Friday, April 30, 2010
Digital SLR Camera Buying Guide (For Beginners)
1:56 AM | 
Posted by
V_Khor
I started picking up photography and bought my first ever Digital SLR camera only about nine months ago, so I am a beginner, and if you are reading this, chances are you're a beginner too. Since I'm not a professional photographer or reviewer for gears, I'm sharing with you the things to look out for when buying your first DSLR camera. Also, since I'm using a Nikon D90 and have not much experience into other brands except from reading reviews and used a few of my friends', please forgive me if I got some of the features or jargons wrong for those other brands.
For the purpose of this post, I will focus on Entry to Mid Level DSLRs and maybe a little on Micro Four Thirds cameras. I won't be touching the full-frame DSLRs since they are a lot more expensive and used mostly by professionals or experienced enthusiasts. If you are wondering what full-frame is, it's a type of image sensor a camera uses. Most Entry - Mid Level DSLRs uses APS-C image sensor and some uses the Micro Four Thirds sensor. Since the topic on image sensors is very long and technical, I won't be discussing it here. To find out more, feel free to visit the Wikipedia.
Okay, let's get straight into it:
Consideration No. 1: Follow the Masses
For me, this is one of the most important rule when deciding which brand to buy, not because it's cool to use what others are using, but for more practical and cost saving purposes, and by masses, I'm referring to your friends. Assuming you have a few friends who are into photography, it's advisable that you use the same brand as the majority of them are using. This is only logical because you can swap / borrow / or buy used lenses from your friends. Photography is an expensive hobby not just because of the camera body, but the many different types of lenses available to you. There are lenses for different types of photography, which I'll go into it in a bit, and there is no one size fits all lens. For example, you can't use a Canon lens on a Nikon and vice versa. Even for 3rd party lenses such as Tamron and Sigma, while most of these lenses are made to fit major brands, they are still individually specified for different brands. Case in point, for the same lens, they have compatible ones for Nikon, and for Canon. Unless you are making a lot of money, going for these different lenses is going to burn a big hole in your pocket.
Consideration No. 2: Does it have a built-in autofocus motor in the camera body?
Some (probably most) Entry Level Digital SLR, such as the Nikon D3000, does not have a built-in autofocus motor in the body, and therefore have to use the newer lenses that has built-in motor in the lens inself, such as the Nikon's Silent Wave Motor (SWM), Canon's Ultrasonic Motor (USM) and Sigma's Hyper-sonic Motor (HSM). For most beginners, not having a built-in motor in the body is not a big problem since you'd be using mostly new lenses. The only drawback is that you can't autofocus with older lenses that doesn't have a built-in motor. You can still use it manually though. While I'm not familiar with most older lenses, there is one lens which I highly recommend, that is the classic, wonderful and VERY cheap 50mm f/1.8 lens. A quick comparison with it's newer brothers (or sisters):
- The classic 50mm f/1.8D AF lens costs around US$120 (no in-built autofocus motor)
- The newer and faster 50mm f/1.4D AF lens costs around US$350 (no in-built autofocus motor)
- The newest 50mm f/1.4G AF-S lens costs around US$420 (with built-in Silent Wave Motor)
Determine if this is a point of consideration for you before you buy. There are a few Entry Level DSLRs that has this function. I personally opt for Mid Level DSLR (Nikon D90) with built-in motor to provide more flexibility and the ability to use cheaper, older lenses.
Consideration No. 3: Image sensor format - APS-C or Micro 4/3rds?
Most Entry - Mid Level DSLRs uses APS-C format while a few uses the Micro Four Thirds image sensor. While there are various differences between these two formats, as a beginner, the main considerations, in my opnion, are the size and flexibility. Micro 4/3rds are generally smaller in size thus making it more portable, less bulky and easier to handle. Budget wise they are not really cheaper then the APS-C Entry Level DSLR. The main advantage the APS-C cameras have over the Micro 4/3rds camera is the different types of lens available. Since the Micro 4/3rds system is still fairly new, they have limited types of lenses available to them, thus limiting it's creative flexibility. For a more comprehensive pros and cons of the Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds systems, go here.
Consideration No. 4: Which lens should I go for?
When buying a DSLR, be sure to check if the quoted price is for the camera body only, or for the camera kit, which means the price includes the camera body, a kit lens, and some accessories. For example, the Canon EOS Rebel T2i / 550D (body only) and Canon EOS Rebel T2i / 550D kit (click link to see the difference). Kit lenses are "starter" lenses that are usually sold together with a DSLR body. Most of the kit lenses are adequate but not great, except for a few rare ones like the Nikon D90 kit lens (18-105mm VR). Unless you are tight on budget, I usually advice people to upgrade the kit lens to a more versatile 18-200mm multipurpose zoom lens, available for Nikon, Canon, and in other 3rd party brands such as Tamron and Sigma, which provide an 11.1x magnification on an APS-C size sensor. This lens is great for beginners as it has the range of focal length suitable for almost all occasion and purpose. It's also great for traveling as it is relatively small. The only downside about this lens is the image quality is not as good as some specialized lenses but those are more expensive. This quality difference are usually not noticeable by a beginner and some of the problems you can fix it in post processing. You can of course go for specialized lenses for different types of photography, such as macro photography, telephoto zoom for portrait and sports photography, but I would advised against it for beginners. To buy the camera body and lens separately just search online for the brand and model of camera and add the "body only" keywords, and search for the lens' brand and model.
Consideration No. 5: Brand new or used.
This really depends on you. Take myself for example, I'm the type that goes for brand new as I'm not comfortable enough, and probably a little insecure, in using used gears. Some of my friends however, ONLY goes for used gears. Unless you are like me, I'd actually recommend you to seriously consider going for used gears. There are a few places you can go to find these gears, such as your friends, your local photography forums, local camera shops or ebay. Just be sure to do your research properly and buy only when you are comfortable enough. I have met many people who managed to buy fairly new, rarely used cameras or lenses at a considerably cheaper price. You will of course run the risk of getting a faulty equipment but that is an inherent risk when buying any used equipment.
The Ultimate Consideration: Which brand should I go for?
After taking into consideration the above points, you should be able to decide on the brand which you want to buy, however if you can't, I would usually advice to go for either Nikon or Canon simply because they are the most established companies in DSLR manufacturing, with a lot of lenses available. Companies such Sony are good, and cheaper in comparison for some cameras, but they are still new and have some catching up to do when it comes to DSLRs. If you want to go for Micro 4/3rds cameras, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, the slightly bulkier Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 (G10 and G2 are the upcoming models), the Olympus PEN E-P1 and E-P2 are great, highly rated cameras to consider.
Left: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, Right: Olympus PEN E-P1
There are of course other considerations such as availability of Live View, image stabalisation, etc, but to me these are usually non deal breakers. You have to decide what's your deal breaker, read some reviews, and go to your local camera shop to test them out. For some information on other considerations, go here.
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