Thursday 8 November 2012

A photographers best friend - their camera

Looking around estate sales I often come across vintage cameras. Predominately the ones people have kept around and cherished decades later were the ones that were worth that little extra investment and demanded that extra input from the photographer. With Christmas just around the corner [how quickly has that come around again?!] many of you will probably be wishing and writing a new camera upon your Christmas lists.

While I maintain that investing in good camera is only half the equation in producing good photographs, if photography is your passion then it's certainly worth thinking about spending a little extra. Personally I use a bridge camera as right now suits my needs and my budget - it still lets me play with manual settings, but my next camera will be an upgrade into a D/SLR camera. 

When it comes to looking for your next camera there are always certain pointers to keep in mind that you might want to consider - from asking yourself what type of photographs you will be taking, a camera's size to it's shape and functions. Jessops has always been a great store to shop for cameras regardless of your budget.

If money was no object for us this Christmas i'd be hinting madly for a Nikon which as a brand are always on spec offering high end features on relatively light frame bodies for great prices such as the Digital SRL D7000.

With a choice of purchasing just the body you can make use of the lens you may already own or then go on and purchase ones that fit your need. The Nikon D700 comes with 16.2 megapixels, space for two SD memory cards, great ISO levels and even the ability to produce HD movie clips - the kit version comes with an 18-105 lens.

If you have that little extra to spend or you've been super good this year you'd be wise to make an investment in the Digital SRL D800 additionally by Nikon.
You could call this camera the newer, bolder younger brother of the one I previously mentioned which comes with a humongous megapixel size of 36.3. Additionally the D800 comes with two slots for SD memory cards it's credited as being 10% lighter then it's D700 sibling and comes with Nikon's next generation of EXPEED 3 image processing system. Doesn't that sound a tonne of fun to play with?!

What cameras would be on your Christmas list this year?

Disclosure - this is a sponsored post, however the article and all thoughts expressed are my own.

7 comments:

  1. I bought a D/SLR (Canon 1100D) for my Graphic Design course, it is a great little camera but I am an absolute novice with photography and need to learn about more of the manual settings so I totally agree that buying the camera is only half way to taking nice photos.

    This is a great post but D/SLR is definitely something too expensive to be on my Xmas list but I think it is a great time to ask for accessories like bags, tripods etc. :)

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    1. Very true - I never knew how much I needed or would use a tripod till I ended up getting one.

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  2. Ohhh girlie you have read my mind! I'm not quite ready for a SLR as I would probably not know how to use half the features, but I am on the market for a higher end digital (easy to use for idiots like me) camera - any recommendations?

    Elspeth xx

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    1. I always suggest bridge cameras to be honest, mainly because they don't have the extreme expense of a DSLR but they do let you get more use to manual settings. My own lets me still have auto settings but it's given me the experience of being able to use manual an aperture settings which is great for giving me that first hand experience without having to shell out that much more then a normal point and shout. The only down side I find with a bridge is that although they have the same lens system as a DSLR you can't change the lens which I think is where a lot of the expense really comes from when your purchasing higher end cameras.

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  3. Oooo I was only looking at DSLR's yesterday :( you made me want one even more now! I want the Canon 600D but it's close to £500 and my Christmas budget is £100, so it's definitely a no no! I'm saving up for so many different things though, so not quite sure when I'll be getting one!

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  4. i'm very lucky to own the d7000! it's completely changed my life, photography is what i do both in and outside uni - it's barely out of my hands!
    Rosie xo

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  5. I've been itching to buy a DSLR, but forced myself to wait it out and not ask santa for it this xmas. I got a prosumer SONY-NEX late last year though, which lets me play with the manual settings and has interchangeable lenses. So I figured I'll try to practice with that before buying a DSLR. I just wish it has an optical viewfinder though.

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