FAQ - What kind of camera should I buy / what do you use?

So, I wanted to start answering questions we get asked a lot, and this is a great place to start. We get asked a lot by clients, friends, aspiring photographers, what kind of camera should I buy? And we get asked what kind of cameras we use. There are two parts to this post, so first, lets start with what kind of cameras we use.

NIKON. All of our SLR and D-SLR cameras are Nikon. All of our lenses are Nikkor (made by Nikon) and if we would buy a second manufacturer lens, we would probably get a Tokina or Tamron. Right now, the main cameras that we shoot with are a D-700 (which along with the D3 are the only full-frame sensor cameras that Nikon has), a D-300s, a D-2X as a backup and a D-100 as a second backup. Then, if something crazy would happen, like some kind of electromagnetic field thingy and all digital stuff would be fried, we could still shoot, because we have 4 Nikon film cameras (2 F-100s and 2 really old ones that are beautiful, completely manual and you could fend off a mugger with, they're that heavy duty.) Why did we pick Nikon over Canon? Well, for Jeff, he had always shot Nikon. One of those old cameras I mentioned, that was what he used when he was in college. And when Nikon introduced auto-focus, and then digital, they kept the same exact lens mount they entire way. (Canon did not). So we can use any of our lenses on any of our cameras. Now a really old, manual lens won't give us an in camera meter reading, but if it came down to that, we would use our hand held meter to get the reading and shoot away with those settings. With Canon, you need to have a digital mounted lens to use on their digital cameras only. For me, I had an old manual Minolta in college. When I got out, I got a Nikon 8008 by the advice of my Nikon loving friend, Chuckles. But I was so used to the simplicity of the Minolta, that I sold the newer Nikon after a few months. A few years later, I was living in Austin, working at a camera store part-time. This was in 2000, when the first D-SLRs came out. I remember we only had one of each kind in the store, and with the hefty price tags they had, they sat there for a while until someone bought one. So I got to play with all of the cameras, and I had it narrowed down to Canon or Nikon (since the Minolta company wasn't doing very well). I picked the Nikon over the Canon because I felt the dials and buttons that I needed to use quickly while shooting on the Nikon were easier to navigate than on the Canon. And then I've stuck with Nikon ever since. All of our flashes and accessories are Nikon too.

Now for part 2 - what kind of camera should I buy? I will start with the easy part of this, by addressing point and shoots. Our little, put in a pocket, drop in my purse point and shoot is a Sony. The three we recommend are Sony, Canon and Casio. If money isn't an object, take a look at the Leica (they have sweet lenses, but we haven't seen one in person). Of the 3 we recommended, we recommend them because of their shutter lag. Shutter lag is the time it takes from when you press the button until the shutter opens and the picture is actually taken. You can look at the specs for pretty much any point and shoot and they never publish shutter lag. To determine shutter lag, you need to either do some research online, or actually hold the camera at a store and see what the lag time is. Usually Sony, Canon and Casio have very little shutter lag. Other cameras can have shutter lag of 1 -3 seconds. That is a really long time! And you're shot is probably missed.

What kind of D-SLR should I buy? First, you need to see how much you want to spend and if you want to stick with the big 2 (Canon and Nikon). The post on this could go on and on, and the best thing I can say, is look at the price overall for everything you will be buying (camera, lens, flash and anything else) and go to a store and test drive the camera. You can read all you want about specs at the places we buy from : B & H, Calumet and Adorama. Think about what you will be using the camera for. If it's just to take pictures as a hobby, then any brand will do. But if you're looking at getting into it as a career, possibly, then I would definitely recommend going with Nikon or Canon. You'll be starting off right and if you eventually become a professional, then you will already have a basis from which to grow.

Happy shooting!