Question by glitterfairyrainbowponymeow: BEST CAMERA TO USE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY?
I’ve decided to start experimenting with photography and I’m looking for the best camera for professional photography.
I need some advice in what to look out for.
Direct reccommendations for products would also be appreciated.
Thank you x
Best answer:
Answer by Jacoby
Canon Eos
Add your own answer in the comments!
If you are just experimenting then why do you want to buy a professional camera, just buy an entry level DSLR and take it from there.
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go to cnet.com they have almost all cameras they can help you pick the right camera and is a very easy site to use good luck!!!!!!
Currently at the head of the market is the Canon 1Ds Mark III, followed shortly, or on par, with the Nikon D3x.
Ten thousand, around there.
What you are asking is the best entry level DSLR, is it not? And yet if you aren’t willing to pay, it’s the best DSLR for your money.
I recommend sticking with Canon and Nikon, maybe Sony and Pentax, and definitely not Sigma or Olympus.
Sigma for its cameras, not its lenses, mind.
With the big four, excluding Olympus; Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax, are almost always available for mounting a third party lens.
I suggest the Canon EOS 450D/ Rebel XSi. The XS/1000D is also good, but is not *quite* as featured as the XSi, although none affect photo quality except the small 2 megapixel range in between which doesn’t matter, anyway. More megapixels doesn’t mean better, and too many means more noise. I do *not* recommend the new T1i/500D, as it’s just really consumer targeted and is not much better than the XSi in terms of quality. They’ve just boosted it up to 15 megapixels – again, I stress that it’s a myth that megapixels make the image quality better – and added a video mode which can’t even record at 1080 at 30fps; instead, 20fps. A video camera would be much better suited for video, at this stage. Canon makes their own sensors, and their CMOS sensors are incredible because they’ve poured money into research for their developments. Canon bodies don’t have Image Stabilisation, but they have IS in quite a number of their lenses. Of course, this means you could be paying a considerable amount more for IS, especially in higher end lens models, such as enormous telephotos, but the good side is that you can view the stabilisation at work through your viewfinder. IS in-lens is also better because IS for a telephoto may need to be different than one for a wide angle. So it’s customised to suit the specific lens, and in general provides more stabilisation.
If you want to go Nikon, try the D90, or for a cheaper price, the D60. There’s a new D5000… but again, I don’t suggest it. The D60, D40x and D40 all do not have an autofocus motor. They have a autofocus sensor of three focus points, as compared to most other DSLRs which have around 11 points (at entry level stage). The D90 is an excellent camera; slightly more advanced, but there you go – you won’t outgrow it that easily and it’s a good secondary camera. Whereas the D60/D40x/D40 could hardly be as without AF you’d have to buy specially maed (AF-S) lenses. Yes, it seems that Nikon is headed towards making all the lenses AF-S eventually, and all its entry level DSLRs without AF, it’s still good so you can use other lenses from Nikon and third party lenses as well. Tamron makes some AF lenses to be compatible with Nikon, but these are limited. But Nikon’s ISO handling is fantastic, with superbly low noise at higher ISO. Like Canon, Nikon has in-lens stabilisation called ‘VR’, or Vibration Reduction.
Sony; your best bet is the A200 or A300. I stress that the A350 is not worth it, and the 14 megapixels make the frame-per-second rate only 2. That’s lower than many others which have at least 2.5. Mostly 3fps. Sony is not an inexpensive bran, and for their equivalent of ‘L’ series lenses, Carl Zeiss (although slightly better than the Canon L series), start around $ 1500 and average around $ 2000-3000. But you won’t miss out on the image quality. After all, Sony makes sensors for Nikon. In built stabilisation means you can use any lens and of course it will be ‘stabilised’. Again, it may not be as effective as in-lens stabilisation, but it works.
Pentax still provides excellent image quality; not so much as the others, but provides a good all rounder and is the best bang for the buck. Its advanced amateur camera, the K20D, is available for a considerably inexpensive price, compared to its rivals, and provides an excellent DSLR. The entry level DSLR, the K200D, is an excellent camera as well, and there is now a K-M, or K1000. This is not quite as good as the K200D, and for the price, it’s recommended that you get the K200D instead. However, if you can’t get your hands on the K200D, the K-M is still a good buy. All Pentax cameras have in built stabilisation, but again, this is not *quite* as effective as Sony’s. But it does work, note.
Overall, Sony has the best image quality, Nikon has the best ISO handling, with lower noise, and Canon has the best in-between.
Olympus and Panasonic run on the 4/3’s system. Currently, Panasonic only has two Lumix DSLRs, and use Lumix/Leica lenses. The Leica lenses, in particular, offer excellent image quality, but here note: the 4/3’s system has troubles. It runs on the 4:3 ratio, like most compact/point-and-shoot cameras, and when you print at 6×4, for example, a small, tiny sliver is cropped out. This isn’t much of a difference, but the focal-length multiplier, which normally on other APS-C cameras, which is most DSLRs up to the professional range (they tend to use full frame sensors), is around 1.5x, is 2x on the 4/3’s system. There are also several drawbacks, such as the fact that you can only use 4/3’s lenses and that everything is doubled. The aperture, if f/2.8, is really f/4, and the length is not 18mm but double that and so forth. I don’t recommend it, but its not bad in terms of image quality.
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Now, if you’ve decided on the Nikon entry level range and have your heart set on it, even though you know the AF problems…
Then here: I don’t suggest the D60. It’s not much worth over the D40. If anything, I suggest the D40. 6 megapixels is more than enough to enlarge a photo to considerable sizes. And when you get 10 megapixels, do note that it doesn’t mean you can print double the size. No, not at all… you can print slightly larger without too much pixelation, but that’s about one or two, maybe three sizes larger only. If you want, the D40x is also a great camera with the best compromise, and the price difference… well, it depends on the price difference. I say get the D40, save the money for a good lens; but only if the price difference is less than $ 150… there aren’t many good lenses you can get at that price.
Nikon D700 + 85mm f/1.4
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/570162-REG/Nikon_25444_D700_SLR_Digital_Camera.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/108421-GREY/Nikon_1933_Telephoto_AF_Nikkor_85mm.html
That’s the best, IMO. But also quite expensive.
Nikon D90 + 16-85mm VR
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/580241-REG/Nikon_25446_D90_SLR_Digital_Camera.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/545654-GREY/Nikon_2178_16_85mm_f_3_5_5_6G_ED_VR.html
Second best, very good image quality. Quite a bit less expensive than the first.
I shoot nikon, but nikon isn’t the only camera manufacturer that makes capable cameras. Canon also makes good cameras.
Canon 5D mk II + 24-105mm f/4L IS
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/583987-REG/Canon_2764B004_EOS_5D_Mark_II.html
Canon 50D +17-85mm IS
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/595504-REG/Canon__EOS_50D_SLR_Digital.html
Nikon and Canon are the clear leaders in the industry. I’m not really a brand whore, I use what works for me – and I’ve used many.
I currently shoot a Nikon D80 and it works well also. If you’re really interested in photography you’ll need the necessary tools. But the best tools won’t give the best results unless you know how to use them because not only can it be difficult, in understanding all that needs to happen in order to get the best results, but it can also be an expensive endeavor to get into. Many people recommend doing what you can to get your feet wet, this involves getting whatever camera can fit into your budget, and is best if all you want to do is experiment – for that, any camera will do. But if you want to be prepared, it will involve a little work on your part. Like many other people are, I am self taught. I got myself a camera and just learned how to use it on my own through trial and error, reading a lot, and following the work of others to get an idea of what’s really behind the “tooling” of photography – which involves understanding light, how the camera exposes that light, and what goes into making a good photograph. I can’t really give much insight into how exactly that is done. You just sort of have to immerse yourself into it and have a desire to figure it out. I say for now, you have to get out of the whole notion of what the “best” camera for professional photography is. In the end, a $ 5000 camera does the same thing a $ 250 camera does, it just goes about doing so in a completely different way – and if you don’t know what the differences are, the result won’t be despite what is obvious. The industry is designed to make you believe you need this or that camera, this or that lens, this or that whatever else, in order to “keep up”. But all you really need is a camera, with a lens. My camera was all that the industry could offer in my price range, back in 2006 and 2007. It’s since been replaced, by a newer and better camera, basically for what I already paid back in 2006. I’m not of the opinion that I should accept paying $ 1200 for a new camera every 2 years. My 3 year old nikon D80 still does what it did back before all these newer and “better” cameras came out, so I tend not to get caught up in what is termed “best”, for the sake of my pocket these days mostly. But also because I don’t want to get caught up in the gear crowd – a bunch of people who gather around in a circle jerk and talk about who’s camera does what, instead of taking photographs that I like and want to share with others. I like to take photographs. The image is what the camera captures, it’s what’s in your head before it becomes the object of our labors. It isn’t a photograph unless you can touch it, and put it on your living room wall.
I’ll give you some advice: Don’t think that because you got all the best gear I, or anyone else could recommend, that with it you will simply become a photographer, professional or otherwise. This isn’t the time to take up a belief that all you need is a camera and “BANG”, you’ll start working as a photographer. In today’s economy, the weakest tend to be made obsolete. And if you don’t strive to be the best at what you do constantly, you will not amount to anything more than just another person with all the latest gear that sits in your camera bag collecting dust because you spend most of your time talking about it. Do what you’ve got to do, but don’t forget why you’re doing it.
What field of professional photography?
There is no overall BEST camera for “professional photography” just as there is no BEST overall camera for amateur photography.
For sports the BEST would be an SLR(DSLR) with a high speed motor drive, a good range of fast lenses, a high shutter speed and the ability to up the ISO to a high speed without too much noise,
For landscapes – a good view camera would be BEST
For wildlife – then similar requirements to sports
for fashion – Medium Format tends to be best although top range DSLR’s are used by an increasing number of pros.
For still life – view cameras are best but MF or SLR’s work
For portraits and weddings – good dslrs or preferably MF.
Photojournalism – similar to sports and wildlife.
etc etc. different types of camera are used in different fields of photography.
bottom line – there is no overall BEST camera, there are cameras which are best for the specific type of photography someone is doing.
I have several different cameras for different needs. One camera cannot do all things.
A professional photographer must know how to produce the image needed.
A professional photographer makes all of his money from shooting images to be paid by a client/employer. He/she must be able to adapt.
A project for you. Look at magazine advertising photos. Look not only at the composition, but also at the quality. Research to find what kind of camera produced that image. With whatever camera you have, see if you can reproduce it’s style.
I use a 4×5 view camera that uses sheet film. It is the best for the kind of photography that I do which is fine art, landscapes, portraits, and commercial.