Hi, I'm Doug McKinlay and you're watching AdoramaTV.
Now we've been doing these
videos for better than three years now,
and we've covered a lot of topics, but as to
date, I'm not quite sure we've actually
looked at your first digital camera.
Now right off the top I'm going to be a
little a little biased here, admit that
I am a little bit DSLR centric. Because
that's what I use, but we'll look at
other other formats as well. Now I think
the very first thing you have to think
about when you're thinking about buying
a new camera is your budget. Cameras are
a big investment of both time and money
and you don't want to overspend because
you might figure out you actually hate
photography, but having said that though
once you've got your budget, once you get
an idea how much you want to spend, stick
with it, plus or minus 10% or so. Now here
the Internet's gonna be your friend,
you're going to do your research, that's
where you got to try to figure out what
you want from your camera. What platform's
going to work for you, so do your research
online. Figure out what you want and
stick with your budget, and also make
sure you buy from reputable dealers. This
budget will also help reflect how much
you want to get into photography.
Obviously with more money you can buy
more gear, just keep in mind though, that
photography can be a real money pit.
You don't want to
spend thousands and thousands of pounds
or dollars, and realize you actually hate
it! Which brings me to a second point
'What do I want the camera for?' so if
you're doing mostly pictures of family
and friends, birthday parties, etc you
might want to look at one of the compact
systems, now these systems have gotten
really good over the last few years.
Especially when it comes to sensor
technology. If you're looking at wildlife
for sports then perhaps a DSLR with the
longer lenses and more reach. Just keep
in mind though there's a massive amount
of depreciation of camera equipment, so
if you going to spend five grand in a shop
when you walk out the door, all that
stuff might be worth half what you spent.
So budgets are important, but what about
platforms? Now as I said earlier the
smaller cameras, they're the mirrorless
systems and the compact cameras are
great, the technology last few years has
improved so much. They are nice and light, they are
nice and small, and they're really
stealthy, they're fantastic for shooting
in large groups of people like in
markets etc. The documentary reportage
photographer will obviously love these things,
however where they fall down though, is
with the the reach of the lens. There
usually is not much of a zoom if any at
all, and that's where your DSLR system
comes into play. Now in my opinion the
DSLR system is the most variable and the
most versatile system on the market
today. You can't go wrong with these cameras.
Whether it's Nikon or Canon, Sony or Olympus
any of those ones are really fantastic. Now
there's the larger format cameras like
the Hasselblad's and the Toyo's etc...
are amazing..
they've got these giant sensors and
they're going to produce wall-sized
pictures with great detail. Great color
etc.. They are great, I love them, however
they're not as versatile as a DSLR
system, and they're quite big and more
importantly they cost an absolute
fortune. So I'm often asked about sensor
size, does size really matter? Should I
buy a crop frame sensor, a full-frame
sensor? Now the technology is improving
so much, that it's becoming a moot point.
So I would suggest buying the cheaper
crop frames camera bodies, when that
extra money is saved, spend it on the
lenses. Another thing to consider is
weight. Now carrying around a whole
bunch of lenses and camera bodies all
day gets really heavy, and I've got the
messed-up shoulders to prove it. So this
is where the compact systems win hands
down despite their limitations. Now it
seems to me that everything technical is
moving at lightning speed these days,
just when a camera body comes online, it
almost seems like there's another one.
right behind it. Now the first thing I
would advise is not to try to keep up
with the Joneses, unless you've got more
money than sense. Stick with a budget
you've decided on, and work within those
parameters. Get the best thing you can
get for that amount of money. Now I would
argue that even though there might be
some new bells and whistles on newer gear,
it's not so great that it's worth
getting rid of your own equipment.
However there are people who want the
latest toy, and that works really well
for the first-time buyer, all that stuff
that comes online is used equipment
often in really good shape, is now open
for you to look at. Just make sure you
use a reputable dealer, check out the
seller and be careful what you buy. Also
don't buy from people like me. Now pros
tend to use their gear.. a lot...! It gets
beat up and worn out. So in the final
analysis when it comes to buying your
first digital camera. Just a couple of
things you got to think about. First of
all, stick to the budget you've decided.
Next figure out what you want the
camera to do, and third do your research.
Thanks for watching. I'm Doug McKinlay
for AdoramaTV, Don't forget you can
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