1 - Exactly how much are you prepared to pay?
Whenever I am asked the simple question "how do I choose a new camera?" I always suggest determining how much money you are prepared to pay first. This must be an amount you are really comfortable with spending on a camera, which I will assume is a luxury and not a necessity!! The reason for this is that you can spend quite literally anything from £10 to £10,000 on a camera! The unfortunate rule of thumb with cameras is that, generally, the more money you spend the higher the potential quality of images you can take. One very important caveat to this though - buying an expensive camera does not mean you will automatically take better photographs than with a cheaper one! Bearing this in mind, you need a starting point, and I cannot think of one better than money!
2 - What do actually want to do with the camera?
This may sound like a stupid question, but actually it is rather a fundamental one. Do you want to take stunning landscapes which you can exhibit in a gallery, or do you just want snaps you can send instantly to your friends? The answer for most people is somewhere in-between these two extremes. You therefore need to work out exactly what you want to do with the camera. Another big consideration is do you want to just take photos or do you want to record video footage?
3 - Do you want to just take snaps or really get into photography?
If you just want to take snaps then that is fine, and a small, compact digital camera will provide more than enough features, and there are so many of them to choose from. If, however, you want to get into serious photography you will need to consider something a little more advanced, either an advanced compact camera or a digital SLR (I will explain the term SLR in another article) which you can attach different lenses to. If you do buy a digital SLR you are entering into a magical world of accessories, it is a kit junkies dream world!! But also an expensive one. A new battery for my DSLR will cost me £70!
4 - Do you want to carry your camera with you all the time or just every now and then?
Being a professional photographer, I hate carrying my big, heavy SLR with me on holiday, but cannot afford to be without a camera. I have a fantastic, professional quality Canon G11 which I can take with me wherever I go which deals with that problem! As this article though is all about how to buy the best camera for you, it is fair to assume you will not be looking for two cameras. Not yet anyway. So the small compact cameras are great and can produce some fantastic shots, and are obviously easy to carry. And not so conspicuous, which may be important. SLR cameras these days are quite compact, and another general rule of thumb worth remembering is that the more you pay the heavier the camera!! If you were thinking of buying an entry level digital SLR than you might be surprised how compact some of them can be.
5 - Film or digital.
For all you youngsters out there shock news - you can still buy film cameras! Film cameras are, by their nature, a lot less immediate than digital cameras, but still possess a unique charm, and make you think about what you are taking a photograph of, as you pay for every shot. It is wrong to assume that digital is the automatic choice - there is still a place for film cameras. I guess if you are under 40 digital is a must, over 40 you may want to think about it...
Summary
I hope you found my thoughts of use, please look out for future articles where I will be expanding on each of the 5 main points above.
If you have any questions feel free to email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
You can also check out my website at http://www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
Thanks for reading, Rick McEvoy
Rick McEvoy Photography
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