New to photography?

A question that is commonly asked by folks beginning their photographic journey is "What camera is best to buy?" and the simple answer is, any of them, yet that is not the advice I give when asked this question because it really is not as simple as that, in fact, the whole photography thing isn`t as simple as taking one persons answer, allow me to explain.

Photography is not about one camera for everything, far from it, so many factors are in play when it comes to photography that is really hurts your head when dipping your toes into the game, so I`ll try and break it down into steps to hopefully help you arrive at the right decision... for YOU!

So, you have been snapping everything and anything with your mobile phone and the bug has bitten so you want to progress to a DSLR, congratulations.... you are now about to fall headlong into the abyss never to return to normality and you want to know WHICH camera to buy, Jack down the pub tells you to buy a Canon R3iii..... but Bob next door told you to buy a Nikon D850a, and Sarah down the grocers says you should buy a Sony Alpha7 ....

and that is really confusing you so what to do? well, go back to the beginning and start over by NOT asking what camera you should buy for another, more important reason, which is this... a camera is a tactile thing, it needs to fit your hand, it needs to be straightforward to use and it needs to suit your budget, no point to owning a camera that is too heavy, or one that you can`t afford lenses for... that would just spoil the whole obsessio... sorry, hobby.

1; Go down to your local camera shop, pick up every camera they have and feel which one feels right, put each camera up to your eye a few times and feel what it does to your muscles, by the time you get to the last model you will think you just finished a workout down the local gym.... by this time you will have a few camera bodies in mind, purely from picking them up. Go grab a coffee, and return again to do the same thing, but just with the shortlisted bodies.. and a few more will fall by the wayside... so now you are down to 3 or 4 bodies that you find both comfortable, and not too heavy, so make a note and return home.

2; You may have noticed that in step one I never mentioned budget? well that is because if you bring budget into play in step 1 you will not try all the cameras, but now you have your shortlist, you can budget and apply that budget and narrow down the shortlist even further.

At this point you will want to research each of your chosen bodies for price of additions like lenses and flashes, booster packs and the like. This will more than likely narrow down your choices even further.... prices vary hugely between manufacturers lenses, and can spoil the milk a bit if not taken into account early on. Don`t be afraid to buy used, or "grey" imports. just do so with open eyes and don`t buy used without some sort of guarantee that the item is "as described".

3; So now you have a very short shortlist, more than likely down to 1 camera so next step is to buy said camera.... oh wait, this camera isn`t like my phone, it doesn`t have a lens... which one? easy route is to buy your camera with a "kit" lens, usually a 18-55mm which offers wider angle for landscapes, and the longer reach for portraits, and this will cover most of what you want to shoot as you begin your journey. Only reason to look beyond this lens size is if you already have a firm idea of what you want to shoot.

Hopefully this scribble helps you to choose the right camera, for YOU, not Jack, or Bob, or Sarah. Go have fun with your new friend, it will open up a whole new world of friendships and vocabulary