Choosing The Right Camera

It's been an ongoing discussion here about purchasing the right equipment and spending wisely for your photography business and today I would like to explore the notion of buying the right camera.

(1) Do you really need the megapixels?

DSLRs nowadays shoot at very high megapixels.  Rumour has it that the new 5D will shoot at 50mp, almost 5x the megapixels of the first 5D released in 2005.  The biggest problem I have with shooting at such high megapixels is that it requires a lot more of everything.  There is also this misconception that the higher the megapixels the better your photos will look.  There is some fact to that but it also depends on many things such as pixel size, dynamic range, sensor size, lens quality, just to name a few.

(2) Do you really need the fast shutterspeed?

To be frank I think shutter speed is least important out of all unless you shoot sports.  I shoot fashion and runways on a regular basis and still I don't find the need to use 13fps.  Like megapixels, the higher the shutter speed the more this would require from your camera in terms of memory, slot buffer, card buffer, speedlite (if used) etc....

I have used both the 1 series and 5 series throughout my career and the only thing I see that is significantly different is the weight.  1 series being obviously heavier, while the 5D giving you the option to remove the battery grip.  For me, I find anywhere from 5-7fps to be a good sufficient rate for professional photography.  You also need a fast memory card.  Somewhere at about 90mb/s or more is about right.  If you don't have quick enough of a card you will not get those exposures regardless how fast your camera can shoot those frames.

(3) Do you need the battery grip?

With today's modern camera, the battery grip is actually useless.  Back in the film days it was used to boost shutter speed and it almost double the shutter speed on certain cameras which made it necessary on many occasions.

I would take a lighter camera over a DSLR with battery grip any day.  Not to mention these grips aren't cheap and quite frankly I rather spend it on something that will give me better picture quality.   

It's all about knowing what you do...

At the end of the day it's all about knowing what you wanna shoot and knowing how to shoot it.  If you are a product photographer shooting mainly in studio with strobes then I don't really see how a full frame monster like the 1D X will be of a great advantage over something like a 6D or 7D Mark II.  On the other hand if you are primarily shooting sports photography, something like a 6D would be a waste of money because you'll end up trading it in weeks.

For most professionals,  I think something like the 5D Mark III or D810e is more than enough.   In fact consider even looking for a decent secondhand. My theory is spend money on things that have resell value or at least something that will not depreciate too quickly. As your career progresses, camera body comes and goes but lenses last a lot longer and lights even longer.

Fall in love with the photography not the equipment.

How To Spend On Your Photography Business?

A lot of people commit the same mistake of overspending during startup of there photography business.  Most photographers start a business because they are deeply passionate about photography and it only seems wise to make it become your lifelong career.  Because of this passion and deep interest it is very easy to over spend this can make the turnover period a lot longer than it should be.

I have came up with some easy guidelines when setting up a business that may be of some help to you who is either planning to go pro or invest further into their business.

The Golden Rule of Spending

(1) If it has high resell value and you need it... Go for it.  Don't go for cheaper inferior alternatives when it comes to equipment or services.  It will cost you more in the long run.  Research carefully and get a second or third opinion. The web is full of user feedback and if there isn't any on a particular item you are interested in, wait.

(1b) Don't finance anything.  Stay away from loans or installment plans.  These things will only bring you stress and extra burden when business is slow.  There is a lot of good second hand equipment out there.  If you cannot afford it, there is a reason.  A lot of people are making money with a dslr, zoom lens and a single speedlite.  If you think you need that profoto or phaseone medium format camera to attract customers, you are doing it all wrong.

(2) Starting out? Forget about owning a studio.

 

Superficial and just too costly for someone starting out no matter how good you are.  You have space at home?  Use that.  If not, rent.  In Hong Kong, a decent size studio costs about $2-300hkd/hr.  I am sure you can fit that on your next production budget somewhere... Cut the assistant... Only makes you lazy.

(3) If you find yourself constantly playing and buying with light shapers (softboxes, umbrellas, beauty dishes etc...) then it's not that you need to find and buy the right one, but most likely you haven't really grasp the concept of lighting or that you need more experience.  Stop buying lighting shaping tools.  Costly and a waste of space (space=$)

(4) If you haven't used it in a year, sell it. As a pro photographer you may not be using a specific piece of equipment each and every time (eg. Macro lenses, ring flash).  If something is not being used for some time (eg. 6-12 months), then you should consider to sell it rather than to see it depreciate over time.

(5) Nothing wrong with buying used equipment, just check carefully when buying.  This is especially true when buying from a private buyer.  Let's just face it, there are a lot of dishonest people trying to make a quick buck.  If you are buying secondhand from a reputable seller like B&H I would be less concerned.  But if you find a source with decent secondhand equipment, you can save yourself big bucks and it will work just as good as your brand new equipment and probably last you till your next upgrade.

I hope these simple rules will guide you all to a more efficient business.  Remember the more you spend in photography, the more time  you'll end up just doing that.  We as photographers only get better with less than what we need because it pushes us to do more with what we have.

Happy Shooting!