What camera should I buy?

A question I get asked a lot is ‘what camera should I buy for my son/daughter/partner who’s interested in photography?’ And, in all honesty, I don’t know! I have a Sony A7riii which is great, but I rarely get my hands on any other cameras to be able to advise on specific makes and models that might be more suited to a beginner. BUT… I know how to find out AND I can tell you some of the important things to look for if you’re buying one. So, read on if you want to find the perfect camera for the photography enthusiast in your life.

The TL;DR (Too lazy; didn’t read) version

My usual advice is that any entry level Nikon, Canon or Sony is going to set you in good stead. They’re well known brands with cameras suitable for beginners and intermediates all the way through to advanced photographers, but if you’re looking for someone to make it really easy for you and recommend a specific make and model, then I recommend heading to a website like TechRadar where they test out and review the latest cameras (as well as other gadgetry!) and rank them against each other. They’ll even link you up with the cheapest places to buy them.

If, however, you’re looking to understand a bit more about the basics of buying a camera and what to look out for, then I’ll try to unpick it here (without getting too technical), so you can choose the perfect gift for your loved one.

Terminology

A fancy camera. A big camera. DSLR. There are lots of ways that people might refer to the camera that you’re probably picturing in your head: A DSLR (or digital single-lens reflex if you fancy the mouthful version) is the type of camera where you can choose different lenses to attach to them. But actually, in this modern day and age, DSLRs are starting to become the DVD players of the past (choose your own age-appropriate analogy here) – there’s a new kid on the block now – the mirrorless camera.

A DSLR camera contains a mirror which allows you to see what the camera can see when you look through the viewfinder. This mirror has to physically move out of the way of the sensor when you take a photograph. A mirrorless camera, by definition, doesn’t have this mirror, instead opting for a digital viewfinder which shows you what the camera’s sensor can see. This makes the camera lighter and means you can take photographs faster.

What does this mean for me? If you have a big budget, you might want to invest in a more modern mirrorless camera. Otherwise, you can get DSLRs at a much more affordable price and, with many pro photographers jumping ship to mirrorless, there’s bound to be lots of bargains to be had on second hand DSLRs.

Lenses

A lens does for the camera what our eyes do for our brain; they help turn what’s in front of you into a picture that’s readable by the camera’s sensor. Without a lens, your camera can’t produce recognisable photographs. You can also spend thousands of pounds on a camera, but if you have a cheap, crappy lens, you’re never going to get high quality photographs.  

If you buy a brand new, entry level camera then, more than likely, it’ll come with a lens. These ‘kit lenses’ are normally low cost zoom lenses which will give your loved one a good basis to then discover what they love taking photos of! Although modern day kit lenses are much better quality than they used to be, as their hobby develops, it’s likely they’ll want to upgrade their lens, or invest in a few different lenses for different purposes. 

Here’s some of the main lenses and their uses:

• Zoom lens – a lens where you can ‘zoom in’ and make objects appear larger in your photograph. This gives you the flexibility to photograph both indoors and out and both close up and further away subjects. You can get lenses that cover a small range (kit lenses are commonly 18-55mm) or much larger ranges which give you even more flexibility (such as 24-200mm) but generally the bigger the zoom range, the less sharp your photos are going to be (unless you pay a premium for the lens!).
• Prime lens – a fixed lens where you can’t zoom in; if you want something to appear bigger in your photo, you need to physically move closer to it. What you lose in zoom, you gain in image sharpness (and step count!). They’ll often allow you to achieve photos with a lovely blur to the background (known as a narrow depth of field). Prime lenses come in various different ‘focal lengths’ depending on what you’re photographing, such as a 50mm or 135mm lens.

• Telephoto lens – big old lenses that will help you photograph things that are really far away: wildlife, aircraft, the moon!
• Macro lens – these let you photograph really small, close-up objects with incredible detail, such as flowers or insects. Some macro lenses also double up as amazing portraiture lenses.
• Fisheye lens – these let you see a much wider view than most normal lenses, and create the distorted ‘fisheye’ effect (like you see on GoPros).

If you end up going down the route of choosing lenses, another important element to be aware of is the maximum aperture.

Warning: this is where it gets a little bit technical.

The camera’s aperture is what controls how much of a photograph is in focus (that depth of field I mentioned). Aperture is measured in f-numbers or f-stops, such as f/1.4 or f/18.

• A landscape photographer wanting the viewer to enjoy the whole scene would typically want everything in focus. For this they might use a narrow aperture such as f/18 or f/22.
• A portrait photographer may prefer to have just their subject in focus, with the background blurred out. They would use a wide aperture for this such as f/2.8 or f/1.4. 

The maximum aperture on a lens denotes how wide the aperture can go and will be marked on the lens as an f-number; portrait lenses will likely be f/2.8 or f/1.4. Often, inexpensive zoom lenses (such as kit lenses!) may have a variable maximum aperture which means that the maximum aperture varies depending on how far you’re zoomed in. In this case, the lens will show a range instead of a single number, such as f/5 – f/6.3.

Generally you’ll pay more for lenses with wider apertures, especially at longer focal lengths. 

Generally, the longer the lens, the smaller the maximum aperture, so you won’t be able to go wider than f/4 on a lot of big telephoto lenses, unless you’ve got a spare £14,999 like this one!!

What does this all mean for me? If you know what type of photography your loved one might enjoy, you could opt for a cheaper camera and a better quality lens that suits their interests more. 

Other useful things to know about lenses

One feature that’s worth looking out for in a lens is vibration reduction (VC) or image stabilisation (IS). When you’re taking photographs, particularly with heavier cameras/lenses, your hands may shake and lead to blurry photographs. Some lenses have features that counteract this movement, meaning you’ll get sharper images. This is particularly worthwhile if it’s a longer focal length.

You don’t need to buy ‘own brand’ lenses. There are other third party brands that offer high quality lenses at a more affordable price. Check out Tamron, Sigma, Rokinon and Viltrox alternatives. Just be sure to buy the version that fits your camera (look for Nikon-fit, or Canon-fit for example)!

It might be worth knowing that you can hire lenses. Perhaps to ‘try before you buy’, or to treat them to some time with a different lens. A good example is probably a fisheye lens which is bound to be lots of fun to play with but is unlikely, for most, to become a staple in the camera bag as it’s so niche.

Other useful camera accessories to go with the main gift

If you’re looking to pad out the gift with some handy accessories, or perhaps gift an already camera-mad loved one, here’s a few ideas for you:

• A tripod – super handy for landscapes, night sky photography, time lapses etc. 
• A Creative Cloud subscription so they can edit their photos using Lightroom and Photoshop (you can buy the annual subscription for a really good discount during Black Friday on Amazon).
• Photography lessons in photography and/or editing – and I would be delighted to help you with that! You can book Zoom or in-person lessons with me from just £99.

I hope you’ve found this useful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’d be happy to help.