Are you looking to up your photography game with a new camera but you’re not sure what to buy? Check out this buyer’s guide for your first camera to help you make the jump from your smartphone to a semi-professional camera.
Brands
The first thing you’re probably wondering about is what brand you should go for whether it’s Canon, Nikon, Sony, or whatever.
Which brand is superior has been an age-old debate when it comes to cameras, but as someone who works with cameras professionally trust me when I say that the brand does not matter.
What matters is which model of camera you buy. Canon might have one model that’s better than its Nikon equivalent in terms of specs and price, but at different specs and price points Nikon might have a better option.
The same goes for another brand like Sony. Each name brand will have a camera that is arguably better than another brand’s equivalent, but it all depends on the price of the camera and its specifications rather than the company behind it.
Camera Bodies
But if price and specs are so important then what exactly should you look for? Well, we’ll be addressing that in this buyer’s guide for your first camera, but it’s complicated.
Different camera bodies have different specs and vary greatly whether they’re mirrorless, film or DSLR. For simplicity’s sake let’s just focus on DSLR cameras.
The main points in a DSLR you should watch for as a beginner are full-frame vs crop sensor, the sensor’s megapixels (MP), the camera’s frames per second (fps) and its video capability.
These are gross simplifications, but generally speaking more megapixels will result in a better-quality image, and a full-frame sensor is larger and will let you capture more area in a single photo.
For fps, it refers to the number of pictures the camera will take in a second when you continuously hold down the shutter button, and video capability is just whether or not the camera can take video and at what resolution.
Camera Lenses
Up next on this buyer’s guide for your first camera, we need to talk about lenses.
Whether your camera can zoom in or out and how “far away” you appear from the subject you’re photographing are determined by the lens.
If a lens is noted as having a focal length of 24-105mm, that means the lens can zoom and take photos anywhere from 24mm (a wide angle when you want a lot in the frame) to 105mm (a closer angle for photographing something far away).
You should also expect to see info like f/4-5.6 noted with the lens. The f/4-5.6 refers to the lens’s maximum apertures, which if you’re just starting out you shouldn’t worry too much about.
Your camera will set the aperture and other important settings for you when you leave it on the automatic setting.
Just know that a lens that notes a lower aperture number, like f/1.8 or f/2.8, will perform better when there’s less light in your environment.
Shopping
If there was only one thing I could recommend on this buyer’s guide for your first camera, it would be to buy used rather than new.
Cameras are like cars in the sense that they’re significantly more expensive when you buy them new, and there are plenty of reliable stores to buy used camera gear from.
If they’ll ship to you, KEH is probably the best in the business for used camera gear. Their quality ratings are reliable and if there’s ever an issue with your order they’ll give you a refund no problem.
If not KEH, then sites like eBay and Amazon are good options as well.
Suggestions
Finally on this buyer’s guide for your first camera, let’s look at some cameras and lenses you could consider for your first setup.
Canon 60D DSLR Body - $300 USD
Pros: Affordable. HD video and pull-out touch screen for flexibility.
Cons: Low 5.3 fps not ideal for photographing action.
Canon 55-250mm Lens F/4-5.6 Lens - $100 USD
Pros: Large zoom range. Good for photographing up close or far away.
Cons: Limited apertures. Poor performance in dark environments.
Nikon D600 DSLR Body - $530 USD
Pros: Full-frame, 24.3MP sensor for great image quality.
Cons: Low battery life. Rated for roughly 900 shots before battery runs out.
Nikon Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 Lens - $200 USD
Pros: 24mm static lens perfect for landscape photography and high image quality.
Cons: No zoom. Limited to wide angle shots. Expensive.
