In The Market For A DSLR? Read This First
In the market for a DSLR? Read this first.
It’s interesting how cameras are becoming more like computers. Every 6 months seems to bring along some new models. Each model is faster than the previous, and each one seems to have more megapixels and higher ISO levels. It’s great for photographers.
But don’t forget. The point of photography is to have great images. Not the latest gear. That my friends is a thankless task.
I was reminded of this this week when I was asked the “what camera should I get” question from a colleaugue. Which was interesting because I have been playing around with our old Canon 5D in the office. The camera is about 4 years old now. But gee. It is one hell of a camera. With a lovely big full frame sensor, it is still one of the best landscape photography cameras ever made.
You see it’s your DSLR camera body that looses it’s value at a rate of knots. The lenses you buy hold their value well. Lenses are expensive. You pay a lot for that extra f/stop when buying a lens. And you should buy the best lenses you can afford. They really do hold their value. In fact some discontinued lenses will sell second hand for more than they sold for originally! If you don’t believe me google Canon 200mm f/1.8. It’s a remarkable lens with a remarkable history.
And the best news of all? You can pick one up on ebay for under $500.
For not a lot of money you too can have one of the worlds great DSLR’s to practice your photography with.
UPDATE: On Friday 2nd march (The afternoon of when this was published), Canon announced their upgrade to the Canon 5DMk2. Unsurprisingly it is called the Canon 5DMk3. The specs look like the Mk3 is an incremental upgrade.. The good news is that this makes the original 5D even older in terms of the models evolution. This should lower prices even further!
COMMENTS
ROBERT
This is a point well made. I have an old Nikon D80 which I use as a backup body these days. If I was honest I’d admit that I replaced it (with a D300s) before mastering all of the things the D80 could do. Of course now I have D800 envy, so I can see where this is headed. But the most fun I’ve had with any camera for many years was after I bought a 40 year old Olympus Trip 35 camera at a market recently and shot a roll of Kodak black and white film on the streets of Sydney. No rear LCD screen, no histograms, no image stabilisation, no chunky battery. That’s what photography is really about.
NIGEL
Robert. I think you are absolutely right. Cameras are a more like computers nowdays. That means that everything becomes redundant a lot faster.
My rule is buy the brand of camera that people around you will be familiar with. Dont buy Canon if your photography friends are all Nikon. They will be less able to help you out, and you wont be able to share lenses etc.
My second rule is spend the money on quality lenses. They keep their value well, will make your photography better and can be used when you get a new camera body.
PS – Really like your blog!
