“Does this camera take good photos?”
This might be the question I’ve been asked the most.
And the answer is really simple.
Some of my cameras. My babies.
NO.
Finding the right camera will never be easy. When setting out as a photographer, amateur or professional, this may be the hardest call. It shouldn’t.
As an amateur, having a cheap camera can help you get started and my best guess is you don’t have all that extra money to buy the fancy camera you would like. You also don’t really need it.
Questions to ask yourself before buying a camera
What subject(s) am I going to photograph?
When and where am I going to take photos most of the time?
How much money do I want to spent on my first buy?
Where am I going to use these photos for?
Let’s try and give some possible answers.
Scenario A
My little kids doing activities.
During daytime, in and out of the house.
No more than 600€.
I am going to select the best of them and print photo albums every now and then.
Scenario B
My wife’s jazz band and some macro shots of insects.
Whenever the band has live shows, in different venues and insects in our house at nights.
No more than 600€.
For sharing through internet and social media.
Ok, now things are getting easier. Let’s break it down.
Scenario A
Little kids are over-energetic and move around all the time, rarely standing still. When out of the house, in the open air soccer field, for example, during daytime, almost any camera can get you a decent shot. With 600€ you can have a used set of Canon camera and an all around zoom lens and probably you’ll be fine in most of the cases. On the other hand, if you tend to take a lot of images in the houses, with poor lighting, then you’ll need a better lens or a camera that gives good results in higher ISO. The last problem of course, is that you need to print your photos and that means you need a rather big number of megapixels/depth of color/size of pixels. So, you can find peace with a relatively new APS-C model, since you don’t actually need a full frame sensor and the quality of your prints will be fine, as long as you don’t tend to print way more than A4.
Taking all of these into consideration, I would suggest the Canon 200d with the 18-135mm. You can easily find an excellent used kit under 600€.
Scenario B
Jazz bands are usually play in small, dark venues. Macro shots are not the easiest ones and insects take the level of difficulty to the max. You might also have in mind that taking macro shots in the house, without strong lighting, won’t be in your favor. The good news is that you only want to share online, so you don’t need the last model in terms of megapixels and stuff, but because you need a camera with great analysis and good performance in higher ISO, going for full frame camera is the way to go. Give that, I would suggest an old but always reliable Canon EOS 6d Mk i and the Canon 24-70mm f/4L. The latter of course is not the best for low light conditions, but it offers a switch button to “macro” and the 6d mk i is the camera also known by the nickname “mother of iso”.
So, there you have it. Two totally different options for two different needs.
Of course there are countless other options and some of you might say that the second one will have a problem with macro, since this is not a real macro lens and the first one using an APS-C will lose in quality or that both of them could get a mirror less etc. Well, even though you would be right, the truth is that these two fellas will never deal with any problem in real life, for the 99% of the subjects they are going to photograph.
Faithful partners.
If your budget is tight, my advice would be to try and buy some used gear. Especially if we are talking about a good lens (an older Canon “L“ series is always a good glass, for example), keep your eyes open. Facebook Groups, Marketplace, your local photography store, even newspapers will probably have for sale the lens you didn’t know you can afford. A good lens is almost immortal. If you are lucky, you might find a cheap body camera as well, but in this case you cannot really tell if it was treated well in the previous owner’s hands.
Jumping back at the start of this post, the answer is no.
No, this camera or any given camera, does not take good photos. But you do.
A fancy new gear can help you, of course, in so many ways, but not if you lack basic knowledge of lighting, composition and color; not if you don’t know what you love to photograph; certainly not if you do not know the functions and settings of your gear.
By no means I am against someone that wants and can afford the latest camera and lenses. I just don’t believe that the owner of a 3000€ camera body can take better images than you.
YOU HAVE A BETTER CAMERA THAN ANSEL ADAMS | TED FORBES