BetterPhoto Q&A
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Need help in purchasing a digital SLR

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February 07, 2006

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February 07, 2006

You say you're going to shoot some weddings (I presume as a favor type thing). Ignoring the age-old adage of having backups for your backups, because something ALWAYS goes wrong, I think you might want to consider a film SLR first.

Sure, digital is just all that and everything, but it ain't cheap. The XT Brendan mentions is a decent camera, but at that price you're simply not going to be able to much in the way of afford "lenses, flashes, memory, etc." - all of which you'll need.

For lenses, the kit zoom that comes with many cameras nowadays is a decent start, but you could also use a fast prime lens to capture shots where the background is blurred out thanks to shallow depth of field. Some shooters also take along a long zoom lens (the 80-200 f2.8 is a favorite of many) to enable shots from a distance.

Unless they're all outdoors, you will certainly need a flash - the built-in ones on SLRs are simply not that powerful and you'll typically be standing anywhere from 6-20 feet from the subjects. You'll also need more light for group shots, etc.

As for memory - obviously you don't want to run out of space after taking a few dozen shots - and you will want to shoot at the best quality level jpeg or even RAW to capture the details of wedding dresses, etc. The more details, the larger the files, and the fewer that fit on a memory card.

My point is that you might want to consider a film camera - film is easy to carry around, the camera body is certainly less expensive, and you can get a brand that you like and later could grow into digital with. That is, say you select Canon - if you get a Canon film body and a couple of lenses, in a year or whenever you could get the (even MORE latest and greatest!) Canon digital SLR and use those lenses on it.

But before you go buying a camera of any kind, I strongly suggest that you go to a store and handle a number of different models and brands. Canon, Nikon and Olympus all make good gear - the differences between their models at a given price point have much more to do with ergonomics than useful features. That is, you might find one brand or model awkward to hold, mis-weighted, hard to focus through, etc. - things that you simply cannot tell by reading reviews or spec sheets or listening to strangers on lists like this.

So that's my advice - 1)handle some cameras before buying something you may not really like, and b) consider film for the near term. The basic skills of the craft remain the same either way.

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February 07, 2006

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February 07, 2006