The most commonly asked question I have been asked is.
What camera to buy?
So I decided to answer that question in a blog post so that everyone could read it, here are my simple questions that I ask in retaliation to the above question that helps me sort out what sort of camera you are looking for and that would suit your needs.
1) Portability?
do you want to have a camera in your pocket ready to take “that shot” if so a DSLR (digital removable lens camera) with multiple lenses is not for you, a simple point and shoot that’s portable would suit better.
2) Megapixels?
today’s compacts have 8mp as a minimum and really if your images are just for the web, or to print (is that a dirty word) no bigger than 8×12 (about A4) then really a 5mp camera will be more than sufficient (yes you read that right!)
3) Optical zoom or Digital zoom?
optical zoom is the ability to get closer, on compacts its measured in x (times zoom) so a 5x zoom will get you closer than a 3x and so on… (walking closer also works a treat too though) digital zoom will only help AFTER you have taken the photo, and is the same as cropping a photo, it will decrease the image quality, so a compact with more optical zoom will be better if you want to get closer
4) Creativity?
a compact will usually only have a few functions and will not allow you to control the outcome of the image, it will give you “standard settings” that shoot macro, portrait, landscape and sports, but it wont let you know what changes to the capturing process makes these setting different. A mid range hybrid (like a Canon G15) which has the ability to use the “standard functions” and use the manual camera settings like a DSLR.
With these four things in mind, a beginner can choose from a compact, a hybrid, or a DSLR.
If you have any questions about what to buy, send us an email answering those four, and we will help you as best we can.