The most important features to buy a camera in 2022
If you are buying a camera for the first time, you may be wondering which camera is the best choice for you. First, you must answer a series of questions. I am Robert Hanks from 3Motional Team, and I’m here to share my experience with you so you can choose the best possible option for you with any budget you have.
1. DSLR or Mirrorless?
Before 2009, only DSLR cameras were available on the market until Olympus introduced its first mirrorless camera, the Pen-Ep1. Mirrorless cameras are less mechanically complex because the mirrors and the prisms are removed and they have replaced them with Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) so the camera weight has been reduced and they are much smaller; These changes have increased the popularity of mirrorless cameras in recent years.
All that said, some photographers still prefer to use a large camera like DSLRs so they can have an Optical Viewfinder (OVF) because they provide a clearer and no-delay vision. Although, we recommend mirrorless cameras because:
1. They have longer shutter life.
2. They have a higher focus speed and video quality.
3. They are smaller and less heavy.
4. DSLR cameras production line are stopped.
2. Photography or Videography?
The next question you need to ask yourself is ‘Do you want to take videos as well as photos?’. The answer to this question is very important because although with both DSLR and Mirrorless cameras, you can take photos and videos, you should know that some cameras are better at taking videos than others.
3. What genre do you want to work in?
DSLR and Mirrorless cameras are divided into 2 general categories: Full Frame and Crop Sensor (APS-c). The main difference between these two categories is the size of their sensors, which I will explain more about later.
For anyone who wants to become a professional photographer, full-frame cameras are the best choice; On the other hand, for those of you who want to capture memorable images for social networks, the camera APS-c is the more appropriate offer.
If you want to be a professional photographer, you need to specify your genre because each genre requires special features. For example, continuous shooting speed is very important in sports photography, so you should choose a camera that is powerful in continuous photography, or Dynamic Range is very important in the nature photography genre.
4. How important is the Megapixel?
Numerically a higher number of megapixels gives you a better quality. It should be noted that in addition to the number of pixels, other factors also affect the quality of the image. Each image or better call it ‘digital image’ is made up of a large number of photocells called pixels. A megapixel is one million pixels stacked together. This means that a 20-megapixel image is made up of 20 million photocells or pixels.
The sensors of different cameras have different sizes. For example, the phone’s sensors are much smaller than the sensors of crop cameras, and likewise, the sensors of crop cameras are smaller than the sensors of full-frame cameras.
If all the mentioned cameras have 40-megapixel sensors, they will give us different qualities due to the size of their sensors. The size of the sensor is directly related to the image quality, which means that the larger the sensor is, you get a more dynamic range and higher quality. A larger sensor means larger cells. For example, the number of pixels in a full-frame camera is equal to the number of cells in a phone, but the difference in quality is due to the size of the cells.
5. When is the camera’s global release?
Always choose a new camera. The newer the camera is, the more up-to-date the processor and sensor are.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what your camera is, but what matters is your knowledge of light, your familiarity with the rules of photography. Don’t forget that the thing that makes you a great photographer, is practice and more practice.