Which camera to buy for DSLR beginners

I often get asked the question 'Which camera should I buy'. Of course, there is no straight answer for that question. It depends on your budget and your photography. In this article, however, I will give some specific advice for those who are looking to get into photographing with their first digital SLR.

When you've outgrown your compact camera you might be looking into buying a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera (DSLR). A SLR camera allows you to switch lenses and has a bigger sensor than a compact camera. These two elements are key in getting better images and adding more flexibility to your photography needs.

The larger sensor you'll find in SLR cameras gives better image quality. Because of its size you'll have less noise in your photos compared to compact cameras.

Go for the big brands

Although the smaller brands do have their own advantages for specific purposes, I'd recommend to buy a big brand camera. In SLR photography that would be a Canon or a Nikon camera. I won't say that the other brands don't produces good cameras, because they do.

However, when you chose one of the two biggest brands you'll have the support of all other users of that brand. When you get some kind of exotic problem, chances are you'll find the solution online. Another plus is support for related gear and software.

For instance: the iPhone app that lets you control your camera wirelessly via your laptop became available first for Canon, next for Sony. The other brands are not yet supported.

Currently interesting models for beginners are the Nikon D3100, the Canon 600D (also known as the Canon Rebel T3i) or the Canon 1100D (Canon Rebel T3). Remember that the lens is more important than the camera. So rather spend extra money on a better lens than wasting it in a more expensive camera.

If choosing a good camera-lens combination is too hard for you (at this point), I suggest to go for the 17-55mm or 17-85mm kit-lens that comes with the kit-package. It's cheap and relatively good optical. Don't forget to get a 50mm f/1.8 also (see tip below).

Skip the telephoto lens

I'd recommend against buying a telephoto lens with your first camera purchase. Most people think they will 'need' a telephoto lens. In reality most people don't need it at all. It's better to hold out on a telephoto lens purchase until you know by experience that you could use it for your photos.

This gives you the time to save up for a good telephoto lens, something like the Canon 70-200mm f/4.0 L for instance. Lower quality telephoto lenses will only give you good results when you're shooting on sunny days and therefore aren't that useful.

Get the 50mm f/1.8

A 50mm f/1.8 lens is the best value-for-money available in digital SLR land. The 50mm lens is what is called a 'standard' lens. This is no zoom lens, you'll have to walk to zoom. It's a simple lens design and this results in high quality for low costs. The Canon or Nikon will set you back around 120 euro / dollar.

The f/1.8 maximum aperture tells you this lens doesn't need that much light to take a sharp pictures. It also tells you it can give you very small depth of field. This is great for portraits. The 50mm f/1.8 is cheap, usable, high quality and has a nice bokeh (unsharp parts in your photo). There's no reason not to buy this lens. It's a must have!



Owh, and I recommend reading this true and fun article by The Online Photographer on buying your first photography equipment!