Samyamoy Sen Gupta Photography : BRAIN TOUR: 2013

WHICH CAMERA WILL YOU BUY ?

By Samyamoy Sen Gupta

Photographer

To Know About Me and My Photo Exhibitions, Click This : ALL ABOUT ME

This article is not meant for full fledged professional , commercial photographers.

This article is for those who are curious about or love or love and pursue photography as a hobby or use it as an art, as an amateur or has nothing to do with photography as a medium of expression but needs a camera anyway *

The necessity for writing this article is that “What camera I should buy?” is a question I have been asked so frequently by aspirants, enthusiasts, amateurs , friends, relatives and aquintances, that I feel almost drained when answering it now ! Frankly, this is not an answer that can be given in a sentence or two. In order to do justice to both the topic and the enquirer, few explanations are necessary. Hence I decided to write everything and make it easily available to all who wants to know.

September 2014

Before the digital age, it was somewhat easier to make such a decision. You had full manual , semi auto and full auto dslr cameras and ofcourse other simpler models which offered some auto benefits to attract buyers. Full mechanical cameras were bought from first or 2nd hand or even grey markets . These camera bodies of 35 mm film formats if handled with care lasted more than one generations. Most of you have started your hobby with old pentax or nikon slrs that were in your family for years. Most professional photographers bought cameras and lenses from grey markets and 2nd hand shops mostly trusting full mechanical rather than auto manual ones. The general notion was 'Automatic is more vulnerable to damages and won't last long'.

Now with digital age , automatic is the only way for point and shoot, bridge and slr cameras. Now lets look at the economy. Previously apart from camera and lenses, you made a one time investment in enlarger and dark room set up. Ofcourse the film, photo paper, and process chemicals cost you had to incurr from time to time. Now you save on films and chemicals and instead spend it on computer , softwares, printer set up. This is not exactly a one time cost because you need to upgrade your entire set up after every 6 to 7 years . Now lets keep aside the setup and come to the camera & lense part.

Being fully automatic devices running on electronic chip circuits, all digital cameras including DSLRs are extremely vulnerable to rough use, humidity, extreme weather conditions and temperature changes. Resale value of Dslr unlike Manual Slr is not impressive because no one trusts an automatic body, used once. This is the same psychology that dictated preferances for buying full manual slrs in pre digital era. Hence a dslr body , brand new price of Rs 34000 when soled in 2nd hand market fetches a mere Rs 4000 to 6000 maximum because of that 'trust' factor, irrespective of whether it is soled 'as good as new' or 'much used' condition.

# Any DSLR Camera of a leading brand , carries on an average 2 years warranty after which , given all factors like proper handling etc are constant , may serve you for 5 to 8 years (or more).

Recently, advertisement campaigns in print, television, web media for leading brands in camera and lenses have increased manyfold. Popular Film Stars are being made brand ambasadors by various companies. Not so long ago , say upto 1990s , we in India seldom saw advertisements for SLRs except in magizines and journals exclusively dealing in technical and creative aspect of photography. We never raised an eyebrow then because SLRs were understood to be meant for professionals or amateurs, desiring precision work. But now I think it is time to raise an eyebrow when we see extensive advertisements in various media and big brands are also sponsoring photography exhibitions, conducting workshops and compititions. The glamour quotient of 'Being A Photographer' is being exploited fully by these companies. ( Acually there is no such glamour in the job, and the associated problems are more glamourous ! )

WHY ?

Simple . To turn anyone who has the slightest interest or fancy in photography into a buyer of DSLRs, because that is where the big cash is ! Once you buy a Dslr , you move on to buy additional lenses and so on. "It's like, if you don't have Dslr then what kind of a photographer are you ! Are you kidding me ?! ".

Let me tell you right now that Dslr does not give you super photographs and in comparison, point and shoot or advanced point and shoot gives you inferior ones. Its a myth. Even those who know nothing about technical aspect of photography make sarcastic comments like “ What kind of photographs can you expect from a Point & Shoot Digicam !”.

Ofcourse P & S has it’s own limitations and Dslr comparatively gives better results because it has bigger sensors , it can support more ‘exact - for – situation’ lenses , filters etc, that is why dslr is meant for professionals. My point is that the comparative limitations of Non – Dslrs, does not always come in your way of getting good printable resolution photographs.

If you are earning from photography then you can invest say Rs 60,000 for a camera and one or two lense, use for say 6 years , keep a depreciation a/c from your earnings and buy a new one afterwards. Although professional photography ( any kind ) basic investment is a minimum of 1.5 Lakhs.

How long a dslr is going to run I can't say with a time frame , I can't name any brands also because then companies are going to sue me. Camera may conk a day after its bought or after 1 or 3 or 9 or more years. Within warranty period conking saves you a few bucks, thats all. This is not full mechancal body we are talking about which if used with care, serviced routinely, does not conk and even if it does , can be easily fixed. We are dealing with fully automatic device running on electronic circuit board and chips. Even if a chips melts or circuit board burns due to excess charge, high temperature etc its time to buy a new one. If you have the courage to open your digital point and shoot you will be surprised to see that there is almost nothing inside except a circuit plate and few small wires.

When compared with 35 mm film format analogue Slr with a 28 - 70 zoom lense, today even a decent digital point and shoot or advanced point and shoot gives you way more benefit now. For the sake of discussion let me at random pick a simple point and shoot digital camera which company has stoped manufacturing now. It was available for purchase 2 yrs ago. Now you can get even more advanced features model at the same price.

Ex: Nikon L 21

coolpix segment once available for Rs 5000 approx.

It was small and easy to carry, zero maintainance,

you get Nikkor lense ,

2 inch macro mode in still and vdo,

3.6 x zoom lense,

3.1 - 6.7 zoom which in 35mm equivalent is 41 - 145 mm zoom ,

8mp,

focus range 1 ft to infinity,

macro focus 2 inch to infinity,

internal memory 19 mb,

ISO auto : 80 - 1600,

Electronic VR,

Self timer 10 sec,

Exposure compensations,

In built flash etc.

Ofcourse you don't get manual shutter and film speed regulators, full manual operation option, a B i.e Bulb mode shutter , CCD sensor is 1/1.2 inch , but whatever you get is more than enough for most of you, only if you forget those advertisements and your temptation for hefty looking D-SLRs. A very important factor here is ofcourse sensor size. Quality of your photo is directly related (but not solely dependent) with quality of lense and size of your sensor. But this is applicable for low available light conditions and precision works where every shade and detail matters. Only full size CMOS sensor and good lenses does not ensure good photos .

So what camera will you buy ?

The answer depends on few other questions .

What is your exact purpose ?

What kind of photography are you in ?

Are you going to earn from your photos ?

Are you going to partcipate in local national or international compitions and salons ? Are you into creative photography ?

Are you prepared to spend at least once every year on DSLR camera body servicing, sensor cleaning and cleaning of all your lenses ?

Now the trend is to organise exhibitions and compititions , workshops . This is done by small clubs and even reputed media houses with sponsorship by big brand camera companies. Creative standards are often compromised in order to popularise the compition among the mass. Everyone loves to see his clicked photo and name published in a daily newspaper so more and more photos are crammed in a page to make most happy and rest desirous. In most cases minimum elligibility to participate in any workshop is entry fee and D-SLR camera :)

Hence while judging your digital camera requirement be biased free towards any fancyful notion.

* If you just need a camera to take photos when you travel with your family and friends --- YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO BUY A CAMERA, YOUR SMARTPHONE CAMERA IS SUFFICIENT. OR INCASE YOU ARE DETERMINED TO BUY A CAMERA, ANY POINT AND SHOOT OF A REPUTED COMPANY WILL DO.

** If you love photography as a creative medium -

GO FOR ADVANCED POINT AND SHOOT. Image will be in Jpeg and not Raw ( negetive like details ) but apart from that your work will not suffer and you will also save loads of money.

*** If you love street photography and candids then also point and shoot being small and discreet is ideal, advanced point and shoot gives even more flexibility.

**** If you are in Available Light Photography then Advance point and shoot with in built good quality lense, comparitively bigger sensors than p & s is more than enough.

***** If you are in astrophotography , studio photography, then DSLR is a must.

******If you pursue photography as a hobby and like to take pictures of whatever seems interesting and meaningfull to your eye - BEGIN WITH P & S and AFTER 3 / 4 YEARS MOVE TO ADVANCED P & S.

Please understand that buying a Dslr is not a one time investment factor nor the end of purchases , it is just the begining ! The kit lense given with most low end dslrs are no good, you have to buy separate lenses. Lenses must be cleaned by skilled and reliable units twice every year and after every visit to seaside.

PLEASE ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT :

1. QUALITY OF PHOTO DEPENDS ON VARIOUS FACTORS, BUT THIS MUCH CAN BE SAID SAFELY THAT , CAMERAS ARE AVAILABLE FROM Rs 5000 TO 5,00,000 , AND QUALITY OF PHOTO GETS BETTER AS YOU MOVE UPWARDS THE PRICE SCALE. WHERE YOU WILL STOP AND UP TO WHICH STANDARD YOU WILL REMAIN SATISFIED IS CLEARLY DICTATED BY YOUR SPENDING CAPACITY.

2. THOUGH TECHNICAL ASPECT OF A PHOTO IS PART AND PARCEL OF ITS CONTENT BUT YOU HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE AS FAR AS TECHNICAL PERFECTION IS CONCERNED . CREATIVE EXCELLENCE IS IN YOUR HEAD NOT IN YOUR CAMERA . A LEGEND LIKE H.C.BRESSON PREFERRED TO CARRY A SIMPLE CAMERA AND SO DOES R.RAI AND MANY OTHERS.

Try to understand your true requirement before moving on to buying something. Whatever you buy , Point & Shoot , Advanced P & S , Bridge , Mirrorless , D-Slr , do keep these points in mind before purchase

1. Lense quality

2. Lense aperture full open reading

3. Macro facility

4. Sensor Type And Size

5. 35mm equivalent F.L factor

6. ISO range

7. Shutter speed regulator

8. Light meter – Spot or Center weight

Rough idea of various types of cameras available now :

Point & Shoot – Sony DSC-W800,

Advance Point & Shoot –

DSLR – Nikon D 3200, Nikon D 5200, Canon EOS 1200 D, Sony SLTA58K,