The adage goes,
The best camera is the one you have with you
This is usually meant as advice to the people that buy a range topping camera, some really nice lenses and then leave the whole thing at home, because it’s big, heavy, expesnive and instead they end up taking all their shots with their iPhone, because it’s the only camera they actually have on them, when they see something they want to shoot.
There’s reason that the iPhone is the most used camera in the world! And don’t get me wrong.. Our phones are now able to take amazing pictures, and are perfectly valid..
…but if you find yourself continuously using your phone, then perhaps that £6000 Canon 5DS wasn’t such a good buy!
So what camera do I recommend?
Tough one… But I will recommend that you should get a camera that you can have a relationship with!
Let me (try and) explain. You should enjoy using your camera, you should gel with how the manufacturer has laid out the controls, you should like the colour pallet and tonal ranges that the brand puts into its cameras. You should, in short, love your camera, want to take care of it, keep it clean, be sufficiently attached to it to want to take it with out you, and to remember not to leave it behind.
You won’t kickstart your creativity by maxing out your credit card. Super fast tracking mode is only actually important for super fast tracking. Every camera these days is packed with features that you don’t really need and probably won’t use.
A camera needs to offer you an easy way to take pictures, with controls to change the settings for your pictures that fall easily to hand and that you effortlessly remember how to use.
The best camera is the one that inspires you to use it, the camera that you want to take out with you and shoot your pictures. The joy of photography should start with the correct tool for the job.
What’s another adage? A bad worker blames their tools. Find the camera that’s right for you. Google reviews of cameras that you might want to buy, look at photos taken by cameras you might want to buy, read user forums about cameras you might want to buy (once you sort the wheat from the chaff, another adage) nothing really beats real user experience.
And finally, once you have a short list of potential cameras, go to a store, and ask to try them, ask the sales person to demo them, they’re there to help you; use that help.
If you simply buy the best newest camera that your piggy bank or credit rating can get you, with the most buttons and features, then you’ve bought a disposable consumer item, that someone else will take great creative profit from, when you flip it on ebay 6 months later (and you will take great financial loss)
And a final bit of the advice? The camera that the press loved last year, that’s just been replaced by the mark2 version, is still a great camera… It’s also probably about 30-50% cheaper than it was back then too…
=========================
A lot of time and effort goes into this site.. If you like what you see, and/or if I’ve helped you then perhaps you’d considering making a donation?
A lot of time and effort goes into this site.. If you like what you see, and/or if I’ve helped you then perhaps you’d consider helping me?
One way you could help me is if you want to buy ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING from Amazon, (that’s anything; cameras, books, shoe polish, whatever) if you do so using the links below, then I will receive a small percentage of your expenditure, and you will pay NO MORE than you would have paid anyway.
This will also work if you USE THOSE LINKS to click through to your own country.
To do this, click a link above, scroll to the bottom of the page, then select your country from the drop down menu, as shown below
Another way you could help, especially if you don’t like Amazon, but do like me, is by making a donation
The donate button is in the top right hand corner or can be found on the link below
Thanks Very Much!
Donate
======================================
The X-Pro Series Content: Referenced and All In One Place
My Blog Click Blog Table of Contents
Other Stories Click Pages and Articles
Adam Bonn Fotografia 
Very true. I swapped a body and ten lenses from one system for another system, not to get better image quality (though I got that) but simply because the old system had developed in a way I found frustrating to use. It had four command dials, any of which could do anything. I could never remember which was doing what in each mode, or which way to turn it. And I hated the viewfinder. The new system has dedicated engraved controls for shutter speed, ISO, compensation and even a proper aperture ring around each lens, and the viewfinder is lovely. I have now rediscovered the joy of taking pictures, and my pictures have, I’m told, improved greatly. Switching system cost me many thousands of pounds and I did it without actually reading any specifications or reviews, I just knew as soon as i held it that the new camera would be my friend.
LikeLike
Thanks Rupert,
Years ago when I was a lot more interested in motorbikes than I am now, Ducati released a bike called the 916. On paper the specs were nothing much compared to the incumbent Japenese sports bikes of the day, but every reviewer raved about it. One reviwer nailed it; it’s not that the 916 is a better bike per se, but it’s so beautiful and well thought out, that it inspires you to give it your best when you ride it! My point? I think many products adhere to this dynamic, and I find it especially true of cameras. My (our?) Fujis might not be the smallest, lightest, or even biggest megapixel units on the market, but they truly inspire me to take one out when I leave the house.
Thanks for reading.
Adam
LikeLike