A picture is worth a thousand words. But, do you know all the key aspects to buy a photo camera and be able to take the best snapshots? Do not worry because here, we review everything you need to take into account so that you can make the best conscious and intelligent purchase !
First of all, it is very important that you think about the use you are going to give it . We know that it may sound very obvious, but that first reflection will determine if you need it to be light, digital, analog, among many other variants. We suggest you reflect on the following questions: What quality of photography do I expect? Do I need to buy a camera that I can take on a trip or not? Do I want it to record moments of adventure? Do I need to zoom because I want to capture moments that are far away? Is it for professional use? Will I need accessories? The answer to all these questions will already focus the camera that will be your next partner. Know more about girl stuff.
Practical tips for buying a camera
Once we are clear about what we want it for, we must take into account some practical advice that will make us be “in love” with our camera . Shall we go to them?
- Try the camera before you buy it , so you can get an idea if it is comfortable for you when it comes to controlling white balance, pressing the shutter, zoom, focus, etc.
- Check the specifications taking into account your objective with this purchase and, in case of doubt, let one of our store colleagues advise you!
- Understand the camera at a glance. It’s going to be your new adventure partner, so it should be intuitive and easy , so you can invest the time from the beginning to experiment, especially if you’re a professional photographer!
- Check that the viewfinder and the screen fit what you are looking for . Their goal is to help and inspire you when taking photos. Perhaps you need the viewfinder to be adjusted to your sight and, obviously, the screen has to be as faithful as possible to reality. In case you wear glasses, we also recommend trying it with them to ensure that it is not uncomfortable for you.
- Analyze if you need a normal, fast or very fast trigger . Once again, depending on your needs the answer will vary.
Once we have these basic aspects clear, we are going to delve into the types of cameras on the market!
Buy a photo camera; What type is the most recommended?
analog cameras
Analog cameras are the most vintage on the market . Its colors and shapes take us back to a past where words like “reveal” were a trend. They are a very good gift for those who are nostalgic for photography or camera collectors. Of course, the quality of your photos is limited and it is used to print in a reduced size. You might be interested in boy stuff.
In addition, we must take into account the extra costs involved in instant or compact cameras: photographic and/or revealed paper.
compact cameras
Compact cameras are ideal when we want to take photos with a higher quality than some mobile phones . Depending on the range we choose, the characteristics will change. In a medium range, we will have a relatively good zoom and it can include the manual option that will allow you to make art with each shot. This camera is ideal for vacation, souvenir or Internet photos.
As we mentioned, as we go up the range, the characteristics of the camera that we will buy will be better. In this case, they may have a better sensor, fixed lens and more zoom, which translates into greater versatility for the photographer.
Advanced compact cameras or bridge cameras are a very good option to get started in photography or video. This option is ideal for those people who need a small camera body with very good quality, without sacrificing versatility: you can control the speed, ISO, aperture or use the RAW format.
EVIL cameras
EVIL cameras are named for their acronym in English: Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lenses . They do not have a mirror, which allows them to be smaller and more discreet than an SLR. The sensor is a middle way between bridge and SLR cameras, looking more like the latter. They may even have an adapter to use lenses and make photography more professional. Sounds good, huh? Know more about the magnetic fishing game.
Its quality is good, very comparable to SLR cameras (in that article you can give a more detailed reading!). In fact, moving children and pets could be photographed.
reflex cameras
SLR cameras offer a great benefit to photographers: they can see exactly the image they are going to capture through the viewfinder, thanks to the mirror system . That, and the versatility of the camera, allows the photographer’s gaze to carry more weight than ever . Therefore, they are designed to be used in their manual mode.
The quality will depend on the range and the brand. Very good images can be made thanks to this type of camera, even for action sports photography .
In addition, they can be complemented with lenses, although if you are passionate about photography, read this article where we delve deeper into this type of camera!
adventure camera
If you are an adventurous person, sports cameras are yours. As a general rule, they are designed to make 4K videos and can be submersible. They are very oriented to filming videos, so if you want to take pictures, you should know that, as a general rule, their quality is not the best.
In this sense, the best known brand is GoPro, although Xioami and Garmin also have very interesting options.
Key features to buy a photo camera
Once you have decided on the objective and the type of camera you need, we are going to review the key characteristics that you have to take into account when buying a photo camera:
Resolution
Resolution indicates the number of pixels the camera uses to generate an image. The higher, the image will be better since it will be more similar to reality. More than the megapixels themselves it is important that the camera processor is powerful enough.
Drums
Most cameras are battery powered, although some still run on batteries. Each brand generates its own battery. It is important to determine the capacity of that battery and, for this, we must do it based on the shots and… your needs. If you want a camera to travel, it must have a good battery!
Shooting
The ability of a camera to shoot is measured in the number of images it takes per second. His professional name is FPS. It is recommended that the FPS be high, since it would imply that it is a fast camera when taking shots. Anyway, this aspect is important for the most professional photographers, and of course, they know what we are talking about!
Video
If we want the camera to record videos, we must have a minimum resolution and shooting capacity. Specifically, the resolution should be 1920 × 1080 pixels and 30 fps. Sure they sound more like Full HD, right? Ideally, the camera should have 4k so you can make videos, like movies!
You also need to keep compatibility in mind, so we’ll review the algorithms that compress and decompress video, called codecs. They must be H.264, AVCHD or XAVC. So you can see it from any device!
camera modes
Professional photographers rarely use the automatic mode on their cameras, so if you want to use it more professionally or have aspirations in this field, you should check that it has a manual mode. This modality will allow you to be more versatile in the photographs and control all the parameters of the camera. It’s your option!
Objectives (or lenses)
The lenses are a complement to certain cameras that make a difference. There are two key aspects that we must highlight:
- Lens focal length: refers to the angle of view of the camera and what can be photographed. This has a direct impact on the zoom, that is, if we are going to photograph landscapes or wide environments we will need a wide-angle lens and, however, if we want to focus on micro details, we must have a tele or super telephoto lens.
- Aperture is the other important aspect in lenses. It will affect the amount of light that the aperture lets through and therefore depth of field and shutter speed. In other words, if you want to capture moments that pass very fast or very slowly, you have to take this aspect very, very much into account.
ISO
The ISO is the sensitivity that the camera has towards light: The more light, we must shoot with less ISO and vice versa. It is also important to know that when the ISO is high, the photographs that we will take will have more noise, so we must balance it to find the best snapshot. On the contrary, it can also be the culprit that your photo looks badly burnt.
Viewfinder
The most professional photo camera models still have a viewfinder through which to shoot. The most important thing about viewfinders is that the amount of the scene they can show (also called viewfinder coverage) and the effective magnification, that is, we will be able to see the size of the image in the viewfinder.
A special aspect that makes the difference? Some visors have a vision adjustment for people who wear glasses or contact lenses.
image stabilizer
Another of the most important aspects is the stabilization of the image to avoid the movements of the camera or the pulse itself. There are two types of stabilizers: those located on the camera and on the lens.
The operation is quite similar, they only vary according to their use: to shoot video we would recommend that they be placed on the lens and if lenses are to be used, better on the camera because they will be much more comfortable.
These are the aspects that you have to take into account when buying a camera. Now that you are an expert in photography, what camera are you going to buy? Are you ready to create the best memories in photographs?