Hello!
Arnel here, the husband and photographer behind Hello It’s LOH! Hoping to make your camera/lens search just a bit easier.
Choosing a camera set up can be difficult if you are new to photography. All the choices of cameras and lenses can seem all too much to handle. I am here to help break down some of the information and help guide you in a more manageable direction. If you have an idea of what you want to shoot in particular then deciding on a camera will be much simpler. I am going to assume that you don’t need top of the line cameras and lenses but something more for travel, portrait, and capturing special moments in your life. I will suggest a variety of photography gear that will get you great photos without breaking the bank. I will also share what we use for Hello It’s LOH. So lets get started!
What you need to know about cameras
There are many different brands and formats to go with here. Im going to focus on DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. One of the biggest differences between DSLRs and mirrorless cameras is that mirrorless cameras are just that- mirrorless. They do not have a mechanical mirror that pops up to expose the sensor like a DSLR does. This amongst other things allows for the mirrorless cameras in many cases to be smaller and more compact. Both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras can generally do identical things they just do it in a slightly different way. Mirrorless cameras might be better in the long run as it looks like the future of cameras might be heading that way but it is not a great enough difference for me to switch to yet. We still use a Nikon DSLR as I still love what it offers and don’t see enough of an advantage of switching while I am invested in Nikon gear currently.
If you plan to travel or don’t want to draw too much attention when shooting I suggest getting a mirrorless camera as it will look more like a “normal’ camera and be a bit less intrusive than some of the bigger DSLRS with large lenses. The smaller size will also allow you to throw it in your bag and take up less space when moving around. Amongst other things here are some things to consider when comparing:
DSLR Camera Pros – battery life, optical viewfinder, more camera body options
Mirrorless Camera Pros – size/weight, shutter speed
What you need to know about lenses
Generally every camera brand has their own lenses but you can use several brand of lenses with certain cameras. The lens “mount” just has to be specific to your camera body or getting an adapter also works (I would not recommend it). Lenses are more important than camera bodies and will usually outlive the camera bodies. Investing in good lenses should be more important to you than getting the newest camera body. Brands come out pretty frequently with new bodies but there is no point in buying a new one every year unless there are feature that are essential to your photos.
There are prime lenses and zoom lenses. Prime lenses are a fixed focal length (example: 35mm, 50mm, 85mm) and zoom lenses allow you to zoom in/out by twisting the lens barrel (example 14mm-25mm). Once you have chosen the focal length that best fits your needs you need to also consider the aperture of the lens. Lenses with lower apertures (1.2, 1.4, 1.8) are going to be more expensive but generally deliver better performance. Lower apertures give you the creamy/blurry look in the background called “bokeh” and allow more light in low light situations.
Suggested Cameras
Suggested Lens
(I would recommend any of the 1.4 art lenses. They have the ability to be used for many different bodies)
What we use for Hello It’s LOH
Most of the time this is our set up for the blog (Nikon D810 + 35mm 1.4 lens). However I do own a 50mm & 85mm lens but I tend to use that on other projects.
Things to Remember
-Your lens will probably outlive your camera body, so invest in a good lens.
-Make sure your lens is the correct mount and is compatible with the camera body.
-Go with mirrorless camera bodies if you want something a bit less bulky (not always true; just depends on lens and body you get)
-Start off with simple gear and not much of it. Once you understand cameras and you come up against limitations then invest in new gear (selling your old gear is a nice way to earn some of that money back to re invest in new gear).
With the hope to keep the topic as narrow as possible has forced me to leave out a lot of information in an effort to explain broad ideas. If you have specific questions, drop us a message. I plan to contribute more posts in regards to photography and all it entails, please let me know what you would like to hear.
-Arnel
No Comments