Picking out your camera

First off, it goes without saying that you will need a camera to take your photos with. Cameras generally fall into two main catagories, Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras and what I like to call “point and shoot” cameras. Point and shoot cameras are the simpler of the two because they are intended for just that, pointing and shooting. They don’t have interchangeable lenses (most of them at least) and when you take a photo, the camera tends to do most of the work for you, behind the scenes. For these reasons, they are the easiest to take photos with, but they are also the hardest to be creative with. SLRs on the other hand do have interchangeable lenses, and when you look through the viewfinder, you see what your lens sees. Having these capabilities, along with full control of your camera, truly allows you to be as creative as you possibly can be with your photos. However, do know that having a top-of-the-line camera will not instantly make you a great photographer!

For those of you wondering what exactly “Single Lens Reflex” truly means, I must refer you to this wikipedia page for a thorough explanation. I could explain it here, but let’s be honest, it is some pretty boring reading for the majority of people starting out with photography!

Point and shoot camera samples

SLR camera examples

At the time of writing this, film cameras have all but taken a backseat in the photography world in lieu of the digital era. But, for those of you who insist that film is still the best, or only have film cameras to work with, a lot of these tips will work for you also. However, the main focus will be on digital technology.

When picking a camera, one of the main things that you want to consider is how far you want to take your photography. If your goal is just to learn how to take better photos, but you’re not interested in learning all the technical mumbo jumbo; then you may be better suited to purchase a smaller point and shoot type camera. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this! It is quite possible to get great photos using a very simple camera.
However, if you want to take your photos to a whole new level and make those around you say “wow” when they see them, then I highly recommend an SLR for you.

When looking at digital cameras, some of the things to consider are:

• How good are the quality of the photos that it takes?
  Since digital cameras don’t have film in them, they use a sensor to capture light. The size of these sensors is measured in what is called “mega pixels” a.k.a. millions of pixels. The higher number the better here, but unless you’re planning on printing poster size prints or larger, there’s no need to break the bank on the highest mega pixel containing camera that you can find. As you can guess, the more mega pixels a camera has, the more expensive they tend to be. You can use the following table as a general guideline in deciding how many mega pixels is suitable for you.

  Number of Megapixels	Acceptable Print Size (Inches)
  2.0	4 x 6 [standard]
  3.0	5 x 7
  4.0	8 x 10
  5.0	9 x 12
  6.0	11 x 14
  8.0	12 x 16
  10.0	16 x 20
  12.0	18 x 24

  Keep in mind that this table shows you at what size your images will begin to degrade in quality when you print them. There is nothing stopping you from printing a billboard sized print from a 4 mega pixel camera, it only means that it won’t be as sharp when you look at it closely.

• Does the camera have a manual override? And will you ever use it if it does?
  Having the ability to manually override what your camera is doing is a key factor in taking your photos to a whole new level. For most SLR cameras this is a given, but a lot of point and shoot cameras don’t let you have much control. And some that do, hide it deep within a menu that makes it not so easy to use.
• How does the camera feel in your hand?
  It should be pretty self explanatory that you want a camera that feels good to you, however it is frequently overlooked when picking out a camera. Are the buttons that you need to adjust your photos easily within reach while shooting? Having a camera that requires you to hunt for buttons, can easily cause you to miss a shot that you otherwise could have had.
• Can you afford more equipment than just the camera itself?
  In the case of SLR cameras, it is quite common to spend much more money on lenses and accessories than the camera itself. So when you’re picking out your SLR, keep this in mind! If you can find a camera with a lens or two in a kit, it can usually save you a little money.
• Do you feel that you need the latest cutting edge technology?
  Since you’re reading the “Photography Basics” section, I can only assume that you probably don’t. So with that in mind, don’t rule out any cameras that may be a couple of years old and used. Purchasing older and\or used equipment can definitely save you a lot of money.

Picking out your most important accessories

With any camera, there are certain accessories that are almost mandatory. Some of these include:

• Memory card(s) to store your photos on
• A tripod
• Lens cleaning cloths\wipes
• Screen protectors to keep your cameras LCD screens from getting scratched
• A bag to carry everything

With an SLR, you will likely want the above, plus:

• A range of lenses to cover what you will shoot most (more on this below)
• An external flash unit
• A comfortable neck strap

Of course, every person develops their own needs, and you quite likely will as well.

Picking out your lenses

Without lenses, your SLR camera would be pretty much useless unless you have a need for an expensive paper-weight.  When beginning with an SLR camera system, you really only need the camera and a single lens to start out with. Then, over time or as funds permit, you can add on to your system to get it to a point that you are happy with.

A lot of SLRs these days come with a kit lens that covers the wide to normal zoom range, and this lens alone can yield some very nice photos. However the clarity and build quality of these lenses can sometimes be rather questionable. This leads us on to better lenses.

SLR camera manufacturers generally have a huge selection of lenses to choose from. As well, there are plenty of third party manufacturers that make lenses to fit the vast majority of different camera brands. Therefore it would be impossible for me to explain every different lens to you. However, lenses are generally classified in only a few types. These types are:

• Wide-Angle – Lenses that have a substantially shorter focal length than that of a “normal” lens making your images appear as though taken from further away.
• Normal – Lenses that generate images that look “natural” to the naked eye. Or, depicts a scene in the same way as you see it.
• Telephoto – Lenses that have a substantially longer focal length than a “normal” lens making your image appear zoomed in or magnified.
• Zoom - Zoom lenses are lenses that have a range of focal lengths, such as 18-55mm. Due to this, zoom lenses are the most common and usually the most useful lenses to the majority of photographers. When picking your first lens, you will want to try to find the one that matches the type of photography that you intend to do the most of. For beginners, I highly recommend a zoom lens with a wide to normal zoom range, as you will be able to use this single lens throughout the majority of your learning process.

The multiplier factor

In the days of 35mm film, most SLR cameras came with a 50mm fixed focal length lens. This is because the image that a 50mm lens projects onto a 35mm piece of film would record your scene closest to the way that your naked eye sees it. In other words, it wouldn’t appear zoomed in, or of a wider angle. This is why lenses as such would be referred to as “normal” lenses.

However, today’s digital cameras use a sensor that is generally smaller than the size of 35mm film. What this does is create what is called “multiplier factor” or “crop factor”. Most digital SLRs as of current have a multiplier factor unless you get a “full frame” camera, which essentially means that the sensor size is equal to the size of 35mm film.

What this means to you is that if your camera has a multiplier factor, a 50mm lens will be zoomed in farther than it would be on a camera without one. For instance, my primary camera has a multiplier factor of 1.3x. So a 50mm lens on my camera would need to be multiplied by 1.3 to give me the equivalent focal length of the lens on a 35mm film, or full frame digital camera.  In this example, it would make that 50mm lens the equivalent of a 65mm lens on a 35mm film or full frame camera.

I’m sure at this point you’re probably slightly confused and asking “How does this affect me?”. Well, the multiplier factor is what you need in order to figure out what a “normal” lens would be for your particular camera. Since a “normal” lens would be 50mm on a 35mm film or full frame camera. You can divide that 50mm by your cameras multiplier and it will give you the approximate focal length of a “normal” lens on your camera. Using my 1.3X multiplier example above, this means that a “normal” lens for my camera would be approximately 38mm.
Another way in which it will affect you, is in getting ultra-wide angle lenses. Essentially, having a multiplier factor can make a zoom lens, zoom in much further than it would on a 35mm camera (great for sports or wildlife photography!). However, it also means that going ultra-wide can be much more expensive since it takes more precision ground glass in the lens in order to go that wide. However some camera manufacturers have combated this problem by specifically making lenses for these smaller sensor sizes, which can certainly ease a little of the confusion, while at the same time, saving you some cash.

Buying Tips

As I mentioned previously, don’t rule out purchasing used equipment. Buying used equipment can definitely save you alot of money. Since people seem to upgrade their equipment quite regularly, it means there is always a lot of it to be found online and in your local camera shops. One of my favorite methods for finding used equipment at a lower price is to search eBay for it. However, before I search for the exact item I’m looking for, I search for common typos that people would make while posting. For instance spelling “Canon” as “Cannon” or jumbling two words together like “CanonLens”. A lot of the time, doing this will find auctions that aren’t as easilly found by the majority of the people searching eBay. So if less people find them, less people bid on them. In the end, it means that you can usually get the item for less! Since I am primarilly a Canon person, I found a great resource that searches the most common terms for me, without me having to type in each term individually. This is by going to www.lensauctions.com/canon and clicking “Bargain Bin\Typo Auctions” on the left. The beauty of this method is that it can be used for other items besides camera equipment. Try it sometime, it may just surprise you!