Muki.Dorifuto.com Photography talk with random tangents into the unknown

Buying Your First DSLR

Stop on a street corner in the city and wait for long enough, you'll see the odd person carrying a DSLR. Rewind a few years and this would have been a fairly rare occurrence, but with the DSLRs now more readily available and with people willing to forego their point and shoot in favour of camera phones, suddenly it seems like every man and his dog has a DSLR.

I think the fact that there are more people interested in photography is fantastic. What really hurts my heart though, is how misinformed many people are when they first pursue photography as a hobby. Here's just a couple of things to watch out for when buying your first DSLR.

You've Got a Cheap Body
Don't get me wrong, the quality from just about any modern day DSLR is paramount compared to just a few years ago, but what you should be aware of is that your camera body will most likely be the cheapest part of your investment. If you're completely new to the game and want an SLR to learn on, then your best bet is to start off with an entry level DSLR. Compared to what you will pay if you get bitten by the bug, this will be extremely cheap.

If you jump in at the other end of the game, your camera body is still one of the cheapest parts of the puzzle. If you're going to get some use of it, you're going to want to buy bigger, faster memory cards. You'll need more storage to save all of that to. You'll need more processing power to crunch those larger files. And we haven't even started on what sort of lenses you'll want to buy. Want to put an el-cheapo lens on a top of the line camera?

The camera body you buy today will be cheap, regardless of where you are in your hobby, compared to how much you'll spend elsewhere. The only exception to this are those that buy a DSLR and then decide it's not for them (in which case, you'd better be sure you're buying a low cost entry level DSLR!). With camera bodies only staying current on average for a little over a year or so, there will always be a bigger and better body out there. It pains me to see newcomers entering the hobby with a pro-level camera body, but two years onward they haven't learnt anything that they couldn't have done on today's (or yesterday's) entry level cameras. That's not to say that there aren't people who jump in head first, purchase a top of the line model and master their craft before the next model is out, it's just that those are far and few between.

Canon or Nikon
Don't kid yourself, the market is dominated by these two players. They are the two industry standards. You will very rarely, if ever, see mainstream media photographers with the likes of Olympus or Sony. It just doesn't happen. I'm a Canon guy, but if I had my chance, I'd probably switch to Nikon. The grass is always greener on the other side. Bear in mind that it is rare to find anyone that truly has an unbiased opinion of which camp to join. Truly unbiased? How many people out there have the time and resources to really put to use both Canon and Nikon equipment and aren't sponsored by either? The argument of Canon vs Nikon should be one of those things you just don't bring to the dinner table. Pick a side, stick with it and remember that no one is truly unbiased.

Glass is Everything
If your camera body is cheap, where does the rest of the money go? Into your lenses. You've only got one? Then why purchase a DSLR? Changing lenses gives you the ability to shoot for the type of shots you're looking for. I might be taking interior shots for a real estate agent one day (I'd go with something wide to give the impression of larger spaces), but I wouldn't use the same lens to shoot motorsports from the pit lane (Are you kidding? That motorcycle looks like a speck in the horizon!). Okay, I hear you say, I'll go and purchase a few zoom lenses and cover the whole focal range! That might be fine if it covers what you shoot (Hell, in motorsports you will probably rarely ever need anything in the wide or even standard focal range), but what about when you need more light? Focal range isn't all there is to it. Why would a 70-200mm lens cost more than a 70-300mm? Why would a lens with a single focal length cost more than a zoom?

What is likely to happen is you'll start off with a kit lens. They aren't too bad these days, but you soon realise you're out of zoom reach. Or things just are too blurry. So you'll move closer and you'll learn more about camera shake and shutter speed. You'll be a little frustrated at being unable to take clear shots. You'll think about getting a tripod, or a flash, but eventually you'll think to yourself, "It's just a kit lens, right? It's not meant to be that good. Maybe it's time to upgrade to another lens," and just like that, you're on a spending spree... that is, is you haven't already started with the tripod and the flash.

So now that you've decided you're going to buy some glass, you start reading reviews. You try to find out what's the best lens out there. But life isn't like that. You soon realise again that it all depends on what you shoot. So you finally nail it down to what you want and you start looking at prices. Everything is so expensive! Lenses that cost close to or more than your camera when you bought it! If you're in the Canon camp, you'll start wondering what all the fuss about L series lenses are, but you'll remind yourself, this is just a hobby, no need to spend that much on it!

It's at this point that suddenly all the problems you've been having don't seem that bad and you either work on your craft to overcome these issues, or you resign yourself to the "fact" that you're sure you could take better photographs if you have the money for all those fancy lenses and leave it at that. In you fall into the former category, you'll soon reach another fork in the road where you question yourself and your ability to take photos and then the equipment you have. If you're fortunate enough to have friends who are more experienced (or simply have too much money to throw around on lenses), you might be able to answer that question by borrowing a lens or two and seeing if the problem is you or the lenses. Either way, the thought, "It's too expensive, I'll just get better" and the frequency of looking at lenses online or in shops forms a pretty vicious cycle until one of the two break. From here on, the cycle repeats albeit with lesser tenacity.

Rest assured, this is absolutely normal behavior and the source of much frustration by budding photographers. Hang tough.

Be Prepared for Elitism
Every man and his dog has a DSLR. That also includes those that would consider themselves the elite, the high and mighty, the absolute source of all knowledge and wisdom. Let them do their thing, whilst you do yours. Perhaps it's a carry on from the keyboard warrior or the Internet gangsta, but you'll soon meet the odd elitist that is quick to claim themselves as the authority on all that is photography and has the Wikipedia entry memorised. What you will more likely find are that those who know their craft will share with you not to show you how much they know, or how little you do, but because they love what they do and are always looking to learn more. There's a difference between being lectured to and learning with.

Get Out of Auto
I've only ever shot on full automatic a handful of times, and that was when I accidentally turned the dial to it. Most people purchase a DSLR to take better pictures and better pictures are taken by you, not the camera. Put some thought into why a picture is good and how to replicate that in your own photos. You don't have to be in full manual. I rarely am unless I'm using a flash, but I allow myself manual control of either shutter speed or aperture as well as ISO and look at the value the camera suggests for the missing piece of the puzzle. You should be able to look at any photo you took and be able to provide a reason as to why you picked that speed/aperture/ISO combination and what effect it had.

Perhaps your camera has presets for portaits or sports, but ask yourself why and what settings those would be. How does the camera know that you'd want a little more motion blur, or a sharper background? It doesn't, but on the off chance it flukes it and gets what you were looking for, how much of that can you say was part of your skill as a photographer? A cook makes a great meal out of fresh ingredients and by using pots and pans, but ultimately the cook is responsible for the quality of the meal. Likewise, a photographer can make a great picture out of a special moment in time and by using their camera, but ultimately the photographer is responsible for the quality of the photo. Learn and take pride in your craft.

This has gotten pretty long already, so I'm going to end it here, but I'm sure there'll be more to come, especially my own mistakes I made with my first DSLR. Keep on shooting, and keep on learning!

Pre-Orders and RRP – The New Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM

Adorama has opened orders to purchase the new Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM (Details in a previous post). The current price is US$2,499, an increase of US$700 on the older model listed by them at US$1,799.

Delivery is expected to start in April.