With so many powerful options on the market and so much noise surrounding each release, how do you know which camera system is right for you?
I spent the whole week shopping. Maybe not the way you think. With my camera needs now fully met, I instead spent the week buying another essential item: sneakers. I have to admit I’m a sneaker fanatic. Not in the sense that I collect vintage sneakers and keep them in locked vaults to increase their value. Rather, I found myself unable to resist selling shoes and thus amassed a large collection of unnecessarily large shoes for every occasion from clubby to casual. I bought most of them because they looked cool. Or maybe they hurt my feet but pair perfectly with a particular outfit. Or, they just went on sale and in an impulsive moment I thought, “why not?” However, when it comes to running shoes, I’m much more practical.
Not nearly as young as I used to be (aka old), I wake up almost every morning with pain in one joint or another that has reached new levels of pain. Sometimes all joints at once. In part, this is due to age. Part of it is due to my demanding workouts. The easy thing to do would be to cut back on exercise, but neither I nor my growing waistline seemed to find that option optimal. So I try to exercise every day whether it’s rain or shine. However, just because I’m determined to push through the pain doesn’t mean I want to invite it in. And I know that footwear plays a vital role in my ability to continue training at the highest level.
For that reason, I tend to find a shoe that works and stick with it year after year, new model after new model. This works, most of the time. Except when the shoe company decides to change things up in next year’s shoe release or discontinue the line altogether and you quickly find yourself back at square one. That’s where I found myself this week. Read countless online reviews to find a pair of running shoes that could support my flat feet and bad knees, searched online for the best options, then patiently waited for the shoe box to arrive at my door. My home.
I’m not a person who likes to return things. This time, however, it took a few tries to get things right. Many of the best rated shoes don’t fit me at all when I put them on my feet. Others I expected to hit home runs ended up being singles. Finally, I found two pairs of shoes that fit my needs. But it was a long search.
So why talk so much about shoes? Well, this week, in addition to the YouTube algorithm constantly feeding me new shoe reviews, it also filled my recommendation list with all the new photography toys on display at NAB, the annual convention where manufacturers want to launch their latest and greatest products and stir up some noise. I love playing with new toys as much as the next man, but this year I didn’t go to Vegas for the festival. Yet YouTube still finds a way to put product announcements in front of me. Then, when I click on a product announcement video, the algorithm makes sure to show me every published pros and cons video. A compelling video shoot would be a wannabe influencer exclaiming why the camera is the best product ever released. The next video will be another influencer trying to tell me why that same camera is complete trash and deserves to be laughed at. Of course, the camera in question has only just been announced and hasn’t been released yet so clearly none of these reviewers were able to get close to it more than lightly touching it on the NAB showroom floor, making the Their definitive review of the product has been objectively useless since then. they literally didn’t get a chance to use the product they were appreciating/worsening in the first place.
However, shopping for tech can sometimes be like buying shoes online. There are a million and one different options available. And it’s hard to know what’s right for you and what’s just marketing noise presented as fact. So how do you find which camera is worth your investment?
Touch it
Okay, this might seem obvious, but the best way for you to know if a tool is right for you is to hold it in your hands. Just because I, as a reviewer, feel the ergonomics of this camera are the best I’ve ever used doesn’t mean you will feel the same. A ten minute trip to your local camera store will answer 90% of your questions about cameras. Many years ago, when I was buying my first digital camera, the Nikon D200, I knew immediately that it was the right camera for me just by picking it up. I went to Samy’s Camera in Los Angeles, grabbed the handle and immediately fell in love. Years later, having shot with almost every brand on the market, I still find Nikon cameras feel the most natural in my hand. Aside from the technology inside the camera, like my usual shoes or running shoes, I know that this brand won’t disappoint me in terms of fit.
But, again, that’s subjective for me. So if you’re truly considering a new camera system, your first step is to get it in person. Go to your local camera store and see if it’s a good fit.
Does it serve your needs?
Finding the perfect camera for you is like finding the perfect girlfriend or boyfriend. Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. And just as finding a romantic partner often has more to do with understanding yourself and your needs than whatever the person sitting across from you at the restaurant is doing, finding the perfect camera Perfect for you 100% depending on your specific needs. odd things.
The shoes I paid for this week weren’t bad shoes. They don’t work for my feet. Just because a camera may be hot on the market doesn’t mean it’s best suited to your photography needs. I fell into this trap before I did. A few years ago, I bought an ultra-high resolution camera and believed I had found my perfect new life partner. After using it for a while, it became clear to me that our flirtation would be short-lived. In fact, this camera has excellent image quality. Unfortunately, it also has the previously annoying level of viewfinder loss between frames that essentially made it unusable for me. Not literally impossible. However, because my job often requires me to track and snap fast-moving athletes, prolonged camera outages make my job more difficult instead of easier. . So while it’s objectively a great camera, it was a terrible choice for me. I made the fundamental mistake of evaluating the camera in a vacuum instead of comparing the camera’s strengths with my own requirements. The value of a camera does not lie in its universal specifications, it lies in its best fit for its particular operator.
Try before you buy
There are fewer big dopamine hits than with new purchases. Put down the cash (or plastic) and be handed back a brand new toy that, for that moment, feels like it has opened up a whole new world to you. Equipment rental is also quite good. You can play with the camera without paying big costs. Let’s face it, though, it’s not the same rush you get when you can officially call a fancy new toy your own.
However, although the transaction is obviously less exciting, renting a camera before making a purchase can save you a lot of time and a lot of money when deciding to look at that camera. Is it suitable for you or not? Think of it as a test drive. And don’t think the money you spend to rent it is a wasted investment. Think of that rental fee as insurance. Insurance against you doing something stupid like throwing a lot of money at a camera that doesn’t suit your needs (I refer back to my example from the previous section).
Rent that camera you’ve been thinking about once and put it in the most difficult situation you can imagine finding yourself in. Can the camera hold up? Is it broken? Is it an improvement over your current system or are the experiences essentially the same?
Do you need all the features all the time?
Continuing with the rental option, another question you may want to answer is whether the benefits of the new camera are enough to justify purchasing it. Here’s an easy example. Almost every emerging photographer will at some point crave more megapixels. Often the rationale for upgrading a camera is that the type of customer you hope to get might require more megapixels for their project. All of this can be completely true and a good reason to upgrade. Of course, it may also be true that the percentage of customers who need higher megapixels is currently only a small percentage of your business. It’s not that you’ll never need to upgrade. For now, though, those extra megapixels are really only required a few times per year. In other cases, your current equipment is more likely to meet customer expectations and you won’t be losing any (extra) money that could be better spent elsewhere. The same could be true for cameras that deliver more frames per second or 8K or any other new advancement in technology. Those things might be objectively better. However, if you never use those features, is it really worth the investment?
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t upgrade your equipment to meet changing needs. You know what your specific needs are in terms of specifications to meet customer requirements. So there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for deciding when to upgrade. However, a simple way to start the conversation is to ask if a new feature is something you’ll actually use. Or, is it something you would brag about having to your friends but really doesn’t make a difference in your workflow? Perhaps you would be better served by keeping the camera you already have (or buying a cheaper one to start), then just renting the more powerful/more expensive system when needed? It may not be as exciting as always buying the latest and greatest. But taking the time to consider what features you’ll actually use can save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
It’s impossible to say with certainty which camera is the best on the market without knowing how the tool will be used. It is impossible to give an analysis of the quality of a product without actually putting it into practice. It’s an extremely personal matter about whether a camera is the best ever made or a completely impractical exercise in vanity. The only way to know for sure whether a camera is right for you is to understand your personal needs and match those needs with the system best positioned to grow with your business. Friend.
