“Which camera should I buy?” I get asked this a lot. Honestly, it really doesn’t matter. Here’s why.
People are still obsessing about the number of megapixels this camera or that camera has. It makes no difference. I have printed 24″x30″ prints that are gorgeous with a six megapixel camera. How often to you make prints at all, let alone that large? The megapixel hype only benefits the camera companies who try to fool you into thinking more is better. It’s not. If you want to buy a camera, go to the store and buy the one that fits best in your hands. It’s really that simple.
With all the advancement in cameras, lenses, film and megapixels, why is it that no one can do better than Ansel Adams, who photographed fifty years ago? He didn’t even have a computer. How did he do it? He knew that to make great photos, you need a vision in your head. You need to be able to see light and how to shape light. No camera, at any price, can do that for you.
If you own an expensive piano, it doesn’t make you a piano player, just like owning an expensive camera doesn’t make you a photographer. Creating beautiful images comes from inside of you. After all, the word “image” is the root word for “imagination!” No camera can give you imagination.
Instead of spending a fortune on cameras and lenses, you would be much better off using that money and taking some art or photography classes. Really, people who have imagination and vision are making spectacular photos with their iPhones! Even National Geographic has a website page dedicated to tips for better iPhone photography!
Here is a blog in which all of the photos were made with an iPhone, and the blog was created with the same iPhone! You can see it here.
Unless I am photographing professionally, the only camera I carry is my iPhone.
So spend some time enhancing your vision by studying great art, and photograph constantly, and in different ways. THAT will help you become a better photographer!