What camera should I buy?

Posted on: Thu May 16, 2013

I get asked all the time to recommend a camera to buy. Whether you’re new to photography or a professional, there are going to be certain aspects of the way you shoot that will help shape the decision of what new camera to buy.

Let’s first talk about image sensors and what types of camera are available.

Image Sensors
As a general rule of thumb, the smaller the camera, the smaller the image sensor. Not in resolution terms (Mega Pixels), but in actual physical size. The larger the image sensor size the less lens distortion you will get in your image and in theory the better the image quality will be too. Hence why your whizzy 50MP smart phone camera still produces crappy pictures compared to a 5MP DSLR. Another blog post on this at a later stage.

Compact Cameras
Compact cameras are getting better and better all of the time and the manufacturers are having to think outside of the box to stand a chance of competing against smart phone users. Generally though compact cameras have a smaller image senors (physically smaller, not resolution) and this means more digital noise and worse quality. Also compact cameras often suffer with shutter lag, that dreaded pause after pressing the shutter button before the camera actually takes the photo. Quite often too the settings will be buried in the menus and are not very quick to access. These cameras suit people who want something that is much better quality than a mobile phone but are not too interested in settings but rather ‘point & shooting’. Some compacts are also coming equipment with things like GPS and Wifi which is useful.

Bridge Cameras
This bridges the gap between Compact and SLR. These cameras usually have a slightly bigger image sensor but not as big as an SLR. The have a built in zoom lens for versatility, but you cannot change lenses. These cameras suit the people who want to move up from their compact but perhaps don’t have a serious interest in photography, they just want a versatile camera that can take some better photos.

SLR
The digital SLR is a very flexible beast, it has a large image sensor (either APS-C or Full Frame) for high image quality and high ISO capability, meaning it can shoot in low light and still retain decent quality. An SLR has a mirror system that means you look through the actual lens which is a major bonus, you have a proper optical viewfinder and what you see is what you get! Of course on an SLR you can change lenses and upgrade lenses as you go, which gives you an enormous amount of scope for improvement and your kit can grow with your photography, although your bank balance won’t!

Just to confuse matters further, there are now another set of digital cameras, Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras.

Mirroless
Mirroless means smaller cameras because it does away with the prism system that SLRs use to look through the lens. These cameras still have fairly large image sensors so you get high quality and low light capability. You have the benefit of smaller camera with interchangeable lenses but without the bulk of an SLR, so it’s a no-brainer, right? Well there are a few things to consider, firstly these cameras have varying image sensor sizes, most commonly from Mirco Four Thirds to APS-C. Given there are some really good options with the larger APS-C sized sensors that is what I would favour.

The downside is that most do not have an optical viewfinder (remember no mirror prism system), only Fuji has a way of dealing with this which we will discuss further in a moment. All with have an LCD which you can use to frame and compose your shots, but some people just don’t get on well with these as often they can be difficult to view in bright sunlight. Some of the cameras have an Electronic View Finder (EVF) and this is a pretty good solution, you are effectively looking at a high resolution version of the image through a viewfinder. Although some don’t like these either because the image doesn’t keep up as fast as real life, it has a very slight lag, so your reactions might not be as quick as if you had an optical viewfinder where you see everything as it happens. These viewfinders will get better and better as the technology grows, the resolutions will get higher at the computers that drive them will be able to increase the refresh rate so that lag gets less and less.

I mentioned Fuji just now, well in the X-Pro1 they have come up with a method to use an optical viewfinder which works great for prime (non-zoom) lenses and it works okay for zooms to with a slight compromise. The viewfinder works more like a rangefinder camera, you don’t look through the lens you look through a viewfinder with the approximate viewing angle of the lens. The camera essentially changes the field of view with a series of magnifying glasses in the viewfinder, so when a 35mm lens is attached it changes to that viewing angle and when an 18mm is attached it changes to that. It can’t do that with a zoom lens though, so just the framing lines move to give you an indication of what proportion of the scene is going to be captured.

So let’s weigh up some of the options with their pros and cons..

Compact

Pros:
Small
Lightweight
Can be fairly cheap

Cons:
Shutter lag
Small image sensor, not as good quality and not as good in low light
Control options often buried in menus
Small lenses generally means not as good quality

…

Bridge

Pros:
Bigger image senor, but not as large as an SLR generally
These cameras often have quite a big zoom lens meaning it’s really versatile

Cons:
You can’t change the lens or upgrade you kit as you go
Big zoom lenses tend to sacrifice some quality
Still has smaller image sensor

…

SLRS

Pros:
Large image sensor (APS-C or Full Frame)
Proper optical viewfinder, you look through the lens
Very responsive and quick to use
Controls at your fingertips not buried in menus

Cons:
Bigger
Heavier
The kit lens it comes with is not the best quality, it’s fine to start with but if you take it seriously you will want to upgrade at some point.
Can be expensive

…

Mirrorless Cameras

Pros:
Smaller
Lightweight
Some have large (APS-C) sized image sensors
Some have an Electronic View Finder
Some even have an Optical View Finder

Cons:
Some don’t have all the settings at your fingers tips, the better ones do though
Most don’t have an optical viewfinder
Can be more expensive than an entry level SLR
…

That’s great you say, but it doesn’t really answer your question – what camera should I buy?

If you think you have a fairly healthy interest for photography and money isn’t too much of an issue, I would seriously consider a Mirroless camera. Unless of course you have an interest in wild life photography or something specialist where you might not have quite the same choice of lenses etc.

However if you have a tight budget, let’s say £300-£400 for the camera and lens then I would definitely look to an entry level DSLR.

I know I said that compacts have small image senors and generally not the best option, but actually some are now coming equipped with larger image sensors and better controls. So let’s take a look at some of the options.

Compact Options…

Fuji X20
A great compact (small, but not ultra small), the usual nice classic styling from Fuji. A zoom lens, great image quality and good controls too.
Just under £500.

Ricoh GR Digital
A superb compact, simple and stylish design. A fixed lens at 28mm (in 35mm terms) and a massive APS-C sized image sensor, in such a tiny camera.
Pre-order price around £600…

SLR…

Nikon D3200 + 18-55mm kit lens
A great starter DSLR with a pretty good kit lens.
Around £430.

Canon EOS 1100D+ 18-55mm kit lens
A good starter DSLR with kit lens and a very keen price tag.
Around£330.

Amazing that these SLR choices are cheaper than the compacts I have suggested. If you have a bit more money to spend you could always consider a Mirroless camera or a better SLR. For better SLRs think Nikon D7100 or Canon 7D. Both of which are around £1000 for the body only.

Mirrorless…

Fuji X-Pro1 + 18-55mm high quality lens
Superb mirrorless camera, an APS-C sized image sensor that is so good it rivals full frame, electronic and optical viewfinder.
Around £1500.

Fuji X-E1 + 18-55mm high quality lens
Superb mirrorless camera, an APS-C sized image sensor that is so good it rivals full frame and an electronic viewfinder.
Around £900.

If the mirrorless option sounds good but is a little over budget then Fuji might have good news for you soon. Rumour has it that they are about to release an entry level x-camera. I understand this announcement is expected very soon.