Is there any significant difference between the various cameras (e.g. Canon / Nikon / Sony / Olympus / Sigma / Pentax / Panasonic)?
Yes and no. All these manufacturers have good products. It depends on your answers to the question above in order to make a recommendation. In general:
• Canon and Nikon produce the best DSLRs and have the largest lens range.•
• Sony and Olympus are the leaders in Mirror-less Systems but Canon and Nikon are catching up quickly.
• Sony is the most used product for videoing, but most modern DSLRs are very capable in this area.
• Panasonic (Lumix) is, in my opinion, the best Cross-Over Cameras.
• Pentax and Sigma are niche products with a very good price-performance relation but are not on the quality and range level of Canon and Nikon.
• For Point-and-Shoot Cameras their many manufactures. One needs to review the specifications of the cameras to make a decision.
Will a Point-and-Shoot Camera still work or do I need a DSLR?
That depends on your expectations regarding quality and range. For simple street and family photography, a Point-and-Shoot Camera may be fine, but for bird photography, they simply do not have the capabilities. Nevertheless, a good modern point-and-shoot camera is still better than any smartphone when it comes to zoom/tele-focus work. Even the most modern smartphone with multiple lenses cannot compete if the photo object is further away than a few metres (yards) from the vehicle (E.g. a portrait of a Lion 15 metres away from the vehicle).
I only have a cellphone. Can I still use this to take good pictures?
Yes, provided that you do not need to ‘zoom in’ to your object. Modern smartphones are amazing for wide-angle and standard-angle work, but unfortunately do not have the built-in lens to ‘zoom in’. What they effectively do is crop the image when zooming in, so it is not recommended to do so as it affects the quality of the image significantly. I categorize smartphones as follows:
A – Modern phones with more than one lens (e.g. iPhone 8+, Xs or 11)
B – Modern phones with only one lens (e.g. iPhone 8, Xr)
C – Outdated phones (e.g. iPhone 7 or older)
If you have a category A phone you will be able to take great images, even if they are a bit further away. The low-light capabilities of these phones are also very good.
If you have a category B phone you can take some good wide-angle images and your low-light capabilities are not too bad.
If you have a category C phone I recommend you upgrade as soon as possible if photography is a priority for you.
I only have one camera body. Do I need more than one lens?
That depends what you wish to photograph and what your quality expectations are. For good vacation pictures, a single wide-range zoom lens is suitable. If you are a serious photography amateur or even a photography enthusiast with high image quality exceptions then it is recommended that you have more than one lens.
What is the difference between a fixed lens and a zoom lens?
With a zoom lens, you are more flexible as you can capture subjects full-size at various distances. The image quality of zoom lenses is significantly lower than in fixed (prime) lenses. If you have more than one camera body, multiple fixed lenses work very well. If you only have one body then I would use a zoom lens.
What are some good lenses to use?
The same questions as with the camera bodies apply:
A – What is my budget?
B – Does size and weight matter?
C – What is my main aim in photography? (e.g. street photography, wildlife photography, bird photography, macro photography, landscape photography, portrait photography). List everything you are interested in and sort it by priority.
Once you answer these three questions any good photography store should be able to answer your question. Or you can send me an email to christian@thanda.co.za and I will give you my input.
In general:
- A single wide-range zoom lens (ultra-wide-angle to medium tele-focus e.g. 18-300 mm) is very convenient (low weight and only one piece) but one buys that convenience with lower image quality.
- For general wildlife photography, a medium tele-focus zoom lens is very useful (e.g. 70-300 mm). Rule-of-thumb: The smaller the lenses range the better the quality!
- For serious bird photography, one needs a long lens. At least 400 mm, better 500 mm. Again, if the lens is a zoom lens the smaller the range the better quality lens.
- For street, family, and portrait photography a short zoom lens will work (e.g. 24-70 mm). Note: The smaller the range the better quality lens.
- For landscape photography, a wide-angle zoom is best (e.g. 17-40mm). Note: The smaller the range the better quality lens.
