Leon Pryor is an account manager at Microsoft and a professional photographer. He lives in Seattle with his wife and son. He blogs at http://digitalleon.com and you can see his photography at http://pryorstudios.com.
It’s a time-honored tradition for men old and young to answer the sweet siren call of a fancy new gadget. Having children often provides men with a unique excuse to purchase a new toy. After all we’re not spending money on ourselves – we’re buying a precision instrument that will chronicle the journey of our wondrous new family.
But before you whip out that credit card for that new camera – consider these 6 simple rules that should help you make a more informed purchase.
- Be careful where you buy – The average sales clerk doesn’t know much about photography. In many cases the clerk can actually do harm by steering you toward cheap add-ons. The most common offenses are cheap glass filters, lenses, and flashes. By all means visit your local store and handle the hardware, but use online sites such as http://dpreview.com for a more informed analysis by actual professionals.
- The best camera is the one you have on you – A high end professional DSLR equipped with a 70-200mm Vibration reduction lens, 1.5 tele-converter, and a high end speed light may make you the envy of Dads everywhere – but it’s also large and weighs over 10lbs. This camera isn’t portable or even practical if you are juggling a newborn or active toddler. Size matters – Are you buying a camera for little league games, a new baby, or simply photos around the house? Make sure you buy something appropriate!
- Megapixels – beware! – Don’t get caught up in the megapixel trap. The clerk at your local store will try to sell you a more expensive camera in part based on the number of available megapixels. In truth 4-6 megapixels are all you need to produce great images. Depending on the size of the camera’s sensor – abnormally high megapixel counts can actually decrease image quality.
- Manual Zoom trumps all – The corollary to the megapixel trap is the magnification trap. Don’t become obsessed with “zoom”.
First off know the difference between optical zoom and digital zoom. Optical zoom is an actual magnification of the image where digital zoom is simply cropping. Digital zoom results in a lower quality image and should always be avoided.
Secondly any photographer with legs possesses near infinite zoom. Simply walk closer to the subject! Unless you’re photographing nature or sports – chances are a high magnification zoom lens is going to be a wasted investment. - It’s all about the light– Fancy technology can’t change the laws of physics. Even with modern digital sensors – cameras are still based off a simple rule: it’s all about how much light you can get to a piece of film or a digital sensor. The easiest way to measure this in the store is to look at the size of the camera’s aperture or lens opening. Generally speaking – the bigger the aperture the better photos your camera can take when there isn’t a lot of light.A good external flash/speed light will also help you to produce great images even when there isn’t a good source of natural light. In a future article I’ll touch on using artificial light correctly.
- Don’t forget the software – You can often drastically increase the quality of your photos with a little editing. Make sure you have software to catalog, backup and edit your images. Newer computers often include basic photo editing software for free, however you should generally avoid the software the comes bundled with your camera.
These simple rules should help you to avoid spending more money than you should. Next month I’ll give you 6 tips on how to get amazing photographs out of your equipment.
For those of you that would like a recommendation – here are my current camera selections.
