What Camera Should I Buy

The most common question I receive – on a daily basis – is “What camera do you use?” [I answer that here]

The second most common question I receive is “What camera should I buy?” [I previously answered that here]

And I get it. Purchasing gear is very intimidating. There are so many options and they are all so technical with numbers like megapixels, ISO capabilities, frames per second… on and on the spec sheet list goes. To be honest, I glaze over it. I am not a technical photographer. I do not fully understand that spec sheet myself. I can’t tell you the differences between many of the camera options out there.

I started with a kit camera from Costco. How did I choose which one? I held them all and chose the one that felt the best. I still recommend doing that: hold each camera and decide which feels the most intuitive and comfortable. But I don’t recommend Costco… go to your local camera store. Talk to a human who knows the gear very well. Discuss your goals with them:

Is this a hobby for you? Or do you want it to be your profession?

What is your budget?

What will you be taking pictures of mostly? Are your subjects moving fast? Will it be dark or indoors?

Will you be using this camera for photographs and video?

At the end of the day, most cameras these days are great quality and can probably handle what you need.

The next trick is to learn your camera. Here are my recommendations:

Shoot in RAW

Shoot in manual

Practice every single day, even if it is only 10 minutes

Practice at every time of day, from dawn until dusk