Before you decide to buy a Camera

It was a photo from my dear friend Raghuram Ashok that made me inquisitive to learn more about photography. Since then I have tried to learn as much as I can and I still do a shoot which are here and here. I have tried my hands on people, kids, caves, stills, streets etc.  Have done couple of exhibitions as well. I have been asked by several people, what camera I should buy. Here are some tips before you decide to buy a camera

• Purpose: First of all understand the purpose, why is it you are buying the camera. Following may be some of the reasons
• Family Events, Casual shoots etc.
• To be a professional and/or to learn and explore
• Budget: Once you decide the purpose, decide the budget. You get a camera right from around Rs. 5000 onwards to few lakhs of rupees.
• Decide the camera: Once you have decided the purpose and the budget, now it’s time to decide the camera. Note the following 
• Family Events, Trip etc.:Depending on the budget you can select cameras ranging from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 20000. 
• Professional: If you want to be a professional, then start with a prosumer camera. These start around with Rs. 10000 onwards and have the functionalities of DSLRs. Understand the functionalities and then upgrade to DSLRs once you are fit to be a pro. You can even start with DSLR if you are serious about it but I wouldn’t recommend this.

Points to be noted

1. Camera doesn’t matter:   Photography is not about DSLR or any particular camera. Camera just gives you the view of what is already imprinted on your mind. It just brings up the reality of what you have thought before the click. Camera may matter at times, but without you knowing how the picture should be, camera will be useless whatever expensive it may be. There are lot of people who use point and shoot cameras and have done exhibitions and are doing well.  The photos that you see on my link viz. flickr are from prosumer.

2. Don’t buy just because you have money:  Just because you have money and have disposable income, don’t buy expensive camera.  Just think about the number of events you capture every year and see what best suits you. You can even buy less than Rs. 10000 cameras and it may serve your purpose than buying Rs. 20000 camera.  Most of the time, people who ask me intend to buy a very expensive one without understanding their need.

3.  It’s not about Pixels:  Most of the marketing strategies to sell camera is focussed on the Megapixels, but the Mega Pixels are of little value addition unless you are highly professional expert.  A 1 Mega pixel camera will also do. Adding more Megapixels just increases the size of the photo on your hard disk.  Preference should be given more to Optical Zoom then megapixels or digital zoom.

4.  Photography is not about DSLR:  This is the most important question that I have been asked. I want to buy a camera, Which DSLR should I Buy? Remember one thing, it’s not about DSLR. It’s about your purpose. No doubt, DSLR gives good clarity and may be available at around  Rs. 20000. But, they are bulky to carry, to be extra careful and you need to invest on additional lenses and that creates a dent in your pocket. It took me 3 years of using a prosumer before I graduated to DSLR. But, I still prefer a prosumer to a DSLR.  Point and shoot cameras are light weight, easily put in to a luggage while travelling, easy to carry around.

5. Photography is about Imagination:  If you think by buying an expensive camera, you can become a photographer then forget it. Photography is about the use of lights, your imagination and your thought. Camera is just a medium to achieve that.

Now, decide the camera, buy the camera and start clicking ;-)