On my previous post about buying a camera I discussed the importance of choosing the features you are looking for before going into a store. Today I want to discuss doing research so you can get the best camera. Proper research will show you which is the best model and could maybe save you hundreds of dollars.
There are a couple websites I like to look at when I'm researching. The first one is http://www.bestinclass.com/digital-cameras. This is a great website which allows you to choose what kind of shooting you will do and the price you are willing to pay. For example, young children and pets for a price under $300. After you give the parameters it will present to you the 5 best options. Then you can narrow it down further by choosing more options, or choose a specific manufacturer or even a color.
This website is a great starting point to know what you are looking for and the recommendations come from photographers not manufactures. The only downside is I found not all the recent models are listed. One model that I was looking for specifically came out in March 2011 and it wasn't even on the list of possible cameras yet. While the list may not be complete it is still a good tool to use to get an idea of what you need.
The 2nd website is http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ They have buying guides, forums, a section for beginners, and lots of other information. It also gives reviews of hundreds of cameras. It even allows you to do a side by side comparison of 4 cameras to see which is best for you. Each camera has 18 pages of technical specs and evaluations, which I love. Going through this site and comparing several cameras can potentially save you hundreds of dollars. Let me give you an example.
My wife and I are looking at purchasing a new DSLR (big camera with interchangeable lenses). We've dreamed of getting the Canon 5D, it's a full frame camera that takes beautiful shots. It's our dream camera. But it costs $2600 just for the body. That's not realistic for us today so the next step down is the Canon 7D. Another fantastic camera, but still is $1700 for the body only, still out of our price range.
But I started doing some research and found that the Canon T3i ($800), 60D ($1100), and 7D ($1700) all had the same sensor. The sensor is the component that actually takes the shot and is responsible for the quality of the picture. Since the most important feature to us is the quality of the image that caught my attention. I jumped on the dpreview website and went to page 10. Noise & Noise Reduction. (Noise is the little specks of discoloration that can be seen in a picture. This is typically seen in shots done in lower light. Low light requires higher ISO settings which allows the sensor to see more light. higher ISO means more noise, which means lower quality. The better the camera the better the picture in low light high ISO situations. I'll explain more in another post) This page allows you to compare identical shots side by side from up to 4 cameras. Perfect for comparing quality.
In the screen shot below you can see the comparison between the 3 cameras. The ISO is at 6400 and the shots are nearly identical.
Further research shows that the main difference between the cameras are FPS (frames per second), number of continuous shots that can be taken, and the durability of the camera. So the end result is that when you look at the pictures the quality will look the same no matter which of the 3 cameras you use. More FPS and durability is nice but since those were not the features which were a high priority to us it was not worth an extra 40% or 110% increase in price. By knowing what features we want and doing the research we can save a lot of money and be confident the T3i will produce high quality pictures.
It does take some work and may be tedious for a non-geek, but I'm all about value. I think it's worth the effort. If nothing else it will help you sound more intelligent when you are shopping for your camera.
Have a great night!
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