Read This Before Buying Your First Camera - Please.
If you are interested in the art of photography and are getting ready to take the plunge into buying your first camera, hold off on your purchase for just a few minutes, and be sure to read this article first.
Just a few months ago, I was just like you - eager, excited, and anxious about starting my photography journey. I spent countless hours researching everything there was to know about gear - camera bodies, camera lenses, sensors, accessories, you name it. Months after taking the plunge and ordering my own setup (which I’ll get into later), I am so glad I took my time deciding what to buy (and I think you will be too).
You see, photography is not like many other things in life. In many other hobbies, the first “thing” you buy isn’t all that important - take guitar. Your first acoustic guitar doesn’t have to be fancy. You can buy any old, beat up acoustic off Craigslist and learn just the same on it as you would a $1,000 Gibson. Later on, you can decide to level up with a higher quality instrument, and sell off the one you bought originally - easy.
Same thing with motorcycling. Your first bike will get dropped, bent, and beat up through trial and error, so it doesn’t really matter what bike you start on (just please consider opting for a low-powered CC motorcycle your first go around - your mother will thank you). Photography - on the other hand - is much much different.
Let me explain.
With photography, the gear you buy initially is not so much of a stepping-stone into the hobby, but is instead more like marrying into a brand which holds long-term implications. It’s a bit like starting a videogame where you choose your character, and can never change your character again, unless you restart the game. When you buy a camera body, whether you like the autofocus, color science, or aesthetics of it (Fuji anyone?), you are limited forever onwards by the lens mount of that camera body. Furthermore, whatever sensor size you decide to go with is another factor that limits what lenses you can put onto your body.
If this sounds overwhelming, take a deep breath. The B&H website is the primary way you should be searching for what camera bodies (and therefore, what lenses) you will be “marrying into” when you eventually take the plunge. The B&H website is an absolute front-end masterpiece of a website; it allows you to search for camera bodies, lenses, and much more by utilizing every conceivable filter you can imagine, from sensor sizes to maximum apertures to focal ranges.
When I was searching for my first camera, I took a staggering amount of time researching all the fine details before making my purchase (about 6 months to be exact). At first, I was set on the Canon R8 - an amazing camera hindered by abhorrent battery life and atrocious lens selections. These two glaring negatives brought me to the camera I ultimately ended up purchasing - the Sony A6700 - and I am so glad I did.
I was initially concerned about getting the absolute best image quality possible (can you tell I love to pixel peep?), which is what initially led my interest towards the Canon R8. It is an amazing camera spec-wise (ignoring battery life), but the main aspect that ultimately ended up turning me away from it was lens selection. When I looked at what lenses I would be marrying into after buying the R8, I saw there were only a handful of lenses that were compatible with it that fit my ~$600 price tag requirement. What’s more, was that Canon was banning third party lenses that featured autofocus altogether - limiting lens selection more than any other major camera manufacturer on the market.
Although I ended up sacrificing image quality for lens selection with my Sony body, I ultimately feel like I made the right choice, since lenses are so often cited as being far more important than camera bodies anyway (they’re what make the image, after all). It’s also nice that I get extra portability with APS-C lenses and Catalyst Browse for video stabilization when I want it.
If there’s one thing I can leave you with, it’s this - take your time. This is an expensive hobby, and your camera body choice has long-term implications for lenses, accessories, and more. Photography is not like motorcycling, guitar, or any other hobby where you can just jump into a new camera body overnight (and your lens collection will grow faster than you realize).
That’s all for now, keep on shooting!