When to upgrade your equipment



Today's technology is growing so fast that you can't keep up with it. Advertising in photography magazines suggest that you need to own a certain camera or lens in order to take good pictures. Even articles written on photo equipment by pro photographers can be misleading at times. Many of the pros are sponsored by camera or lens manufacturers so they tend to advertise for certain brands in their articles without you even suspecting it. Some pros even use certain brands and run reports in their articles to get sponsored by a company. You can't really blame them. Photography is their business.

Less experienced photographers can quickly come to conclusion that they need to upgrade their camera or lenses, otherwise they feel left behind. One of my students in my on line Photography School insisted that he needed to replace his 75-300mm Canon zoom with the 75-300mm IS (Image Stabilizer) just because he had trouble taking sharp images. It is interesting how we always blame our equipment when we take bad pictures, but quickly credit ourselves when our images come out flawless. My equipment philosophy is simple: learn to use your current equipment to their full potential and buy only the equipment that you really need. Instead of running to the camera store to buy a new camera or lens, ask yourself how this new equipment will improve my photography? Does your current camera have all the features you need? Are your lenses sharp enough? Are you comfortably getting the images you want with your current equipment? If you answered yes to these questions, then there is no need to upgrade even if your equipment are very old. You should however, upgrade your equipment if you feel the new equipment will help you improve your photography. Lets see what you need to look for before you decide to upgrade.

Cameras:

If you currently own a manual focus or some older autofocus camera and feel today's faster autofocus or digital SLRs will help you take better pictures, you should consider buying a new camera. Autofocus in my opinion comes in handy when shooting fast moving subjects. If you are interested in portrait, architectural, close-ups, or landscape photography, faster autofocus cameras are not necessary. Actually, focusing your lens manually is a better way to go. For stationary subjects you should have enough time to focus and have the option of focusing anywhere in the scene for best depth-of-field. With autofocus cameras you need to focus on part of the scene and recompose the shot while holding focus.

Depth-of-field Preview
Another important feature to look for is depth-of-field preview. If you are in the market for a new camera, look for this feature. Depth-of-field preview lets you close the lens down manually prior to taking a shot to see the range of sharp focus. You can then decide if a smaller aperture is required or not.

Mirror lock up is another useful tool to look for. When you press the shutter release the mirror swings out of the way allowing light to reach the film. This can sometimes create vibrations which can lead to unsharp pictures. Mirror lock up raises the mirror and locks it prior to exposure to prevent any vibrations. This is really a problem in telephotography and macro photography at speeds of 1/8-1/15 sec.

Film Advance
If you are into wildlife or sports photography, look for a camera with 3 to 5 frames per second film advance. You won't be shooting at these rates all the time but they come handy every once in a while and you can take some unexpected shots.

Metering Index

 

+1EV increment. Metered value with AE Lock on is set at 0. Exposure value when spot - metering circle is moved. Exposure value set by user, with value set by selected metering method as 0.

A camera that shows a metering index is very useful. This index shows +/-2 or more stops of exposure difference between camera recommended setting and user setting as well as differences between highlights and shadows in the scene. Metering index can help you decide on the best exposure selection.

Exposure Modes

If you currently own a Program Mode only camera you need to upgrade to a model which has aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual mode. Only in one of these modes you can take full control over our photography. Program modes are for snap shooters.

Spot Meters


A camera with a spot meter is very useful. By spot metering you can meter the most important part of the subject and get better readings. You shouldn't trade your current camera just to get spot metering but look for this feature in your next camera.

PC terminal



For studio work a camera with PC terminal allows you to attach studio flash units. If you do still-life or portraits in the studio you should look for a camera with PC terminal.

Other features

I don't think most of us need cameras with 10 frames per second film advance, color matrix metering, 1/12000 sec shutter speeds, or power zooming. These features in my opinion are just competition among camera manufacturers. Some of these features are very impressive but really useless in actual picture taking. Use common sense before you buy. Remember, people have been taking great pictures for decades without autofocus, eye-focus, power zooms, or fast motor driven cameras.

One note to beginners: it is best to start with a basic low cost camera which has program mode, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual mode, exposure compensation, at least 1-1/1000 sec shutter speed, and remote release socket. Autofocus, continues film advance, autobracketing, and multiple exposure are extras to look for. The reason you should not spend on more expensive cameras is that you will definitely upgrade in the future. No matter what you read in advertising or whom you get advice from, eventually you alone will know which camera is best for you. It is better to start with a low cost camera and upgrade later. You can always use your first camera as a back up.

Lenses:

Photographers are addicted to lenses. We always want another lens. Instead of learning to use our current lenses, we go out and buy another one. Chances are your first lens was a 50mm or a short zoom. Now what? Picking the right lens is much simpler than you think. It all depends on the type of photography you do and your budget. If your current lenses are giving you the images you want, then you should fight the temptation of buying new lenses. You should consider a new lens only if you need a faster aperture or different focal length lenses.

Another reason would be a sharper lens. If you work in low light or simply need a faster lens to freeze action or need a wider aperture for creating blurred background, then you have a good solid reason to buy a new lens.

 Lets say you have a 70-210mm f-5.6 zoom lens and you want to get into portrait photography. 85mm f-1.4 and 135mm f-2 lenses are favorites among portrait photographers. Your current 70-210mm zoom covers these focal lengths but the maximum f-5.6 aperture is not wide enough to let you create more pleasing out of focus backgrounds or it is simply too slow in low light, or not sharp enough to make large prints for your clients. An 85mm f-1.4 or 135mm f-2 would give you the extra speed and sharpness you need to do the job. You could make a compromise and buy an 80-200mm f-2.8 zoom. This way you still cover 85mm and 135mm focal lengths with fast 2.8 aperture.

Another reason you might need to consider a new lens is closer focusing distance. Your current lens may only focus down to 6 feet but you need to get much closer if you do macro photography or copying. Working with teleconverters is another reason to consider a new lens. If you like wildlife or sports photography and find your current 75-300mm f-5.6 is too slow or the 300mm focal length is short, a faster and longer lens should be purchased. A 300mm f-2.8 with matched teleconverters might solve your problem or perhaps a 500mm f-4 will be the answer.

 What about Image Stabilizer lenses? My advice is to stay with your current lenses and use a tripod for better results. You should consider Image Stabilizers if you currently don't have a lens that covers the focal length you need, and want to buy a new lens.

 Buying an Image Stabilizer lens just to be able to hand hold your camera all the time makes no sense. Image Stabilizer lenses improve your chances of getting better results handheld, or even on a tripod, but you can still take very good images without one.

 Beginners should start with a pair of zooms, a short and a medium telephoto. Other lenses should be purchased when beginners learn more and know which other lenses will work for them. More advanced photographers who own more lenses should add more to their systems only if they truly believe additional lenses will give them images they cannot currently take. Trust me, buying new lenses is not always the answer, learning to use what you already have and pushing them to their limits is a better way to go.

Recommended 35mm and Digital Cameras   Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera Features: 8.2 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor 5 fps and 30 large JPEG frame burst 2.5”, 230K pixel, 170º wide viewing angle LCD screen Picture Style image processing parameters Spot metering and High Precision 9-point AF system DIGIC II image processor with 0.15 sec start-up time Digital Photo Professional RAW processing software 100,000 cycle shutter durability and rugged magnesium alloy body Simultaneous RAW and JPEG recording Wide 100-3200 ISO range E-TTL II Flash PictBridge compatibility Complete compatibility with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites USB 2.0 Hi-Speed and Video Out connectivity Canon EOS Elan 7ne SLR Camera (Body Only)   Features: 35mm SLR camera with EF lens mount 7-point wide-area focusing system Advanced multi-mode exposure metering New distance-based E-TTL II flash metering Body only; lenses sold separately

Recommended Lens Tamron SP AF 200-500mm/F5-6.3 Di LD (IF) This is a new zoom lens from Tamron that lets you bring your far away subjects up close while compressing the distance between the main subject and the background for professional-looking results. Even while covering up to a 500mm that enables you to take ultra telephoto shots of subjects further than the eye can see, its design is extremely lightweight and compact. When mounted on an APS-C size digital SLR camera, it provides a focal length equivalent to a 760mm for super ultra telephoto imaging.   For Canon For Nikon