Your Camera Guide
Are you thinking about purchasing a new DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflective) camera this holiday season? If yes, you are probably asking yourself a lot of questions!
- What brand should I choose?
- Why is there a difference in price?
- Do I really need all of these features?
- What lenses should I purchase?
Don’t worry in this guide I will go over all these questions! Here are a few tips to consider when shopping for a new camera and accessories!
What are you using it for?
First you need to think about what you are going to use your camera for? Are you looking for something small to throw in your purse like a point and shoot or do you want a big girl/boy camera to take professional photos of your kids playing sports and capturing those canid special moments.
What brand?
There are so many different brands on the market today! Ultimately, brand comes down to personal preference. My dad gave me my first Nikon camera when I was 5 years old so Nikon has always been apart of my life! I love it! There is however different brands out their like Canon, Sony, Panasonic just to name a few! What I recommend is first looking at the price of accessories that you will need to purchase for your camera. If you are purchasing a DSLR camera then you will need to purchase a good lens to go with it.
Lenses and Gear
A lot of stores will do bundle deals where they will combine the body of the camera along with a lens. Don’t be tempted by this. The lens might be a good one for just starting out but it most likely won’t handle all types of lighting situations.
What I recommend is to purchasing just the BODY of the camera and the LENS separately. By doing this you will be sure you are getting the lens that you want for the type of photography you plan on shooting most of the time. For example, if you are looking for a camera and lens to take photos of your kids playing sports and the bundle deal comes with a 50 mm lens, this lens will be fine for taking portrait photos but not so good for taking sports photos. You will end up having to purchase a different lens to capture the sport photos you want to capture. Reach out to me with the type of photography you plan on shooting the most of and I will help you choose the right camera and lens.
If you are looking for a basic good lens to take every day photos of your kids and when you are out and about, then I recommend you purchase a 50 mm or what I call the Nifty 50! This is a prime lens which means you can’t zoom in and out but it will handle all different lighting situations very well!
What will your new camera cost you?
This is a tricky question! It all depends on the first question of what are you going to use it for. Depending on if you choose a DSLR or point and shoot along with accessories you are looking at spending any where from $500-$1000+. I started out with a basic camera the Nikon D70 which cost around $300 at the time, then moved up to a semi pro camera which cost $1600 and now I have a pro camera Nikon D850 which cost me around $3k.
If you are just starting out I recommend not buying the top of the line camera. You won’t need all the bells and whistles that it has to offer. You will get frustrated trying to work it which will cause you not to use it which is not what I want to happen.
My Top 5
For those just starting out, my top 5 camera’s I recommend are:
- Nikon D7500
- Nikon D3500
- Canon EOS Rebel T7i
- Nikon D750
- Canon EOS 800D
Do your research!
Make sure you do your research! There are a lot of stores out there offering deals especially during the holidays. Make sure your camera is not an after market product and that it comes with a warranty! You also want to make sure when searching online that it’s not a Gray Market camera.
Gray Market cameras are imported and sold by anyone other then the brand itself i.e. Nikon, Canon etc. These cameras might not meet the specifications for US products which means they may not perform as expected.
For example: As of 2010, Nikon sometimes marks the boxes of USA products with a (U) after the product name, seen above the UPC on the lower right. If you see an (E), (EP) or (UK) this means you purchased an after market camera! Return and purchase a USA (U)
Where to shop?
There are ton of different stores out there that sell cameras. Amazon, Target, Walmart and Best Buy are just to name a few! Make sure you compare deals and different companies will price cameras differently based on the inventory number they have in stock. Also a lot of companies like to do bundle deals which is nice but you may not need everything in that bundle and could save money purchasing just what you need separately.
The store I personally recommend is called B&H camera store. They are located in NYC so most likely you will have your items shipped to you. What I love about this store is their customer service and they are an authorized dealer so you won’t have to worry about Gray Market cameras.
Purchasing a Point and Shoot camera
There are several key factors to keep in mind when purchasing a point and shoot camera! In order to get the most bang for your buck, check out these simple rules to keep in mind!