What determines the quality of a photo on a smartphone. What makes a good photo? Play with perspective

Camera characteristics that affect photo quality. The choice of the camera lens and the sensitivity of the matrix. Shutter speed. Photo saving format. Manual adjustment of settings.

You should choose a camera lens with a small optical zoom - from 2 to 4. If there are more steps of modifying the focal length, there will be more optical distortion, as well as a large loss in aperture ratio, which equally affects the deterioration of the photo.

It is also necessary to give preference to a smaller aperture value for the lens. For example, f/2 is better than f/2.8. A smaller number indicates a large open aperture, which will be very useful for shooting in low light.

Note that the aperture number for a zoom lens means the range: a smaller value corresponds to a smaller focus, a larger one corresponds to the “longest” focus.

The high sensitivity of the matrix, designated as ISO, affects the amount of noise that distorts the photo. So, in expensive matrices, minimal noise can appear at ISO 800 and more. In cheap ones - even at 400 ISO, and at a value of 800 ISO it is almost impossible to take a photo.

Matrix noise is reflected in the form of colored snow on the frame. High sensitivity, which is not accompanied by noise, makes it possible to take excellent photos in low light or when the subject is moving.

With a shorter time from pressing the shutter button to taking a picture, which is measured by the shutter speed, you can achieve the most accurate photo if the subject is constantly moving. With a large shutter lag, the picture in the photo is not quite the same as that on the viewfinder when the shutter is pressed.

Photos must be recorded in raw format, which does not compress them. When stored in memory, photos are compressed in JPEG format, which reduces their size and reduces quality. Some camera models provide the ability to set compression parameters. In this case, a lower compression ratio partially compensates for the lack of raw recording.

However, a photo in raw format allows you to achieve better quality also thanks to post-processing using a graphics editor.

With a larger matrix, it is also possible to get a better photo. Manufacturers note this matrix size in the description of the camera as a proportion to the full size of 36 x 24 mm. This proportion is also called the crop factor, which is represented as a decimal fraction. It should be borne in mind here that as the crop factor approaches unity, the size of the matrix will be larger.

Ability to set values manually:

white balance

excerpts

diaphragms

matrix sensitivity.

This makes it possible to take a great shot when shooting conditions do not correspond to automatic programs. At the same time, the use of manual settings will require excellent familiarity with them, as well as their mutual influence. It is also necessary to give a correct assessment of the shooting conditions.

Today, many of those who buy a new smartphone are primarily interested in the number of megapixels in the smartphone's camera. A good camera has become an integral factor influencing the choice of a particular device. But is the number of megapixels the only factor in the quality of pictures taken by your favorite gadget? In other words, today we want to talk about how important megapixels are in a smartphone camera.

Megapixels in a smartphone camera and their role

The pictures that any camera takes are made up of small dots, called pixels, from the English PICture ELement (picture element). They are arranged horizontally and vertically. The number of dots placed in one image is called megapixels. Their number is determined by multiplying the vertical pixels by the horizontal pixels. For example, a 3 megapixel camera has 2048 horizontal pixels and 1536 vertical pixels. If we multiply them, we get 3,145,728 pixels, or just 3 megapixels. Naturally, the higher the resolution of the image, the more pixels will be located horizontally and vertically, which will give a clearer picture.

What other factors affect the quality of a photo?

However, megapixels in a smartphone camera are far from the only factor that determines the final quality of the resulting image. Here's what else to look out for when considering a smartphone camera.

Lens size. The basic rule here is that the larger the lens size, the better photos you get with your smartphone camera. The larger the lens, the physically more light it will be able to pass through itself, making the picture brighter. Therefore, when choosing a smartphone, you should pay attention to this factor. This is a responsible matter, as is the choice of a mobile operator.

Zoom. Zoom is the ability of a camera to zoom in on an image by focusing on it. There are two types of zoom: digital and optical. Most smartphones these days have digital zoom, where the camera software focuses using a human and a special algorithm. Optical zoom provides autofocus. By the way, we recently wrote about the best smartphones with this feature.

Image stabilization. Like zoom, it can be digital and optical. To take a sharp, blur-free photo with a digitally stabilized smartphone, you need to hold it firmly in your hands. Optical Image Stabilization uses tiny gyroscopes to physically move the camera lens to counter any sudden movement, thus keeping the image extremely sharp.

Results

Summing up, we can say with confidence that megapixels in a smartphone camera, or rather their number, are of course important, but sometimes their number can be easily crossed out by other characteristics of a smartphone. The converse is also true, where good camera specifications and a relatively small number of pixels can give the owner very high quality pictures. Probably, each of us can give an example when the quality of pictures of smartphones with the same pixel value sometimes differs very much, especially when it comes to cheap Chinese devices. We have already mentioned this in our material on Chinese smartphones.

We hope that the information we have provided will help you make your choice more consciously in the future, and you can always express your opinion in the comments to the article.

Many people who have had to take pictures at least once in their lives ask themselves the question: “what determines the quality of a photo”? Naturally, there is no single answer, but let's try to consider this topic from different angles.

It is worth starting with the fact that the concept of "photography" from the Greek language is translated as "light painting". That is why, the quality of the image will depend on the correctly exposed or caught light. Therefore, when ordering a professional photo session, you will notice that studio equipment is required for high-quality services. If there is not enough light, then nothing will appear in the picture. The most successful pictures are obtained in cloudy weather and during the day. In order to shoot at night or indoors, flashes are often used, and here the choice will depend on your financial capabilities, the necessary parameters and wishes. The result of poor or incorrectly exposed light will be - very low saturation of the photo, digital, it may even turn out to be a blurry picture with auto focus.

An undoubted factor that greatly affects the quality of photographs is his skills, abilities, and experience. A professional will never be in a hurry when focusing, his hands do not tremble, there are no cropped heads, and also illiterate manual camera parameters can adversely affect the picture. Do not forget about the well-organized composition of the frame.

The third parameter that affects the quality of the photo is itself. Or rather, the optics mounted on the lens itself. In order to get beautiful, and most importantly high-quality photos, you need to purchase wide lenses and coated optics. Most often, SLR cameras have such characteristics, but sometimes there are digital cameras with such parameters, here you should also pay attention to the manufacturer. Also remember that the quality of the processor itself will increase in proportion to the cost of technology.

Of course, when choosing a device for taking pictures, it is worth looking into several online stores where you can pick up flashes, covers, and many other accessories that can affect the quality of pictures and make your work easier. Well, the last moment that will contribute to the fact that the photo will be much better is a digital laboratory. Only ten percent of the total contribution to the picture depends on the operator himself, who will develop the pictures, and the rest is: paper, printing and developing chemicals, timely maintenance of machines, the skills and experience of the operator ... All these points and factors greatly influence on the quality of future photographs.

Artem Kashkanov, 2019

Introduction

The topic of choosing a camera, probably, has always been and will be relevant. Time passes, technology changes, old materials written on this topic become hopelessly outdated. The general principles remain unchanged, but a huge number of nuances makes us look at the problem of choice differently. Purpose of the article What is the best camera- dot the i's in the matter of buying a digital camera, given the current market situation. The article is primarily aimed at beginner amateur photographers, but I'm sure the article will be useful for experienced users as well.

Where to start choosing the "best" camera? First of all, you must determine the range of tasks for which the camera will be used. Tasks can be completely different and you need to come to terms with the fact that there is simply no absolutely universal camera. This is the same as choosing a car - for one price you can buy a Mercedes passenger car or a KamAZ truck. From point A to point B, you can move on both, but the tasks of these machines are completely different, as well as the requirements for driver skills.

It's the same with cameras. For example, to go on a picnic with friends and "take a picture for history" there, it is not at all necessary to bring a professional camera there (although there are enthusiasts), a smartphone is quite enough - after all, photos from such events, as a rule, do not go beyond social networks and home photo albums .

For professional purposes, the requirements for technology are completely different. Lightness, compactness fade into the background, and completely different parameters become priorities - image quality in low light, rate of fire, color reproduction, dynamic range, performance and camera autonomy.

Thus, the choice of the "best camera" is always a compromise between the capabilities of technology, its size, ease of use, price and system upgrade options.

In this article, I will answer the four most important questions that arise when choosing a camera: crop or full frame, optics - interchangeable or non-replaceable, DSLR or mirrorless, soap box or smartphone. The purpose of my article is not to name a specific model that you need to buy in order to find happiness in life, but simply to systematize knowledge on this topic. I went through the problem of choosing a camera many times and I know firsthand what the agony of choice is :) Everything that is written in this article is my purely personal opinion, which has developed over many years of passion for photography. Accept it or not - it's up to you.

Crop or full frame?

One of the main criteria by which cameras are divided into "good and bad" is physical size of the matrix. It is measured not in, but in millimeters (or inches). It is this parameter that has a decisive influence on the quality of photographs - color reproduction, noise level, dynamic range (the ability to simultaneously work out both bright colors and deep shadows in the picture).

Some boring theory

If you do not go deep into theory, the rule is simple - the larger the matrix size (in millimeters), the more "artistic" the picture can be obtained with its help if you have good optics and hands growing from the right place :) A large matrix is capable of transmitting light, color , with it you can control the depth of field and generally create masterpieces. Matrices of small size are capable of all this to a much lesser extent.

Everything seems to be clear with light and color, but what is "depth of field" in a photograph and why is it needed? Let's take a look at two sample photos:

The ability to control the depth of field (the correct name is the depth of field, DOF) is an invaluable quality in artistic photography. DOF is of great relevance in portrait photography - a portrait with a blurry background in most cases looks much more impressive than a similar shot with a sharp background.

Based on the foregoing, an erroneous conclusion may arise that the background in the picture is blurred by the matrix. This is not true! The background in portraits is blurry lens. And the main difference between cameras with "small" and "large" matrices is that the lenses they use are completely different. The optics that are used on full-frame cameras are able to blur the background almost to zero. The camera lens in a smartphone is not capable of this by definition. It's all about the characteristics focal length. The larger it is, the more "blurring" the lens will be. Schematically, it can be shown as follows:

Please note that with a change in the size of the matrix, the focal length of the lens is proportionally reduced (while maintaining such an angle of coverage of space in the photograph). Along with it, its ability to blur the background decreases. Here is the explanation of why you can shoot portraits with a blurry background on DSLRs / mirrorless cameras, but not on soap dishes and smartphones. By the way, if smartphones were presented on this diagram, they would be located to the right of the "soap box".

More simply and clearly this dependence is described by such a parameter as crop factor- coefficient, how many times the camera matrix is smaller than the film frame (36 * 24 mm). For "top" cameras, the crop factor is 1 (that is, the size of the matrix corresponds to a film frame), for most cameras of the semi-professional and advanced-amateur class, the crop factor is from 1.5 to 2 (each manufacturer has its own). Compact inexpensive soap dishes and smartphones have a crop factor of 5-6 or more.

There is a widespread belief that the crop factor somehow changes the focal length and aperture ratio of the lens, turns a "fifty kopeck" into a "portrait" and the like. It's a delusion. The crop factor does not change anything, it only creates the illusion of shooting with a lens with a large focal length due to the fact that the picture is cropped at the edges and the frame coverage narrows. In order to somehow simplify the understanding of this mechanism, the concept of "equivalent focal length" was introduced. Thus, on a 1.6 crop, a 50 mm lens has an equivalent focal length of 80 mm, but in fact it remains a “fifty kopeck” and the background in the portrait blurs like a “fifty kopeck” and not an “eighties”.

Full frame - pros and cons

In addition to blurring the background, the crop factor indirectly affects the quality of the picture as a whole - full-frame matrices generally outperform crop in terms of color depth, dynamic range, they have a higher ISO sensitivity (less noise in photographs). Because of this, a full-frame camera is the best choice for taking professional-quality shots.

Despite all its advantages, the full frame has a number of disadvantages. The most important of them is the cost of the camera and lenses for it, and the price is not always proportional to the increase in quality compared to a simpler camera model. It happens that for a conditional 10% increase in quality, you have to overpay 100% or more! In my opinion, this is justified if the camera is used as a means of production and these investments will pay off. But even in these cases, it is often much more profitable to rent a camera (this is true, my thoughts aloud).

The second drawback of the full frame is the size and weight. The carcass in size and weight may not differ from the "cropped", but full-frame optics are noticeably larger and heavier. Here, too, it is worth assessing your level of enthusiasm and physical capabilities. A fully equipped photo backpack can weigh 5 kilograms or more. Will you carry this with you, say, on a long hike across rough terrain? Can we still look for something more compact and easier?

Crop - pros and cons

As the maritsa decreases, the camera from a bulky and heavy gadget tends to turn into a light and elegant gadget. Let me tell you a little about my experience in this matter...

When, after five years of "full-frame" life, I got my first cropped mirrorless camera, I breathed a sigh of relief! The device weighed four times lighter and fit into a small bag instead of a backpack. The quality of the photographs in most cases turned out to be almost indistinguishable from the "full frame" - at least when using a good lens.

Naturally, in some cases, the cropped camera was inferior to the full-frame one - it did not blur the background in the portrait so well, photos taken in low light were noisier. But there were no striking differences. The gap between 1.5-2 crop and soapbox is much larger than between crop and full frame.

For four years I have been deciding for myself the question - crop or full frame? I decided it in favor of crop and here's why:

It's much cheaper. For the price of a full-frame body, you can buy a cropped camera with a very good lens.
When buying a crop, we almost always get much more pleasant and useful features than a comparable full frame at a price. Rotating touch screen, perfect autofocus system, video with normal autofocus, fast continuous shooting - all this is found even on amateur cropped cameras. Full-frame cameras acquire these functions in full only in the "top" models, and even then not always.
A cropped camera is almost always lighter and more compact than a full frame camera. It can be shot on the street without attracting much attention. She does not need a backpack or a large bag. In the end, if the camera breaks / gets lost / is stolen, this is not so offensive, since see point 1.
If you are more drawn to scenes that are shot with a large depth of field, a crop camera will again come in handy - it is much easier to get a greater depth of field on it than on a full frame one. And do not think that cropped cameras are not capable of blurring the background :) When using fast long-focus optics, they do this almost as well as their more expensive full-frame counterparts.

So, as we can see, when choosing between crop and full frame, everything is not so simple. Personally, I think for most amateur photographers, a cropped camera would be preferable. Already, the gap in image quality between crop and full frame is not as great as many imagine - even if the difference is noticeable, it is not critical. I am sure that over time this gap will shrink even more.

The only disadvantage of crop compared to full frame, which cannot be eliminated in any way, is the inability to blur the background into a mess. The laws of physics prevent this. That's all! If you can't put up with it - buy a full frame :)

Interchangeable optics or non-replaceable?

Enough words have already been said about matrices and carcasses, now it's time to talk about an equally important thing - the lens.

The lens is the main element of the camera, no matter how strange it may sound. Image quality is 90% dependent on the lens, so the choice of this device should be approached responsibly.

We have already decided that a large matrix is good, and a small one is bad. Now let's decide on interchangeable and non-replaceable optics. Here everything is not so clear.

As you know, DSLRs and system cameras (mirrorless) involve the use of interchangeable lenses. But there is another class of cameras on the market - these are "premium compacts". Unlike ordinary soap dishes, they have 1-inch matrices, that is, they are comparable in size to "cropped" cameras. But unlike SLR and system cameras, these compacts have non-replaceable lenses - quite high-quality, but non-replaceable.

Why change lenses on a camera at all? Even if you superficially study the basics of composition in photography, you can find out that it is customary to photograph different subjects for better transmission in a photograph with different focal lengths. The focal length determines the breadth of the angle of coverage of the lens. The smaller it is, the wider the viewing angle. A wide-angle lens "distances" objects, but allows you to put a fairly large sector of space into the frame. Accordingly, an increase in the focal length has the opposite effect - the viewing angle narrows, the fragment of space that has fallen into the field of view is "stretched" over the entire frame.

The examples above show the difference between a wide angle and a telephoto lens. For the purity of the experiment, of course, it was worth shooting from one point, but I think the meaning is clear.

The photos above are two extremes. In everyday shooting, focal lengths are most often used, at which the perspective is close to what we see with our own eyes.

These two photo examples illustrate the most typical amateur use of the camera - photographing landscapes and taking pictures of your friends and loved ones (either at home or against the backdrop of the same landscapes).

These photos are shown here for a reason. If you buy a camera with a fixed lens, you will most likely be limited to a focal length range of 28-70mm (maybe a little more, but not much). This camera will allow you to take photos of very good quality, but if you suddenly want to take landscape photography seriously, then with this camera you will run into a limitation in wide angle - you cannot “push” the lens closer than 28 millimeters. The other extreme is photography. Here you will already miss the "long" end and there's nothing you can do about it. Cameras with non-replaceable lenses are good for walking light - they can easily fit in your jacket pocket, allow you to take pictures of excellent quality, but shooting some atypical scenes will not be available to you.

If the camera involves the use of interchangeable lenses, then all these restrictions are removed. Naturally, lenses cost money, sometimes a lot. But if you are a creative person, planning to learn, grow and develop, then I highly recommend purchasing a camera with interchangeable lenses. Even despite the fact that with a standard lens the picture quality may be inferior to premium compacts (and most likely it will be!), such a camera, even with a cheap fixed lens (without zoom), in terms of quality, can leave a camera with non-replaceable lenses far behind.

Mirror or mirrorless?

If you decide to purchase a camera with interchangeable lenses, the next task is to choose the type of camera. The choice is small - either it's a SLR camera, or a system one (mirrorless). First, look at this picture:

This is a comparison of the size and weight of a mirrorless camera with a "top" standard lens and a DSLR with a mid-range lens.

Nowadays, DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are about equally popular and the choice largely depends on your personal preferences. By and large, the presence or absence of a mirror in the design of the camera does not affect the quality of the resulting photographs. The filming process is slightly different.

When shooting with a SLR camera, we look into the optical viewfinder, which through a system of mirrors shows us the picture as it enters the lens. For system cameras, a screen or an electronic viewfinder is used for this, which shows us the picture in the form that the matrix "sees" it. Which is better - optical or electronic viewfinder? It is impossible to give an unequivocal answer - both have their pros and cons.

Optical or electronic viewfinder?

Optical viewfinder good because it transmits the picture "as is" - without any embellishments, delays, flickering, etc. Because it's just a system of mirrors and lenses, it doesn't consume power, thus extending the battery life of the camera. On the other hand, the SLR viewfinder has its drawbacks. For most cameras, it does not cover 100% of the frame, but a little less - 95-98%. Because of this, extra objects at the edges of the frame may enter the frame and you will have to additionally crop the image, slightly losing its resolution. The mirror viewfinder reflects a minimum of "service" information - shutter speed, aperture, ISO, exposure compensation. Making it show, say, a live histogram, white balance, or electronic level is impossible. Because of this, there is an increased likelihood of a defective image due to the wrong exposure level, white balance, horizon obstruction. To finally evaluate the correctness of the settings and framing, you need to take a test shot, break away from the viewfinder, look at the screen and, in case of an error, make adjustments to the settings. Additional time is spent on this, however, with proper experience, the number of such takes is minimized.

Main advantage electronic viewfinder (EVF)- it displays information taken from the matrix with the camera settings already applied and makes it possible to evaluate the result even before the shutter is released. The viewfinder completely duplicates the contents of the camera screen when shooting and viewing. In addition to the picture itself, EVI can display a lot of necessary information - in addition to shutter speed and aperture, you can display a live histogram, an electronic level, highlight overexposed and underexposed areas, frame objects that are sharpened, display an image using the selected image style, white balance. This helps a lot when shooting and allows you to reduce the number of "sighting" takes to a minimum. That is, you can shoot without taking your eyes off the viewfinder - time is saved, fewer interesting moments are missed. You have to pay for this additional power consumption, which occurs during the operation of the matrix and viewfinder. In older cameras, the electronic viewfinder displayed the picture with a slight delay, which made it difficult to shoot on the move, but in modern cameras, the delay in displaying, if any, is very slight. Not all system cameras have an electronic viewfinder. Simpler and cheaper models are deprived of this option and the screen is used for shooting. In principle, there is nothing terrible about this, except for shooting in bright sunny weather, when the screen may look pale. Although for full-fledged work it is better to prefer a camera with a viewfinder.

The second difference between a DSLR and a system camera is autofocus.

Autofocus on a SLR camera is carried out according to phase sensors. A distinctive feature of this mechanism is that if the object is not in focus, the camera "knows" which way to turn the focusing mechanism, which generally speeds up focusing. On the other hand, focus sensors are located not in the plane of the frame (matrix surface), but in a separate block located perpendicular to it. Because of this, a mismatch may occur - according to the sensors, the sharpness seems to be induced (the points in the viewfinder are highlighted), and the object in the photograph turned out to be blurry. This phenomenon is called "front focus" and "back focus" (depending on which direction autofocus misses). It is treated by aligning the camera and lens in a service center. Especially often the focus smears when using fast lenses on inexpensive carcasses.

Modern SLR cameras have a "live view" mode - Live View, in which the mirror is raised and focusing occurs according to the contrast method, like mirrorless cameras. He will be discussed below.

Mainly used in system cameras contrast method focusing in which the matrix itself acts as autofocus sensors. Information from the matrix is read and processed in real time. A special algorithm determines whether the object in the focus area is sharp enough. If the sharpness is insufficient, a command is given to the lens to shift the focusing group of lenses, which will occur until the maximum contrast of the edges of the object is ensured. In this case, the initial direction of focusing can be determined incorrectly and autofocus "crawls" back and forth for some time, and the worse the illumination, the longer the focusing takes. The contrast method is inferior to the phase method in speed, but it is superior in focusing accuracy - such things as "front focus" and "back focus" are unknown to mirrorless cameras. In modern system cameras, the loss in focusing speed to SLR cameras is minimal, if not completely absent.

Many modern cameras use a mechanism hybrid focus, in which part of the matrix pixels are used as phase sensors. Hybrid focusing combines the speed of phase focusing with the accuracy of contrast focusing. Hybrid focusing can be used both in DSLRs (in Live View) and mirrorless ones and reduces their differences in terms of autofocus operation to zero.

System cameras have a simpler shutter arrangement (without a movable mirror), as a result of which they are superior to DSLRs in terms of burst speed by an average of 1.5 times. From my own experience I can say that even if you are not fond of shooting "machine gun bursts", this property can play an important role when shooting some fast-paced events. It can be sports events, dancing, outdoor activities, playing with pets. In fleeting moments, there is a huge amount of emotion that is almost impossible to catch when shooting 4 frames per second (typical rate of fire for an amateur DSLR). This is another big plus for mirrorless cameras.

The rest of the layout is:

If you like to shoot through an optical viewfinder, get a DSLR.
If you are used to shooting “like a soapbox” using a screen, there is no point in buying a DSLR, since in Live View mode it loses all the advantages in the form of fast phase detection autofocus and low power consumption, a mirrorless camera will be preferable.
If you value comfort and convenience when shooting, take a mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder.
If you are going to shoot video, take a Sony or Panasonic mirrorless camera. In terms of video capabilities, they are the best.
If you need high speed burst shooting - take a mirrorless camera.
If you want to combine compactness, light weight and high image quality, take a mirrorless camera.
If the ability to take 1000 shots on a single battery charge is critical for you, take a DSLR.
If you go hiking, take a mirrorless camera and a few spare batteries.
If you have a bunch of good "reflex" optics and you don't want to part with it - take a DSLR.
If you want your device to look "brutal" and inspire respect from potential customers - take a DSLR.
If you shoot "purely for yourself", but you lack the capabilities of a smartphone - take a mirrorless camera
If you're a wedding or sports professional, why are you even reading this? :)

Conclusion - every year there are fewer and fewer reasons to buy a SLR camera. For the vast majority of tasks within the framework of amateur photography, it makes no sense to buy a SLR now.

I expect a flurry of criticism, but everything that is said above is my personal opinion based on my own experience.

Smartphone or soap box

This part of the article is for those who do not set themselves super tasks in the field of photography, but are looking for a simple "photo recorder" that would always be at hand. I will not give arguments of the technical plan, I will just show one graph:

These are sales statistics for cameras from leading manufacturers for the period from 2003 to 2018. The graph clearly shows how sharply the popularity of "soap boxes" has fallen over the past 5-6 years, while the number of sales of amers with interchangeable lenses has not fundamentally changed. Why do you think this happened?

Personally, my opinion is that if you buy a camera-soap box now, then it should be a camera with a matrix of 1 "and more. Only in this case it will be able to surpass a smartphone in terms of picture quality and functionality. These are Sony RX, Canon Gx, Panasonic Lumix LX cameras. In these series there are models of different price categories, but they rarely cost less than $ 500. And if the camera is bought for creativity, I recommend that you return to reading the "" section again.

There is no point in buying cheap soap dishes for $ 200-300 with 1 / 2.3 "matrices, it's just money down the drain. For this money, you can buy a smartphone that will shoot no worse, will always be at hand and will perform many other useful functions :)

What to buy in addition to the camera in the first place, what can be postponed for later?

Suppose the cost of your dream camera turned out to be several thousand rubles less than you planned to spend. In this case, you are tempted to buy some additions and accessories for the camera, which later can diversify your life. First of all, I can advise two things:

Normal flash drive

A new camera usually does not come with a flash drive, or its volume is too small for everyday use. The choice of flash cards for cameras is huge, they differ in format, volume, speed and price. The format is clear. If your camera works with SD (and its varieties SDHC, SDXC), then you need to choose from them.

What size flash drive to choose? Everything depends on the tasks. If this is photography, then for most modern cameras a 32 gigabyte flash drive is more than enough - this capacity is enough to accommodate several thousand frames in Jpeg format and about 1000-1500 in RAW format (at a resolution of 20-25 megapixels). For video shooting, it is better to purchase a larger flash drive - 64, 128, 256 gigabytes. Depending on the resolution of the video, the consumption of the flash drive will be different. It is also important to take into account the maximum size of the flash drive supported by the camera.

As for the speed - in principle, there is not much difference for shooting in Jpeg with single frames, you can buy the cheapest flash drive. But still, this does not negate the need to have a speed margin - it will come in handy when shooting in RAW (especially serial), shooting high-resolution video. After all, the more megapixels a camera has, the more demanding it is on the speed of a flash drive.

Depending on the speed of data exchange, the maximum volume and the maximum file size, flash drives are divided into many classes and subclasses. I will talk about this in one of the following articles. So far, the principle is this - we choose a flash drive with a cost slightly higher than the average (for its volume).

Bag for the camera

Here the requirements are:

1. The bag must hold the camera fully laid out - along with the charger, spare flash drives, space for an additional lens (if it is foreseen to purchase it)

2. The camera should be well fixed (this is achieved using internal Velcro partitions), but at the same time it should not be tight in size - if you need to make an effort to fasten the bag, we discard this option. The same as with shoes.

3. The inner coating must not lint. This is usually the fault of the cheapest bags, sheathed on the inside with low-quality material, from which individual hairs are separated during natural wear. These hairs can then appear in the most unexpected places, incl. on a camera matrix with non-replaceable optics (unbelievable, but true!)

How should a camera fit in a bag? Lens down, lens up, or sideways? There is no single opinion on this matter. Personally, I prefer the lens down - it's more convenient to take the camera out of the bag. There is also an argument in favor of this, that with this position of the camera, less dust settles on the matrix. A lodgement for the carcass is formed from soft inserts, there is a small gap under the lens at the bottom. On the sides there are "compartments" for spare batteries and a second lens.

It is desirable that the bag has a hood - a waterproof cape that is pulled out of a special pocket and closes the bag from the rain.

Tripod

I remember the author of some smart photography book recommending that you only photograph the landscape with a tripod, even during the day. Personally, I consider this advice outdated. Modern cameras have quite a high working ISO to shoot handheld from morning to evening. A tripod is really needed only when shooting at night. You definitely don’t need to buy it right away with the camera!

Protective filter

A protective filter is a piece of glass that covers the front lens of the lens from dust, splashes, fingerprints. If the camera is dropped, it protects the front lens from chips and cracks. In principle, the thing is useful, but there is one thing... Cheap protective filters almost always reduce the contrast of the picture, especially when shooting against a light source, they can cause additional glare. Expensive filters do not have these shortcomings, but their cost may exceed the cost of a "whale" lens.

Personally, my opinion is that if you buy a protective filter, it is good and expensive. It makes no sense to protect a cheap lens with an expensive filter. Camera drops are rare, and you can buy a lens cleaning kit from fingerprints - it will be much cheaper.

General conclusion (provocative)

The most versatile and balanced camera in all characteristics today is a cropped mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses and an electronic viewfinder. Such a camera will suit at least 90% of buyers! The manufacturer is not important - Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm. The main thing is that the camera lies in your hand. For starters, a whale lens is suitable, then take it off and decide what you lack in it - either some focal lengths, or aperture, or something else. I made this choice for myself personally and have never regretted it.

If you do not like my choice - your right. Nobody forbids you to buy a DSLR or a premium compact. Nobody forbids buying a full-frame camera or a smartphone. The main thing is that now you know what you want, so my mission is completed :)

About my help in choosing a camera

Until recently, I provided a consultation service on choosing a camera according to your criteria. Now I am her do not provide. In view of my busy schedule, I no longer have the opportunity to regularly get acquainted with the latest in the photo industry, attend presentations and exhibitions of new products. Therefore, the maximum that I can do is to send a link to Yandex.Market with a selection of cameras with characteristics suitable for your tasks, the final choice is yours.

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