Camera trade-offs

River reflection

Violets

Immature red-winged blackbird

With the increasing sophistication of cell phone cameras many people are giving up the idea of having a separate camera.  Why carry around another piece of tech when most of us have our cell phones in our pockets all the time? Although I love the fact that I always have a camera i.e. cell phone with me, there are still a few reasons for me to want a separate camera. The first one is about the size of the sensor. Cell phones and point-and-shoot cameras have tiny sensors which means that the sharpness and quality of the image is limited. For this blog I usually use photos taken with my cell phone because it is quick and seamless and I don’t need high resolution. For most of what I do I don’t need high resolution. I don’t often make prints and cell phone quality is perfectly good for viewing on any of the devices I have. One large drawback for me of the cell phone camera is my inability to see clearly what I’m shooting in the bright sunlight. I can point the phone in the right direction but if the sun is bright there’s no way I can make out exactly what I’m getting in the frame and that’s a deal breaker. It’s also a deal breaker for many of the pocket cameras that don’t have viewfinders. The screens are getting better but they aren’t there yet. Another reason to have a separate camera is for the flexibility of lenses. My previous phone did a pretty good job of zooming in without losing quality. The one I have now, while supposedly an upgrade, is abysmal so, it’s wide-angle or nothing and I’m perfectly willing to pull out the phone to get a shot if I have a telephoto lens on my main camera. It is also a good back-up when I’m out in a zodiac, bring the camera to my eye and realize that I’ve left the battery on the charger in the ship. (Not one of my more brilliant moments)

Once I decided to go with a traditional camera there was another series of trade-offs to consider. How much was I willing to spend? How much weight was I willing to carry? What kind of photography do I mostly do and what kind of lenses do I need for that? It’s a good thing I like to do research because I spent hours and days pouring over specs and reviews of different camera brands and models. I’m not wedded to any particular brand and have shot Pentax, Olympus, Minolta, and Panasonic. In addition Richard has owned Canon and Fuji equipment. I guess when it comes to equipment in general, be it cars, computers or cameras I have much the same philosophy: get something that fits your needs regardless of what the trends are and then use it until it no longer meets your needs or until it falls apart, whichever comes first.

Shy sparrow

The immediate reason I started to look for an upgrade for my 10 year old digital SLR was because I wanted to capture more wildlife and birds. To do that I wanted a stronger telephoto lens and I was able to find a second-hand one on the internet for a good price.  I was also able to find a 2X teleconverter which doubled the focal length. The problem was that I couldn’t hold the camera, telephoto and converter still enough to get decent photos without a tripod. I know tripods are great things and allow you to get all kinds of shots that aren’t possible otherwise. I don’t like them. I don’t like carrying them, setting them up or using them. There’s another trade-off. Fortunately the camera bodies now are coming out with amazing image stabilization so I started looking for cameras that had small bodies and good stabilization. I admit I was also influenced by the ability to use my long lens and the teleconverter on a new camera if I stuck to the same brand - so I did. I chose to give up really good low light performance.  I’ll be doing most of my shooting in daylight. I also chose to give up the excellent resolution that comes with a  full-frame sensor. When it came to lenses I made decisions based essentially on the same criteria along with price. I don’t think I’m worth a lens that costs thousands of dollars. Maybe someday but it’s perfectly possible to create rotten photographs with the best of equipment, so I’m choosing lenses that let in less light and are easier on my budget. I’ll do what I can with them and I think it will be quite a long time before they will not suit my photographic needs.  I went for light-weight gear, relatively slow lenses, and really great image stabilization. I’m glad I took as long as I did to clarify what was important to me. I’m loving the new set-up and each day when I go out to shoot I remind myself of the things it does well and the things it doesn’t do so well and take photos that play to its strengths. I’ll always miss shots and I’m lucky that I can enjoy the process and keep learning regardless of how many get away.