Considerations When Buying a New Digital Camera

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Considerations When Buying a New Digital Camera
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By Meng Vang

Doing photography as a hobby for several years, I have seen many people make the same mistake over and over when it comes to purchasing a new camera, whether it is a simple point-and-shoot or a DSLR. The most common mistake a person can make when purchasing a camera is assuming that the higher the megapixel count is, the better the camera is. As a matter of fact, megapixels, also known as MP, are only used for marketing purposes to trick a consumer into thinking which camera is better. This is known as the Megapixel Myth.

Consumers who are not familiar with camera technology would try to get a camera with a higher megapixel count. When looking at camera ads, manufacturers and sellers would always have bigger emphasis on the megapixel count instead of other features. To understand the most out of a camera, you really have to understand more than just how many megapixels a camera has.

But what exactly is a megapixel? A megapixel refers to image resolution. A lot of consumers nowadays use nothing more than a 1080p monitor. As a matter of fact, 1080p is only equivalent to 2.1MP. If uploading pictures onto Facebook and Twitter is all what you do, you are better off spending less money for a less expensive camera with fewer megapixels. More megapixels do not make you a better photographer, nor does it make your images prettier. More storage space is required to save an image as more megapixels generally mean larger image size. So if you plan to purchase a camera with a large megapixel count, it is a good idea to consider a large capacity storage device.

A 1080p resolution monitor is only equivalent to 2.1MP. This means if you view any image that has a higher resolution than that of your monitor, you would never be able to see every pixel in that image. Below is an example. These three images were taken with the Nikon D3100 with the Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 at 14.2MP, 8.0MP, and 3.5MP. Can you tell the difference? All of these images look exactly the same unless you view them under their full view.

Megapixel count is not the only thing to consider when looking for a new camera. For instance, if you are a casual person who only takes pictures here and there, you would not need anything more than a 12MP camera. 12MP is more than enough for casual shooting. However, if you are looking into printing large prints, say for billboard ads, you would benefit from more megapixels. To sum this part up, unless you are planning to print out huge billboard-like images, you could easily get away with a 12MP camera. There are many other things you should consider, but I will go over three of the most important, which are ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.

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ISO Settings
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ISO determines how sensitive the camera sensor is to light. Having a higher ISO setting becomes very useful when shooting in low light situations. With standard DSLR cameras, ISO settings can range between 100 and 25600. Higher end DSLR cameras can have as low as 50 and as high as 204800. The lower the ISO, the smoother the image quality. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the camera sensor is to light. This means you can capture images in very low light situations.

• In this example, at ISO 100, the image is at its smoothest state.
• At ISO 1600, noise starts to appear in the darker tones and becomes easily noticeable.
• ISO 12800 makes the image no longer usable. The image has suffered from too much noise.

But there is a downside; lower ISO settings make the camera sensor not as sensitive to light. This results in smoother pictures but the images are prone to shakes and blurry images since the shutter must stay open longer just to get enough light to the sensor. Having a higher ISO setting lets you capture images in low light situations, but also causes the image quality to have a lot of noise. The higher the ISO, the more noise an image will have; this is not audio noise, but the tiny little dotty bits that appear on an image.

In this sample image on the right, I used the same images from before but instead I magnify a certain spot to allow you to see what I mean by “noise”. Notice how the image taken under ISO 100 has no noticeable noise while zoomed in. The image looks very clean even when it is magnified this close. New cameras with better technology can maintain a clean image even at a very high ISO.

Now look at the second image taken under ISO 12800. It is the same image but taken at a much higher ISO. Notice how there is a great amount of noise all over the magnified image. In darker situations, you would not notice as much noise, but I am just shooting at a high ISO in a well-lit area for the sake of this comparison.

Cameras with better image processors technically perform better in ISO performance than a camera with an older image processor. For example, a newer camera will have a smoother image than an older camera if they are both taken at ISO 1600. So if you plan to take pictures in well-lit areas, you do not need an expensive camera with good ISO performance. If you find yourself taking pictures in low-lit places, then you should consider a more beefy camera with better ISO performance. The best way to find out is to test a camera with a couple other cameras within a similar price range.

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Shutter Speed
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Shutter speed varies depending on the camera. It refers to the amount of time the camera sensor is opened and exposed to light. If you are out on a very sunny day and take a picture with a 30 second exposure (which I hope you wouldn’t), you would end up with an overexposed image. This is because the camera is exposed to light coming into its sensor for a full 30 seconds causing it to overexpose.

On a sunny day, let’s say you have your ISO settings set to 400 and an aperture value of f/4.5 (we will talk about aperture in a bit). Let’s also say you are using a shutter speed of 1/500 of a second. Shooting with ISO 400 with an aperture value of f/4.5 and a shutter speed of 1/500 results in an overexposed image on this sunny day. There are a few ways of fixing this, but I will go over one solution to make it simple. Selecting a faster shutter speed can prevent overexposed images. Switching to a shutter speed of 1/1000 or 1/2000 could fix this problem. A faster shutter speed prevents more light from hitting the sensor, which should correctly expose the image in our sunny day scenario.

• In this example, the left image is under exposed. It is too dark and shows no details in any of the dark objects.
• The middle image is over exposed. This results in an image with no definition to the brighter areas.
• The image to the right has a correctly balanced exposure. You can now see all of the details in the darker and brighter objects.

Remember, ISO and aperture settings would also affect how much light goes into the camera. If you increase your ISO from 100 to 200, you are doubling your sensor’s sensitivity to light. Because of this, you must also double your shutter speed to compensate for that change. For instance, you initially shot a photo with an ISO setting of 100 and a shutter speed of 1/125 of a second. But since you increased your ISO setting to 200, you must also increase your shutter speed to 1/250 of a seconds to balance the exposure.

In this example, if you change your ISO setting to 200 but leave your shutter speed at 1/125, you would over expose your image. If you leave your ISO setting at 100 but change your shutter speed to 1/250, you would underexpose your image. It is important to know if you change one thing, you must also change another to compensate for that change.

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Aperture and Depth of Field
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Aperture is not built into the camera, but it is built into the lens. It controls the depth of field and also controls how much light goes into the camera. It is also known as f-stops because as you seen in our previous scenario, I used f/4.5. Notice the “f” in f/4.5; this refers to the aperture value. The lower the aperture value, more light can enter the camera, which also causes the foreground to become blurry (many people love this effect). The higher the aperture value, the less light there is to enter the camera. This would result in a sharper image overall (Ideal if you plan to take very detailed images).

When I first began studying photography, I was most interested in shooting macro shots because of the beautiful bokeh effects. In able to have this effect, you will need a lens that has a larger aperture than your standard f/3.5 lens. Although a standard kit lens does provide decent macro images, having a lens with a much larger aperture range becomes useful when doing macro photography. A lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 is a very cheap solution, especially with the Nikon and Canon 50mm f/1.8.

Having a large aperture like f/1.8 is also very beneficial for low light shooting. Since the lens can suck in more light due to the larger aperture (smaller f number), you would not need to increase your ISO. Having a large aperture could save you from increasing your ISO, which would result in smoother images.

Keep in mind that adjusting aperture settings will also affect ISO and shutter speed. If you take a picture with an aperture setting of f/3.5 on a normal day, you can get away with something like ISO 200 and a shutter speed of 1/250. But if you change your aperture to something like f/8, you will have to increase your ISO setting and/or slow down your shutter speed just to get enough light and re-balance the exposure.

Remember, aperture is not part of the camera. It is only part of the lens, so do not expect an entry level Canon 650D with its standard 18-55mm kit lens to shoot at f/1.4; it is impossible. The only solution is to replace the kit lens with a different lens with a larger aperture.

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Buying a New Digital Camera Conclusion
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When thinking about purchasing a new camera, there are many things to consider than just megapixels alone. Just like computer hardware, the amount of vRAM on a graphics card does not always make a graphics card faster. Before purchasing a new digital camera, you must ask yourself what you will be using the camera for. You must also consider what we talked about:

1. ISO – Determines the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light. Using a low ISO setting gives you smoother image quality but requires your shutter speed to be slower to capture enough light. A slower shutter speed is not ideal if you plan to hold your camera with your hands because your hands are not as still as something stationary, like a tripod. Using a high ISO setting makes your camera sensor more sensitive to light. This is good for low light situations where light is primitive. But having a higher ISO setting would generate noise and grain over the image. If too much noise is present, it makes the image no longer usable.
2. Shutter Speed – The amount of time the camera sensor is exposed to light. It is important to adjust your shutter speed as you adjust your ISO and aperture settings. Having too slow of a shutter speed would capture too much light. This will overexpose the image. The image becomes too bright and loses all the details in the brighter objects. Having too fast of a shutter speed will capture too little light. This would underexpose the image. The image becomes too dark and loses all the details in the darker objects. Good practice with using shutter speed will correctly expose your images.
3. Aperture – Controls the depth of field and the amount of light that comes into the camera. This is a mechanism built only into the lens, not the camera body. If you want more light to come into your camera, use the largest aperture your lens can provide (the smallest f number). If you want less light to come into your camera, use a smaller aperture setting that your lens can provide (a larger f number). Using a larger aperture will also isolate your subject from the background, giving you a nice blurry effect. Using a smaller aperture would sharpen the entire image overall.

These three make up the Holy Trinity when it comes to photography. Remember, when purchasing a new camera, megapixels are only important if you plan to print out huge images. Having a lot of megapixels is also good for cropping. But cropping away an image is like cropping away megapixels.

There are many other features, such as focus-points, build quality, video quality, weather proofing, burst mode, etc. Other DSLR cameras may also have the flexibility to use adapters for multiple sets of lenses from different manufacturers. I will not get into this topic for now, but I hope you have learned something to prepare yourself for the next time you plan on purchasing a new camera.