There is a variety of camera equipment. It all depends on the amount of money it costs, and remember: It's not the camera, it's the photographer. Photo by Alison Watkins.

COLUMN
By ALISON WATKINS
fhspress.com Editor-in-Chief
Posted September 18, 2017

Chapter 2: Cameras

Not everyone can drop $6,000 on a camera, but that's not the end of your photography career. There are more options for every budget.

Nowadays it seems that everyone has a camera in their pocket. Whether it be Apple or Android, both can have exquisite cameras.

Within the past three years the cameras in our phones have been getting to a point to be just as good as a compact digital cameras (commonly known as point-and-shoot cameras). Phones for the most part have fixed lenses but some companies have made lenses to fit over phone cameras to achieve zoom and fisheye, which gives the photo a stretched look.

Compact digital cameras, or point-and-shoot cameras, are average cameras. They come in many different shapes and sizes. Some also have better quality than others; it comes down to you balancing the price against the quality. To find the best fit for your needs it's best to do some research.

If you are looking for something better than the point-and-shoot camera you may already have, then the next step is a DSLR, standing for Digital Single Lens Reflex. The difference between a DSLR and a point-and-shoot is the lens and quality. The DSLR has the ability to change the type of lens on the camera versus the point-and-shoot and your phone, which have just one attached lens and some artificial zoom. Getting a DSLR also is being subject to buying more lenses and accessories.

The DSLR offers more control over what the photo will look like by setting the camera yourself. It takes practice to set a camera correctly but it's worth it. It's easy to learn, just go to YouTube to find a good tutorial for your camera.

Normally an 8MP image is a great starting point; anything above that is quality that you are definitely paying for. It doesn’t matter what brand you get, Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, they all have good quality cameras, but if you buy one it's best to stick with it. Reason being, a Nikon lens will not go onto a Canon camera without an expensive adapter. Lenses from one brand don't easily work with others.

Next week I'll be discussing composition and design to get you thinking about the photo before taking it. Check back at the same Alley Cat time, same Alley Cat channel!

alison.watkins@fhspress.com

CHAPTERS

  1 Start shooting
  2 Cameras
  3 Composition
  4 Sunrises and Sunsets
  5 Black and White
  6 Portraits
  7 Landscapes
  8 Long Exposure
  9 Light PART ONE
10 Light PART TWO
11 Shoot in RAW
12 Contests
13 Back Button Focusing
14 The Challenges of      
      Sports Photography
15 Studio Photography
16 Lenses
17 FX and DX
18 Street Photography
19 Painting with Light
20 Filters
21 Bokeh vs. Blurry
22 Tripods and Mounts
23 File Naming and
      Organizing

UP NEXT

-Printing and Resolution

COMING SOON
-Flashes
-Paid Gigs
-Gadgets and Gizmos
-HDR
-Film Photography

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