Students in my JR 315 News Photography class inevitably ask a question:
“What camera should I buy?”
That’s a simple question with a complicated answer.
First, what are you going to be using the camera for?
Personal snapshotting? Going Professional, and need a starter set? If so, pro in the weddings and portraits, or pro in Media and Journalism?
For this post, I’ll answer as though the questioner is looking for a camera kit as they enter the world of multi-media news production. I will treat this as their first camera purchase, designed to give them a broad range of ability with a limited budget.
My go-to camera store is Robert’s Camera located in Indianapolis with both a Retail-New, as well as a Retail-Used side.
First: Brands
There are lots of good manufacturers of camera gear on the market. I’m hearing lots of good buzz about the new Sony mirrorless cameras. Tamron (which bought Bronica many moons ago) makes good lenses for other brands of camera systems.
The beginning news photographer, looking to build their kit, will probably want to stick with one of the main go-to brands. Nikon and Canon dominate the market. If a journalist is lucky enough to get hired on with an existing newsroom, their gear is likely to come from one of these two manufacturers. Even if they stay independent/freelance, there will come a time when they need to rent or replace gear. Having a popular platform (like Canon or Nikon) will give them a larger selection, more widely available suppliers, and potentially faster turn around.
Next: Body and features
The temptation of all photographers is to get the best camera body possible, with the largest sensor, the titanium-alloy inner frame, sealed against weather. Heck, gold plate the thing… or add racing stripes.
The current state of the art is the Nikon D4s and the Canon 1Dx – If you want to drop $5,000 or more just for the body – these are great cameras. I’ve owned the Canon 1D line before. After spending over $3,000 on the 1DmkIII – I sold it to another pro – taking a hit in the process – and ended up with three lesser cameras – two of which I still have five years later.
The first question here is not what features you want, but how can I best spend my budget to get the most gear of the quality and feature level I need?
Is the new photographer likely to be headed to cover breaking news: monsoons, war zones, desert conditions? If so, the weather sealed, high-impact frames in the more expensive bodies are probably worth the investment. If not, look down into the “pro-sumer” range.
What’s pro-sumer?
When we’re talking camera gear, there are two main classifications most folks thing of: Beginner – also called “consumer” level, and Professional. Camera manufacturers noticed there are a lot of aspiring professionals who won’t spend the money on the top of the line bodies. Speaking from my own experience, there are a lot of professionals, who will maximize our dollars and “buy down” the food chain – but we want more quality than the “consumer” grade gear, without the price tag of the “pro” level gear.
My own still photography gear falls into this range: the Canon 40D and 50D from five years ago (or so). Pro-sumer gear is good for the folks with a bit more budget to spend. Pro-sumer bodies ranges in the $1,000s and $2,000s. Above that are Pro level bodies. Below $1,000 is “Consumer” grade.
Is Consumer grade good enough?
For a beginner: in one word: yep.
Longer explanation:
Consumer grade gear trades off the structure (weather proofing, metal frame, large sensor, etc) of the pro-level. Consumer grade gear also loses some ease of functionality. I use the consumer Canon Rebel line for my video capture gear. These are fine cameras, but some of the push button functionality I very occasionally need for still photography is buried in a menu. It always takes me a minute to find it. This wouldn’t be an issue, if I used the Rebel more for still photos. Regular use would get the muscle memory ingrained in me. But, since I tend to use the Rebels for video, and my 50D for stills, I occasionally have that feeling that I’m moving between driving an automatic, then hopping in my daughter’s manual transmission car. Both get the job done, I just have to remember to step on the clutch and shift gears myself.
Video?
It’s difficult to find a camera body in the big-two manufacturers, in either the Consumer or Pro-sumer lines that doesn’t have 1080p video built in. The little detail you may not consider when looking at the gear:
Does the body have an input jack for an external microphone.