David
29-05-2009, 06:48 PM
So you want to purchase a Digital SLR? - First of all sell your car and put a mortgage on the house ;)
It is an expensive purchase that takes a lot of thought and effort, to come up with the right choice. Basically you want a camera which is going to last you at least a year or two, or more and give you good value for money for it's intended use. So how do you go about doing this?
Model/Brand
The first step is identifying what camera you want to buy and/or which brand you want to go for. Weigh up your options between cheap cameras and the more expensive brands which may or may not be better quality, everyone has their own opinion on this so you be the judge, try find some reviews for brands and models in your price range on the internet.
There are a few places you can go to online to get a good idea about which brand and camera to go for if you are a beginner to SLR photography. One that I like is dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com/) which publishes indepth reviews for many cameras and brands. If you are serious about making the right decision you should pay them a visit or two.
Features
Secondly you might want to consider the following features when comparing different cameras:
How many megapixels does the camera use when taking a shot.
What lenses come with the camera (these are expensive as well).
Does the camera/lens have as IS (image stabilisation) System or Anti-Shake system.
Speed: how many frames or shots per second can the camera take - this is important if you want to do continuous shooting i.e. taking pictures of someone doing a skateboard trick as their board flips around you will want to capture as many pictures in a small amount of time as you can.
How big is the camera? its important because you are going to be holding it, how your camera feels in your hands is very important.
LCD screen, does the camera have a large or small screen - this is what you are going to be previewing your shots on so its very important - some pros will plug in a laptop into their camera because they are not happy with the preview size.
Does the brand have good support i.e. do they have headquarters in New Zealand or a website in NZ? Where are you going to take your camera to be cleaned or repaired if it gets damaged.
Finally when you have made a decision about the camera model and brand you want to purchase you can spend your time thinking about accessories and finding the cheapest place to buy it. You might want to check out pricespy.co.nz (http://www.pricespy.co.nz/cat_13.html) for comparison of prices from different retailers, or you could browse a few retailer websites from this list i created on our forums: Useful Resources for Photographers in New Zealand (http://www.photographersonline.co.nz/showthread.php?t=5) (just look under the heading "shopping for cameras")
Important! - The camera and lens is not the only thing you need, remember to consider purchasing the following accessories:
Memory card - investigate which kind of memory card you need first because they come in different types and have varying performance and storage ability.
Camera bag - make sure it's big enough and securely fits all the accessories you plan on purchasing plus more. You might change your mind later and purchase that extra lens.
An extra battery - when your main battery runs out you want to be able to quickly switch it out, this is very handy!
A microfibre lens cleaning cloth - an absolute must have.
After you have all of these basic accessories then you can consider extra lenses, a tripod, filters and the list goes on, and on...
Obviously, this isn't very comprehensive so feel free to chime in with the considerations you make when you are looking to purchase an digital SLR.
It is an expensive purchase that takes a lot of thought and effort, to come up with the right choice. Basically you want a camera which is going to last you at least a year or two, or more and give you good value for money for it's intended use. So how do you go about doing this?
Model/Brand
The first step is identifying what camera you want to buy and/or which brand you want to go for. Weigh up your options between cheap cameras and the more expensive brands which may or may not be better quality, everyone has their own opinion on this so you be the judge, try find some reviews for brands and models in your price range on the internet.
There are a few places you can go to online to get a good idea about which brand and camera to go for if you are a beginner to SLR photography. One that I like is dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com/) which publishes indepth reviews for many cameras and brands. If you are serious about making the right decision you should pay them a visit or two.
Features
Secondly you might want to consider the following features when comparing different cameras:
How many megapixels does the camera use when taking a shot.
What lenses come with the camera (these are expensive as well).
Does the camera/lens have as IS (image stabilisation) System or Anti-Shake system.
Speed: how many frames or shots per second can the camera take - this is important if you want to do continuous shooting i.e. taking pictures of someone doing a skateboard trick as their board flips around you will want to capture as many pictures in a small amount of time as you can.
How big is the camera? its important because you are going to be holding it, how your camera feels in your hands is very important.
LCD screen, does the camera have a large or small screen - this is what you are going to be previewing your shots on so its very important - some pros will plug in a laptop into their camera because they are not happy with the preview size.
Does the brand have good support i.e. do they have headquarters in New Zealand or a website in NZ? Where are you going to take your camera to be cleaned or repaired if it gets damaged.
Finally when you have made a decision about the camera model and brand you want to purchase you can spend your time thinking about accessories and finding the cheapest place to buy it. You might want to check out pricespy.co.nz (http://www.pricespy.co.nz/cat_13.html) for comparison of prices from different retailers, or you could browse a few retailer websites from this list i created on our forums: Useful Resources for Photographers in New Zealand (http://www.photographersonline.co.nz/showthread.php?t=5) (just look under the heading "shopping for cameras")
Important! - The camera and lens is not the only thing you need, remember to consider purchasing the following accessories:
Memory card - investigate which kind of memory card you need first because they come in different types and have varying performance and storage ability.
Camera bag - make sure it's big enough and securely fits all the accessories you plan on purchasing plus more. You might change your mind later and purchase that extra lens.
An extra battery - when your main battery runs out you want to be able to quickly switch it out, this is very handy!
A microfibre lens cleaning cloth - an absolute must have.
After you have all of these basic accessories then you can consider extra lenses, a tripod, filters and the list goes on, and on...
Obviously, this isn't very comprehensive so feel free to chime in with the considerations you make when you are looking to purchase an digital SLR.