What’s a good camera to get?

Mar 25, 2017

This is a question I get asked somewhat often so I thought why not write a short article about it.

If you know me, you might know that I sometimes buy a lot of stuff. Since I’ve been into video and photography, I’ve owned several cameras. However, it has given me a lot of experience and knowledge, so that when I do get this question, I am pretty confident in answering it.

Before I got into photography, I owned several cameras that only shot video. I’ll start with my first DSLR. In 2014, my Junior year of college, I got my first DSLR. It was a Canon T2I. I got it because I signed up for a photography class and this was a reasonably priced camera for me at the time. It turned out to be quite a good camera for it’s price. (Right now you can get a T2I body for about $150-$200) It is a small, 18 megapixel camera that also shoots full HD video (which was perfect for me). This was also my first camera that shot HD video and I loved it. If you don’t already know, DSLR’s require lenses. Different lenses are good for different things, but this camera was a great starter into photography and HD video for me and I would recommend any of the Canon Rebel series to someone starting out. It offers great picture quality while still being affordable and pretty user friendly as well!

This is a wedding I shot mostly with the T2I

My next camera was a Canon EOS 60D. It is only a slight step up from the T2I, but a step up nonetheless. A 60D body is a bit pricier; it can go anywhere from $400 up to $800 brand new. This is also an 18 megapixel camera with full HD video but it offers a few nice advantages. It can shoot 5.3 frames per second where the T2I only shoots 3.7 FPS. One great advantage that I liked was the flip out LCD on the 60D. This came in great handy when shooting video; I could pull it out to shoot tricky angles or to easier show someone the framing of the shot. The 60D has a slightly better autofocus system, longer battery life, and a brighter viewfinder. One other minor advantage at least to me was it’s size. It was a bit bigger but it felt much better in my hand; it felt much more durable.

Here’s a video I shot on the 60D.

After this, I upgraded to one of the main cameras I still use and that is the Canon EOS 7D. Price wise, it is another slight increase but not by much if anything. The body can range from $450 up to $900 brand new. I bought this camera when I started realizing how much photography I was doing. It is still an 18 megapixel camera with full HD video but it can shoot up to 8 photos per second! If you are shooting sporting events or anything with motion; this is a great camera. It’s autofocus is much better than the previous cameras and it’s viewfinder is also improved! I mainly use this camera for video now but it shoots great photos. I have had many of my photos from this camera printed pretty big and the quality is still awesome! There is now a newer, better version of this camera, the 7D Mark II. It is a bit more expensive but a great improvement.

Here are a couple videos I have shot on the 7D!

The nice thing about Canon is if you have more than one camera, you only need one type of lens and that is the Canon EF mount. All the Canon EF lenses work on all the Canon EOS DSLR’s and even the Canon C100 and C300’s.

To wrap this up, I want to talk about my current favorite camera, and that is the Sony A6000. It is one of the mirrorless cameras that Sony released in the past couple years. The body for this camera is only about $400-$550, which is incredible for the quality it puts out. (This is currently one of the main cameras I shoot weddings with along with the 7D and Colleens Nikon D7100). Anyway, this camera is small, affordable, and use friendly but the video and photos it produces are incredible. It is a 24 megapixel crop sensor but shoots up to 11 frames per second and has one of the fastest autofocus systems around! It has built in Wifi so you can transfer photos to your phone within seconds. It also shoots incredibly well in low light. I have shot photos at ISO 1600 that have very little grain. And I have shot video at weddings that I then used for the final videos at ISO 2500! (which is excellent for a crop sensor body) The lenses for this camera are mostly very affordable. I currently shoot with the Sony 50mm f1.8 and the Sigma 30mm f2.8. The 30mm is great for shooting landscape photos while the 50mm I use for portraits and almost all my video work. I can’t say enough great things about this camera.

This is a video I shot on the A6000.

I know this is a lot to read but if you are buying a camera, it might be worth your time! I hope this helped you. And if you have any further questions at all, don’t hesitate to fill out the form and ask me a question on my contact page or my FAQ page!

Don’t let this decision leave you looking like this. 

Thanks for reading!

FILED IN:

SHARE ON: