Choosing a camera by Amateur Photography Tips

Buying a Camera means making a number of decisions. Do you want convenience, or do you want full creative control? What range of subjects do you want to shoot? And do you choose traditional film, or take the digital route?

There are hundreds and hundreds of different cameras on the market, and choosing the right one for your holiday photography can seem like a nightmare ordeal. But essentially there are two different types of camera which are both widely available and suitable for travelling. The first decision that you have to make is which of these two suits your purposes and aspirations best.

Two main types

First there is the compact, or point-and- shoot, camera which is designed to be small and easy to use. Then there is the SLR (single lens reflex), which is bulkier, has more controls, and usually offers changeable lenses.

Over the years, the differences between these two types of camera have become slightly less distinct. Compacts now often have useful built-in zooms, and can offer some degree of control over flash and exposure. SLRs are much easier to use, often coming with automatic focusing and fully-automated exposure. However, despite the similarities it is important to realise the advantages of the reflex camera. As you can buy different lenses for an SLR, you can cover practically every photographic subject.

Compacts fixed lens

compact’s fixed lens cannot focus close enough for the smallest subjects, and cannot zoom near enough for close-ups of safari wildlife or distant sportsmen. The compact’s lens cannot squeeze the interior of a room into a single frame. The SLR gives you the flexibility to do all these things, whether now or in the future.

Take the creative reins

Most SLRs will set both aperture and shutter speed for you when you want to concentrate on the composition — but when required, you can take the creative reins. Good pictures are possible with a compact, but as you have so little control results are not predictable — and can often be disappointing.

An SLR allows you to pick a fast enough shutter speed to ensure that moving subjects are caught sharply in the frame. Good autofocus models adjust the focus quickly enough to keep up with the action, so you can concentrate on framing and firing.

SLRs offer a far greater range of zooms and lenses than compacts — and you can change them to suit the subject you are shooting at the time. Long lenses are essential for many types of wildlife and sports photography.

It’s highly unlikely that anyone will choose film cameras these days. The advantage of the digital route is the immediacy of the results. You don’t have to wait, or pay, for processing, as you can see the shots using the built in display screen. This means you can share your pictures with travelling companions and confirm that you have the results that you want before moving on (important if you have travelled a long way and are unlikely to return).

Direct control over shutter speed or aperture

It is these two controls that are at the heart of all creative photography. With these two adjustments you can decide exactly how sharp something appears in your viewfinder — giving you the option to deliberately blur things, whilst keeping others critically focused, so as to concentrate the viewer’s attention on what you want them to see.

The more pixels, the better

A key consideration with digital cameras is the resolution of the imaging chip. The more pixels that the CCD or CMOS chip has, the better quality the images. If you want to print your pictures, go for the model with the most pixels you can afford. A model with five million pixels is adequate for printing out A4 or US Letter- sized prints.

Close focusing

Compact cameras are not good at dealing with miniature subjects, as the viewfinder gives an inaccurate view of what is being shot. An SLR gives an exact view of what the lens sees — as well as showing exactly which part of the frame is in focus.

Compact vs SLR

Compact

• Convenience: Some models can fit in your pocket
• Limited control: Can buy with a reasonable zoom — but there is little creative control over shutter speeds, depth of field or focus
• Simplicity: Few buttons to worry about — you just point and shoot

SLR

• Interchangeability: Choose the lens or zoom for the subjects you want to shoot
• Freeze: Full shutter speed control for crisp action shots or for creative blur
• Sharpness control: See and control exactly what is in focus, so unwanted detail is blurred

So what’s it going to be? If you’re a serious amateur or plan to make photography a hobby then the SLR is the way forward. At Amateur Photography Tips we would suggest that SLR users can also benefit from having a compact as well.

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