Picture taken with Canon lens 18-135 STM IS lens

BUYING DSLR CAMERA- DSLR 101 for Beginners

How to Buy a DSLR Camera

In the old days, only professional photographers were using SLT cameras because both camera and lenses were very expensive at that time. Since the arrival of Digital technology, DSLR cameras are getting cheap. Right now Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony are the leaders. Personally I like Canon and Nikon but currently I am using Canon T3i rebel and this blog is intended for those who are shopping for a Canon DSLR camera. When you shop for a DSLR camera  it is difficult to select one best for your budget.

DSLR camera comes in two parts body and lens. Camera body has the electronics to convert the image and lens is for getting the image. There are several lenses to meet the photographer s needs. If you are using DSLR for just personal use then I would recommend kit lens which comes with the camera bundle. Generally kit lens is 18-55 mm zoom lens which will be good enough for your general purpose use.

The terms you need to understand before buying DSLR are

Sensor type:

Full frame, APS-C and four-thirds. Canon rebel series belong to APS- C type and full frame Cameras are expensive. If you are a professional photographer, you may need a full frame camera. The main difference is crop size; full frame has better view of the image. If you are using APS-C sensor;you can produce quality pictures by using different lenses and focusing method.

IMAGE STABILIZATION IS:

 Whenever you buy a lens it is better to have IS function. IS corrects camera shake and produce better picture. You may need this function especially when you are taking pictures in a crowd.

ZOOM lenses:

If you are a personal user, always go with Zoom lenses, you have the capability to zoom various focal lengths. Professional may need Prime lenses which produces high clarity picture. If you want to try a prime lens, 35mm prime lens which is good  for general use.

I recommend selecting one of the following standard zoom lenses

15-85 mm

24-70 mm

18-135 mm

28-135 mm

STM Lens:

Canon lenses have built in STM function; these lenses are very good when you shoot for a video. If you are not interested in videos, then you do need to spend additional money for STM type lenses.

L Lenses:

 Canon sells L lenses which are also called Luxury lenses. Professional photographers prefer L type because it produces high quality pictures. If you spend more time in photography, I would say L lenses are a great investment. I recommend Canon EF 24-70 mm f/2.8L II USM lens 

which is a great lens.

Telephoto lens: 

These lenses are good to take a picture which you cannot see by your eyes. These lenses have large focal length in the range 200 mm to 400 mm. If you are looking for a telephoto lens, I recommend Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS USM lens.

USM:

When you select a lens; make sure it has Ultra sonic motor which uses for fast and silent focusing.

Aperture Speed:

It determines the amount of light goes into the sensor. In low light conditions f/2.8 lenses will produce better picture. F/2.8 lenses are much more expensive that f/3.5 type. If you have external flash, you can compensate the picture quality with f/3.5 type lenses.

Mega Pixel:

 The number of mega pixel determines the resolution of the picture. If you take a picture with high Mega Pixel camera, then you may need a high resolution monitor to see the quality. I would recommend if you have 18 MP cameras which are good for normal use unless you are working for professional use. 

Depth of filed calculator:

There is online calculator which you can find at http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html. This calculator provides the distance from the object with various lenses and cameras. It defines the sharpness of the picture.

Chromatic Aberration:

 If the lens produces high CA, the picture will be dull at the corners. Most lenses produces some form of CA but expensive lenses have little CA which is not noticeable.

Bokeh:

It is a term generally used by photographers which defines the quality of out of focus objects in the image. For example if you are focusing a person, there are trees away from the person. When you look at the picture, the focused person’s image is very good but the trees or plants are not clear. Most lenses produce Brokeh unless you are using wide frame lenses. In new DSLR cameras; Brokeh is not very noticeable if you use correct lens.