot RAW, ’speed’ of lens for low-light shooting
• Importance of video, and type of video capability (HD/fps etc.)

Megapixels haven’t mattered since 6mp sensors became common, and the smart makers no longer push megapixels. Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-LX3 was the image quality king until Canon released the S90. Both use f/2.0 lenses and 10mp sensors, giving us flexibility for shooting in less than perfect light. Sense is returning to a patch that was as free from it as a frog is from feathers.

Work out what you need and do your homework, read reviews, read between the lines, look for clues that hint at sluggish operation, clumsy navigation or feature overload. Check out these sites which list digicams in several convenient categories with brief summaries here, here and
here.

Super compacts

DSLRs lenses don’t become obsolete as they’ll work on your next camera body if you stay with the same brand. DSLRs are quite a leap in size from pocket digicams but a new category has been created by the Micro four-thirds contingent, led by Olympus and Panasonic. Their new compact designs with interchangeable lenses don’t use an SLR type see-through-the-lens arrangement with penta prism or mirrors. Instead they make do with an optional electronic viewfinder and a live view screen.

These cameras are a lot smaller than DSLRs, and the Olympus E420 in the photo is one of the smallest on the market. The lenses are smaller too because of the smaller 4/3 sensors which are less than 2/3 the size of the APS-C sensors that grace consumer and prosumer DSLRs. And they do video just like consumer DSLRs, or better.

Several models are made by Olympus (E-P1, E-P2) and Panasonic (GH-1 and GF-1). Samsung has announced the NX10 which uses the same design concept but a bigger APC-s sensor, and Sony has foreshadowed its intention to do the same.

These new designs fill an obvious gap in the market, and offer lens interchange options between 4/3 brands, but lens choices are limited. Other problems are:

• ‘designer’ prices in the $1,500 $2,000 range, expensive add-ons
• slow focusing and shooting, electronic viewfinders
• Compact size still doesn’t fit into pockets

Olympus has just seen the light on price and introduced the E-PL1 at a much more reasonable US$600, with built-in flash and improved navigation. The other makers will no doubt follow suit on price as this market niche grows into a more competitive one.

Ricoh came up with a more radical concept for its new GXR compacts: interchangeable lens/sensor units. Every lens unit includes sensor, shutter, aperture, processing engine and AF & zoom motors. The body provides the screen, card slot, controls and flash.

One advantage is that each sensor/lens combo can be optimised for its task using a small digicam sensor, for example, to keep the size of zoom lenses small. The obvious downside is the built-in obsolescence of the lenses, since they contain sensor and processing electronics. Here, Ricoh’s GXR concept stands in sharp contrast to DSLR systems where the lenses keep their value for decades (and sometimes increase it).

DSLRs

The new compacts may be trendy chic but they’re up against strong competition. A Nikon D5000 can be had for about the same money as the Olympus E-PL1, and it’s a very capable camera with a bigger and better sensor and wider choice of lenses. Same goes for Canon’s EOS 500D and the Pentax K-x, which all offer well-priced twin-lens kits. That’s the best way to buy them unless you already own the lenses you need.

If you’re buying a DSLR for the first time, take your time choosing the brand you select because you’re committing to a proprietary system. You might start with a single or twin lens kit but you’re likely to end up with more lenses if your photo passion persists. Once you have more than a couple of kit lenses, swapping brands becomes painful.

Why would you swap brands? A few years ago, Canon was the king of this heap. Then Nikon caught up and surged ahead in certain areas. A pro shooter friend had a Canon system probably worth $25,000 with all the pro lenses. For his type of work, Nikon turned out more suitable lenses than Canon after a time, so he swapped systems. No doubt the order will change again, and Sony or Pentax might even crash the party.

The good news is that you can easily sell Canon and Nikon DSLRs and lenses on eBay. That goes for other brands too but may take more time and effort. There is a fair bit of work involved in doing this, and you won’t get all of your money back, so I repeat my advice: choose you brand carefully when you’re buying a proprietary DSLR system. Just why camera makers haven’t standardised on lens mounts and basic electronics for ‘plug-and-play’ ease is a question for another day.

There are lots of options from third party lens makers, but they too are made for particular lens ‘mounts’. Questions about image stabilisation and AF motors in-body vs in-lens are less important because the brand you choose determines the answers.

Canon began putting AF-motors into its lenses decades ago, Nikon only after the millennium. Canon’s full frame EF lenses can be mounted on EF-S (APS-C sensor) bodies (images will be cropped), but EF-S lenses cannot be mounted on EF bodies.

Nikon does a better job here as it’s full frame FX cameras have a DX setting for using the smaller lenses. You can use full frame lenses on DX cameras too but here you need to do more homework to understand Nikon’s schizophrenia. Older and dearer Nikon bodies still have AF-motors, but recent consumer models like the D40, D40x, D60, D3000, D5000 don’t and will only autofocus the newer AF-S lenses, which have the AF motors built-in. Virtually all Nikon lenses made in the last decade are AF-S.

APS-C or Full Frame?

If you’re pro shooter, you’ll buy a full frame camera. Full Stop. You need the bigger sensor and the fast shooting and the robust body and the superb poor light performance. Unless your work demands Hasselblad kit with a bigger sensor again and 60 megapixels and a price tag to match, that is.

If you’re an amateur but still have a set of good lenses from the 35mm days, you’ll want to buy a full-frame camera to use those lenses. At present, full frame cameras start at US$2,000 with the 24 megapixel Sony Alpha 850. Canon’s EOS 5D Mk II and Nikon’s D700 cost another $500. Pentax and Olympus don’t make full frame cameras yet and Olympus probably has no plans to do so.

If you’re an enthusiast and don’t own any lenses, and don’t plan to print your photos bigger than 3′ x 2′, there’s little point in shelling out for a full frame body. You won’t see enough difference in image quality or general performance, and the heft of the camera tends to match the price, and that goes for the lenses as well. I’ve written in more detail about the practical aspects of full frame here.

At present, the sub-$1,000 twin lens kits offered with cameras like the Canon 500D, Nikon D5000 and their Sony and Pentax equivalents (A350 and K-x) are superb value and are a huge leap forward from digicams in the areas of speed, operation, flexibility, image quality and more. The leap from here to full frame is a much smaller one.

Where are the best places to buy your camera kit?

I’ve always preferred specialist shops to the depressing sameness and vastness of the Walmarts and Bunnings of this world. Sadly, there aren’t many left even in a city the size of Sydney, you can count them on one hand. There are camera chains like Adorama and B&H in the USA, or Teds and Paxtons here. If you live in America, count your blessings: you enjoy the lowest prices on the globe.

In Australia and New Zealand, we pay the highest. In a previous article, I recounted how I bought a lens I couldn’t get in Australia from Adorama and still ended up with a bargain despite the exorbitant shipping costs. I’m not sure if camera makers ever had control of their distribution channels, but they’ve sure lost it. If you live in ANZ, key ‘Nikon D5000, shopbot’ into your browser and you’ll see this:

The last entry here is the first one offering Australian stock and a warranty to match, the others are ‘grey’ importers. You’re paying almost 50% extra for local stock, and Ryda’s are about the lowest prices. Chains like Camera House ask close to $1,500 for the same kit, almost twice the lowest price here. And while I know nothing of Blue Fly Mobile, I can vouch for DD Electronics and DWI (no. 2 & 4 on the list), and so can a few of my friends. They’re just as efficient as Adorama and B&H, and just as cheap.

Of course you take a risk when it comes to warranty issues but, with quality camera kit, you’d have to be unlucky. On the other hand, I’d probably buy pro lenses and expensive camera bodies from a reputable local source with local warranty and use shopbot.com to negotiate a better price. Bear in mind that, with goods exceeding $1,000, the genuine internet dealers will charge GST and customs duty for shipments to Australia which takes the edge off their big item ticket prices.

These tax and duty issues will vary from country to country, and I can’t do more here than suggest you check out the rules in your part of the world. As I said before, you’re blessed if you live in the USA where the chains offer very competitive prices along with Amazon and its competitors. And frequently you get free shipping thrown in.

To get the best price, it pays not to be in a hurry. While you do your homework, sign up for email newsletters from the most likely sources that way you’ll know about their specials as soon as they come up. And they do, at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, end of financial year, summer vacations and for all kinds of other reasons.

There’s always eBay, of course, where GST is not an issue and prices can be attractive but new risks rear their heads. Clearly you need to stick with sellers who have a track record, and very close to a 100% rating. Ken Rockwell has written a very useful piece on how to play the eBay game.

I can’t add anything useful to Ken’s piece except that buying in your own country keeps the freight costs down and makes it easier to deal with any problems that arise.

Further Reading on How to Choose a Camera

• How to Buy a Digital Camera a 9 Step Guide
• Popular Digital Cameras and Gear
• When is the Best time to Buy a Digital Camera?
• Should You Buy a DSLR or Point and Shoot Digital Camera?
• How to Choose a DSLR

digital-photography-school.com

Photography is an expensive hobby. There’s simply no way to get around that. You can easily drop $1000 on a decent DSLR body and then you still have to go out and buy lenses, tripods, a flash and something to carry it all in. Personally, I prefer to save up for the best equipment I can have, even if it means I have less equipment than other people. On the other hand, if your a technology hound and need every piece of equipment now, you might like to consider a few money saving ideas.

Pictures for money by Banalities.

The Carry Bag I have a LowePro backpack and I have a generic backpack. When I travel I use the generic one because the LowePro screams “rob me.” The funny thing is, my $14 generic backpack from some sleazy shop in Bangkok has served my camera gear well over several years. Now, I feel much cooler with my Lowepro among my photographer buddies, but in reality I don’t really need it.

Camera Body Ok, it’s nice to have the latest Nikon D1, but do you really need it? The old adage is that it is better to spend your money on better glass than a better body.

Lenses the “faster” a lens, generally the more expensive it is. Now, for this particular tip, you are almost certainly going to be sacrificing quality. A lens that goes to f/1.2 is generally better than a lens that only goes to f/3.5 as it’s simply more versatile, especially if you want to close the lens up. However, a fast Canon or Nikon lens is also going to cost often twice as much as a slightly slower Tamron alternative. Unless you have a specific need for the faster lens, you might be able to get away with the slower and cheaper alternative.

Post Production Photoshop is the industry standard for post production of digital images. It also costs a hell of a lot of money. On the other hand, The GIMP is free and does almost everything that Photoshop can. In fact many professionals prefer it.

Go Digital This one kind of goes without saying, but a lot of people forget to factor in the cost of developing film when deciding whether to go digital or stick with film cameras. With digital SLRs being of such awesome quality these days there is little need for anyone but the most devoted specialist or professional to stick with a film camera. If you’re below professional level, then digital is certainly a much cheaper way to learn about photography than film.

Education I learned more lugging around equipment as an assistant to a professional photographer than I ever did from any book or course. I even met a few famous folks! The great thing was that, after doing it for free for a few weeks, they even started to pay me! Get outside of your comfort zone and go and find a professional who needs their gear carried (you can do this on your weekends). You will learn more from that pro than you can imagine and it is way cheaper than taking some photography course.

Choosing Your Brand Ok, so Leica, Canon and Nikon are the clear industry leaders but they are also top of the pile when it comes to price. Some incredibly good cameras and lenses are produced by other companies like Sony, Pentax, Olympus and Panasonic. These other brands don’t have the name and so often you can get a bargain for gear that is actually very good quality.

Used Gear Why not consider getting some used camera gear? This is a great way to save cash and if you follow a few common sense guidelines you can also get top quality equipment. Check out our guide to buying a used camera lens as well as our post on choosing a tripod which can get you started with what you need to know about second hand gear. I have also noticed some incredible bargains on Ebay for brand new gear (but remember to check if you still get the warranty when buying internationally).

Get a Good Printer If you print your photos at home, then you are going to be going through a lot of ink. Your long term costs will be hugely deflected if you invest in a purpose built printer that is designed to print only photos. Using a standard printer that is designed to print anything will use a lot more ink and the quality will not be as good for your shots!

The sad fact is that photography can be a hugely expensive hobby. Planning out your kit and knowing how you can minimize any costs associated with this great past time will ensure that you don’t go broke and that you have access to more equipment for a longer time!

lightstalking.com

Log into Amazon at the moment, and on the front page, you won?t just find the usual list of recommended products that you probably don?t want. You?ll also see a homely-style photograph of a cake in the shape of a Kindle.

We don?t know if Amazon paid for that photograph (although we suspect it didn?t). We are sure though that the site that supplied it is now seeing its server costs fly through the roof as a portion of the gazillions of people who see Amazon?s home page every day click the link above Jeff Bezos? signature.

In terms of exposure, getting your image and a link on Amazon?s home page is like being chosen as Book of the Month by Oprah. It?s a guaranteed winner.

But you can?t wait for that to happen to you if you want to use Amazon as a way of earning income through photography. Nor do you have to sign up to the company?s affiliate system and plaster Amazon?s ads all over your Web pages (although there?s nothing wrong with that.)

There are plenty of other ways to pick up cash as a photographer with the help of the world?s largest online retailer.

Sell your Photography Book on Amazon
Probably the easiest way to make money with Amazon is create your own photography book and place it on the site that millions of people turn to first when they?re looking for a printed volume. Amazon?s Advantage program lets anyone sell their books, music or DVDs and even offers a print-on-demand service through CreateSpace so that you don?t have to splash out on inventory that just fills up your garage.

We like the way Blurb lets photographers create and sell books, but it?s worth comparing Blurb to CreateSpace to see which lets you build the better product and offer it in the best way. You might even find that it pays to use two different self-publishing systems depending on your marketing stream.

You could even take this further and create a DVD that teaches how to shoot photographs in your particular niche and sell it in the same way. If other photography enthusiasts often ask how they can shoot photos like yours, that should be a good sign that you?ll have a market.

Of course, it?s not enough to create your product and place it on Amazon. If you?re going to sell it, you?ll need to promote it too?

Use the Reviews
One very easy way to do that is to become one of Amazon?s reviewers.

Anyone can contribute their opinion of any product sold on Amazon. That means that you can leave messages under sales pages for any cameras, lenses and lighting equipment you use. You can let people know what you think about various photography books and photographers. You can even offer tips and advice about the sort of items the buyer is thinking of purchasing.

And if you also include a link to your website each time you do that, you?ll be creating a road to a sales page that lots of targeted buyers are going to travel down.

You could certainly just link to your home page and let the site do its job but you could also create a special landing page for Amazon?s shoppers to promote particular services or products ? even photography items that you?re selling on Amazon.

When a site the size of Amazon hands out free space on its Web pages, it?s just a waste for any entrepreneur ? and especially a photopreneur ? not to use it.

Update your Amazon Blog
Another tool that Amazon offers its sellers is a blog on the sales page. That might sound a little strange. Few people are going to log in to an Amazon sales page to read your latest thoughts. They might do it to read Dan Patterson?s latest thoughts but they?re less likely to do it to read the postings of a photographer they hadn?t heard of until just a few minutes before.

You can still use the blog though by adding a few brief articles that reinforce your image as a skilled photographer with good images and information to offer a buyer.

If you already have helpful posts you can take from your website, you won?t even have to do any extra work.

Steer Clear of Prints
One strategy you?d probably want to avoid though is trying to sell your prints through Amazon. Search for photographic prints on the site and you should find that you?re faced with a pretty meager choice, most of them placed there by large retailers.

Whether that?s because people just don?t want to buy art on Amazon or because photographers just aren?t doing it is hard to say. It?s possible that eBay simply does better. But it does look likely that you?d have a hard sell.

If you?re looking to shift your images on Amazon then, your best bet is to use one of the many methods of putting them on the pages of a book? then market it like mad.