Now that you have understood the camera ins and outs, you will see that it will be much simpler here and almost automatic. From now on, we will use an online comparison since we have our main criteria in mind. I recommend Digital; it works well. You can also watch the market review in the next part.
The brand
First, I want to draw your attention to a very important point: worrying too much is unnecessary. At an equivalent range, two cameras of different brands are often as good as each other and will not make a fundamental difference in your photo practice. A $200 compact from either brand will often be about the same. Ditto if you hesitate between 2 entry-level SLRs from Canon or Nikon. I will return to this, but it seems important to specify it now.
The budget
- Below $150-200: I suggest you use your smartphone while continuing to save for a future purchase. (that’s what I did when I started, but at the time, smartphone photos were rotten). No need to take your head.
- About $300 (or even 400€ by selling a kidney): consider turning to second-hand, or take an expert compact if you need compactness. You will find SLRs (or even hybrids) 2 to 3 years old, which work very well and will be enough to start with. You will probably be much happier than a brand-new bridge or compact. Don’t be fooled by Wi-Fi, GPS and the like: it’s not essential.
- More than $400-500: choose an SLR or a hybrid. Even at an entry level, you will enjoy yourself with it.
Hybrid or SLR?
This is THE question you ask yourself a lot today. Many hybrids have achieved SLR-equivalent quality. However, a reduced size is a big advantage (height, weight, movement and travel, discretion, etc.). So, in what situations should you still choose an SLR?
In the previous version of this article, I still recommended the SLR for wildlife, sports, and show photography. But in the 2022s, that’s no longer true: plenty of highly responsive mirrorless options with fast autofocus, excellent low-light capabilities, and a full optical range that caters to all needs.
In short, today, you will not see any fundamental difference in the rendering between hybrid and reflex, especially if the sensor size is the same.
So there is a question of personal preference: the real difference in use is mainly the type of sight.
How to choose between the 2 or 3 finalists?
Normally, at this stage, you will have 2 or 3 cameras that tempt you, without being able to choose: you have kept the cameras that correspond to the three main criteria mentioned above, filtered with your budget, and chose between hybrid and reflex. And you still have two combinations or 3 SLRs left at the same price, looking at the best-rated cameras on comparison sites. And you don’t have the slightest idea of the differences between them, despite reading many tests or comparisons.
And the good news: there are few! As I said above, with the same range, the differences are quite few between competing devices. An Olympus PEN and a Panasonic GF of the same generation are close. Ditto for Canon and Nikon SLRs of the same range.
So there is no answer to “Is the Nikon thing better than the Canon thing?” !
My best advice here is to pick them up in-store. Yes, take half a day and go. See which one you feel most comfortable with. Handle the device, see if you find the settings easily, if the menus are intuitive, and if it “falls to hand”. It’s like looking for an apartment, whether you have a crush or not. It may seem trivial to you, but it’s very important to have an intuitive handling: it will make shooting easier for you and the pleasure of photographing.
This getting started will also allow you to notice small details that you may have missed in the tests but which are important to you :
- the presence of a viewfinder
- an adjustable screen
- …
These criteria are very personal. I don’t find the camera adjustable screen important, but you have the right to consider that.
What goal to start with?
The choice of a lens is also a vast subject, which I cannot cover the camera in full here, this article being already very long! If you’re interested, I wrote an article on the subject and a complete digital book.
Therefore, I will concentrate on the objective to begin with. If you have a limited budget, don’t bother: take the camera with the kit’s lens because it is almost free (the equipment is only slightly more expensive than the camera alone). It’s limited but not a disaster, allowing you to try many things.