Lens weight and size
Today's lenses are significantly lighter and smaller than those from even a few years ago. So if you're shooting with an older lens that's weighing you down — literally — check out the newer options. Some lenses retract into a more compact form when you're not using them, as shown in Figure 1-11.
FIGURE 1-11: Some lenses collapse when not in use, taking up less room in your camera bag.
Lens quality
Last but most definitely not least, two lenses with the exact same size and aperture specifications may not be equivalent in terms of the quality of the components used to manufacture them. As stated earlier, the best way to get information on this issue is to read reviews from independent photography magazines and websites. If you already own a camera body and are just shopping for a new lens, you may also be able to visit a camera store and take some test shots with different lenses.
SO HOW MUCH IS THIS GOING TO COST?
Camera prices are dynamic, so any dollar amount I mention will likely be out of date by the time you read this. But as a general guideline, basic cameras range from about $75 to $200, and intermediate-level models sell in the neighborhood of $300 to $800. Advanced models typically set you back around $800 to $2,000 or even higher, and that price may or may not include a lens. Lenses also vary widely in price, starting at around $150 and reaching into the thousands.
Note that these price guidelines don’t include smart device cameras. Prices for phones and tablets are based on far more than the camera capability, although the photography-fun aspect of such devices seems to be the one most touted in ads. Again, check reviews to get the scoop on how various devices stack up in terms of camera performance.
Remember, too, to include a few necessary accessories in your budget, such as memory cards (the little cards that store your pictures), a tripod, and a good camera bag. See Chapter 6 for information about flash and lighting accessories; Chapter 8 for portrait-photography accessories; and Chapter 10 for some landscape-photography tools. Chapter 14 covers additional accessories to consider.
Lens quality isn’t just about the purity of the image produced, though; things like how smoothly a telephoto lens extends and whether the lens feels solid or flimsy are also important. If you’re an outdoor photographer, a weather-sealed lens may also be important to you.
Reviewing a Few Final Camera Features
I could write an entire book decoding all the other specifications that affect the type and quality of the pictures your camera can produce. But we'd both be bored to tears after the first few pages. Instead, the rest of this chapter lists only the options that I think make a real difference. Some are designed just to make things easier for beginners, some are geared to advanced photographers, and some can improve your time behind the lens no matter what your experience or interest level.
Shooting modes
How much artistic control a camera offers is closely tied to its choice of shooting modes, sometimes called exposure modes. Usually, shooting modes are represented by letters and symbols like the ones you see on the camera dial in Figure 1-12.
FIGURE 1-12: The various symbols on this camera dial represent shooting modes.
If you fall into the “not that into photography” category, you'd be happy with a basic camera that offers only automatic shooting modes. Along with standard Auto mode, this level of camera typically also offers scene modes, which automatically dial in settings deemed most appropriate for specific types of photos, such as portraits and sports shots. (These modes are usually represented by symbols such as the ones you see in the figure — the woman’s head represents portrait mode, for example.)
The problem with scene modes is that they're geared to producing a certain effect, and you can't deviate from that result. For example, in Sports scene mode, the camera can only freeze action; you don't have the option of blurring motion. And in Portrait mode, the camera blurs the background as much as it can. That's fine for most portraits, but you may have times when you want the background to be as sharp as your portrait subject.
For more photographic control, I suggest a camera that offers these three shooting modes: shutter-priority autoexposure, aperture-priority autoexposure, and manual exposure. These modes enable you to precisely control not only exposure, but also all the other characteristics I discuss at the start of this chapter and more. Many cameras also offer P mode, which stands for programmed autoexposure. This mode typically enables you to choose from different combinations of exposure settings, so it’s a step above full auto. But it's not quite as convenient as the the other three modes I just mentioned when you know exactly what settings you want to use. Check out the first part of Chapter 2 for specifics on these and other common shooting modes.
Image stabilization
One cause of blurry pictures is camera shake. If the camera moves when the shutter is open, the entire image may be blurry even when focus is perfectly set. The longer the exposure time, the longer you have to hold the camera still to avoid this type of blur. Shooting with a telephoto lens makes things even more difficult, especially if that lens is long and heavy.
You can avoid camera shake by mounting the camera on a tripod. But a feature called image stabilization can enable you to get sharper shots when you handhold the camera. The feature may go by different names depending on the manufacturer: vibration reduction, antishake, vibration compensation, and the like. Whatever the name, the feature is implemented in one of two ways:
Hardware-based stabilization: With this method, sometimes called optical image stabilization, the antishake benefit is produced by a mechanism built into the camera or the lens. This type of image stabilization is best.
Software-based stabilization: This type of stabilization — sometimes known as electronic image stabilization, or EIS — is applied by the camera’s operating software rather than a hardware mechanism. It works differently depending on the camera.In some cases, the camera applies some complex correction filters to the image when motion is detected. Other