Buying a digital camera as a present – part 1

As a professional photographer and educator, I always get questioned on what camera I recommend. During this time of the year, the question arises even more often.

I’ve spent many years dodging the question – with the statement of “that depends” followed by saying I don’t know enough about  lower price models to be a good judge.

But after having taught as many students as I have both in classes and in seminars – I think it’s about time that I come up with a better answer.

Unfortunately, the answer to the question means other questions must be asked. And even though answering a question with another question is considered a bit rude, I have to ask “who is getting the camera?”

Cameras are like shoes, you won’t wear the same shoes climbing Mount Everest as you would attending a formal ballroom dance. You need appropriate shoes AND ensure they  fit you correctly. Why anyone would think that one camera is “the best” is silly.

This also means that I still won’t answer the question directly – but I’m going to give you some working guidelines today and follow it up with some more specific tips in the next few blogs.

And keep in mind – this means you actually have to find something that fits the person getting the camera. No laziness allowed.  Which means this is all about them and not you.

So . . .

1. How well does the person getting the camera understand photography?
2. How much of “techie” is the person getting the camera?
3. Does the person understand anything about computers (yes – computers, not cameras!)
4. What kind of images does the person usually shoot (vacation landscapes, portraits, candid, flowers)
5. Do they like to print their images? How big do they like to print their images?
   1. Do they post lots of the images to the web?  Facebook? MySpace? Etc.?
   2. Do they give friends pictures or show them off?
   3. Do they take the camera everywhere with them?
   4. Do they like challenges or do they prefer to take the easy road?
   5. Are they willing to learn? (yes, are they REALLY willing to learn and WANT to learn)

Let’s take a look at these one by one  (or maybe a bit faster)

Regardless of what a salesperson might say, if you are spending more than $150 on a camera you really should have some concept of photography.  Not because you plan to make a career of it, but because you will have to understand all the features that come with the camera. Five years ago $150 would not buy you much feature-wise. Now, you can get so lost in the camera features that you forget to take the picture!

Don’t expect the user’s manuals to be of any real help in learning the cameras. I’ve long since discovered that users just plain don’t get what the manual is talking about. Manuals, almost without fail, assume the person who now owns the camera understands words like exposure, white balance, bracketing, etc.

Sales people are generally not much more useful . I once even overheard a sales person telling a person that bracketing means the camera automatically shoots three photos at different white balances and then chose the best exposure from the three. The customer just nodded. I was a bit preoccupied at the time, so I’ve always wondered if the customer was nodding to humor the salesperson or actually believing it.

Just so you know, bracketing means you have the camera intentionally take one picture at what it thinks is correct and then intentionally shoots two more images, one that is overexposed and one that is underexposed. You can have a different type of bracketing that also involves white balance. But, the two are not related and the camera definitely does not choose the “correct” exposure.

This actually leads to question 2, do they understand technology?  Are they willing to learn technology?  You definitely don’t need an engineering degree to understand a camera – but you have to have the patience to learn it.

If you know the person can’t program their DVR, then don’t be mean to them and give them something far more complicated.  They’ll get frustrated and end up blaming the camera for being a bad camera. And it probably isn’t. Most technological problems arise from the user and not the machine. Yeah, no one wants to hear that line.

Next question – do they know computers? You see, digital cameras and their products are designed to be used with computers.  This has been known to shock some of my seminar students.

And if you buy a camera for someone who thinks their computer can blow up the world (Yes!! There are still some people who think that!) don’t expect them to jump up and down about the concept of editing their photos, downloading, uploading, posting photos, etc. If they are having problems mastering email . . . .

Now – if you’ve gotten through all of that, well, does the person who actually like to shoot photos?  Look at their walls of their home – are there pictures there? How big or small are they? Do you see any albums?  Do they give away photos? Some people think that art on the wall means a painting of someone else’s family or a few weeds strategically placed.

I know several people who have great cameras but don’t use them. No real interest. Or they hide their photos, perhaps thinking they might run away if left in the open. . .

That does not mean you don’t get them a camera – just don’t get the latest, greatest  $800 camera out there. They would probably be happy with one costing less than $100 that doesn’t do everything.

Now, as to where they might go with the camera.  If you want a camera to go almost everywhere with you, you probably don’t want a digital SLR. They’re just too bulky.  Now, they will produce the best images (and we’ll address why in a later blog) but if you want something portable it’s just not a good idea.

Even when working as a news photographer I did not continuously carry a camera on my person. I have to confess, my dates had no clue that I had a full camera bag in my trunk on the off chance that a disaster might occur near me that I would shoot.

On the other hand, I would have loved to have a small digital camera with me at other times.

Finally – and I probably should have put this one as the first – are they willing and interested in learning more? They have to be willing to learn . . . they have to be willing to experience new things. Age is not a barrier at all – I’ve had students from ten years old to 75 years old.

Don’t ever assume they will want to learn . . .  there are those who don’t really want to learn. Or think they can’t.

Get them a set of disposable film cameras and they might be just as happy.

In the next couple of blogs, we’ll take a better look at other camera details that will help you decide what you need to get them and why

So, my answer to question of what is the best camera is still – it depends, but I think I’ll now begin to say it depends on who the camera is for and what they will do with it.

That sounds a bit better.