Buying a present of a camera – part 3

If you’ve gotten this far, cool! This is the longest of the group – but the best also!

We’re going to take a look at some camera features and who they work well with. And which features really aren’t very important. Now – I’m still not going to name cameras to choose. Read all the way to the end to find out why.

As I get into this, I realized one fundamental thing has changed in the photography/camera industry. And that is simply what is looked at as an advanced feature and what is viewed as a basic feature.

When you talk to anyone who has been in photography for more than ten years you’ll discover most talk about “basic” cameras and are referring to ones that are essentially non-automatic. In fact, students taking classes, like Richland Community College’s Black and White class, will still use a “basic” camera. No automatic features – you have to set everything yourself.

But in the digital age – these basic features are only available on the more advanced cameras. Seems a bit crazy, but if you find manual controls on a $100 camera they are completely buried in the complex menu system. If they exist at all! When you get up into the high stratosphere of cameras such as a Nikon D3x, the manual features are very easy to access.

Mid-level cameras, such as some of the Nikon d60s or d90s and Canon Rebels, have the manual controls visible but definitely not the featured items. I once had a student who had a fantastic camera that immediately gave her all kinds of access to all the manual functions. However, for her the correct camera would be one with NO manual features she could touch. It was not fantastic for her.

If the person you are buying a camera for knows photography and likes to experiment – go for the more expensive cameras. Make sure the manual functions or more advance override functions can be easily accessed.

Go in the exact opposite direction with someone who doesn’t know photography and only wants to shoot the occasional photo.

Do you want video? These days – most cameras have some feature to allow short videos to be shot. Some even allow audio. But, is the person likely to use it? Here’s the catch with almost any video out there, you still need the ability to edit the video to make it better. And is this person going to have the patience to learn it. I personally love video. But, I don’t use it very often.

What kind of lens do you want? Now, here is a good can of worms to get into. One of the catch phrases when buying a camera these days has to do with things like a 10x lens. What does that mean? Well, it means that the lens can zoom from a wide-angle to a telephotos. Make sure it is an optical zoom – not a digital zoom. An optical zoom means the lens moves and actually changes the size of the image. A digital zoom means all it does is crop in closer on the sensor. Digital zooms mean lower quality.

Now – if your gift recipient is one who loves photography, you will have to avoid the ultra small and small cameras. They don’t allow the background to go blurry in a photo so it looks better. There is a pure limitation imposed by physics. What I’m describing is called depth of field, which is how much of the image appears to be sharp and how much appears to be blurry.

If this person loves to shoot sports or portraits, you want them to get a camera that will actually permit them to have the background go blurry. How can you tell a camera will allow you this, you can’t from just the specs. But, almost any DSLR (digital SLR) allows this to occur somewhat easily. Plus, they have the option of getting other lenses that give them even greater control.

Now – final subject, what kind of camera to get? Frankly, I still refuse to answer the question easily. The biggest problem is that in looking at what are the traditional consumer point and shoot cameras you have new versions of a camera coming out about every six months. If not faster.

However, any of the national brands do a pretty good job. Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, GE and many others.  And if you buy from a retailer that sells training, get it for the person on that camera!

I teach digital photography and digital photography seminars. But, I can’t teach someone how to use their specific camera in those seminars.  Not enough time and too many models.

And – pay for the extended warranty on these gadgets if you can. I’m not a fan of those, but I also know that there is essentially nothing that is fixable in most point and shoot cameras. It becomes a replacement issue. After all, no company is going to pay a tech $35 an hour to fix a $100 camera. It ends up costing more than replacing the camera.

And they do break!

So, here’s the breakdown of recommendations (we’re looking at body only prices as some kits will boost the price of an amateur camera to another range:

Hi-level Professional Cameras (more than $3,000) – this is not a present unless the person has asked you for it or has said that this is what they need. These cameras will overwhelm most users completely.  Buying one will NOT improve someone’s photography skill unless they are already skilled to begin with. There is a reason they are called “professional.”

Mid-level Semi-Pro Cameras ($1,800 to $3,000) – this is also not a very good present unless the person has mentioned to you that they are looking at this camera or need one. Again, these cameras will NOT improve someone’s photography skill unless they are already somewhat skilled to begin with. Again, there is a reason they are called Semi-Pro.

Advanced amateur ($1000 to 1,800) – As long as the person is willing to learn and really knows photography, good choices. The cameras have plenty of automatic features, have all the advanced sensors of their more expensive cousins and are very capable of capturing fantastic images. They are also capable of handling many manual features that allow a photographer fantastic control.

Amateur ($500 to $1000) See the comments above as that well describes many of these cameras. Be prepared to sacrifice a bit on the features as these cameras tend to be more automatic models and not manual models. The sensors are more variable in quality than the above group, but still tend to be very good. This is a good range for someone who knows or has begun to discover what is possible and wants to learn more.

Point-n-shoot: ($300 to $500) These sometimes look like digital SLRs but do not have interchangeable lenses.  Huge variation in available features and you have to do a bit of searching. These are starting to get into smaller cameras but with many overrides on the automatic features. Usually equipped with very high quality optics and good sensors.

Point-n-shoot ($150 to 300) These are mostly automatic cameras for almost all users. They might have manual overrides, but these are well-hidden in the menus and are not user-friendly. Reasonably good optics and sensors – lots of automatic features allow users to get pretty good results.

Under $150: Pocket-size, automatic cameras. Good for getting candids, not for any type of action photography. Manual features usually not available at all. Good for total amateurs or those who don’t want to learn more than pushing a button.

Now – armed with these categories, visit www.cnet.com, www.wired.com, www.consumerreports.com, or many other sites that list and rate cameras. Read advice, read opinions and then figure out which one you really want to give (or even get for yourself.)

Remember, it’s all about making the recipient happy with the gift and not how much you spent on it.