What camera do I get?

I’ve been asked it a lot: What kind of camera should I get? If I were to answer honestly you’d laugh in my face and ask “Where am I supposed to get $5000 for a camera?” at which point I’d storm out of the room muttering something about amateurs, opinions and an inaudible reference about sheep and your mom.

What type of camera should you get? It’s a function of how much you want to spend, how much you know or want to know about photography and what types of photos you want to take.

In most cases I’ll always recommend a digital camera. Although they may be more expensive than film you’d be an idiot not to realize the cost savings in the long run. However if you’re 90 years old going snorkeling for your first time I’d recommend a cheap underwater throwaway film camera. But the rest of the time the answer is simply “Go digital!” Plus I think if you do purchase or own a film camera the government considers you a social deviant and puts you on their watch list.

Now before you figure out how much you want to spend on your camera, let’s think about what you want to use your camera for? Do you want to just take mediocre pictures of how drunk Jim got at the party last night to post onto Facebook? If that’s the case then GET OFF MY SITE NOW AND FORGET WE EVEN MET! Really, if that’s the case then use your crappy phone camera and die because you’ve offended the art.

Think about your photos in the past? Are you mostly taking pictures to remember people and events? Or do you really enjoy taking photos and like to bring the creative beast that tricked you into thinking English or Communications was a valid major? If you are the former you’re budget should be $300 dollars and less and you should be perfectly happy with your standard digital camera, for the purpose of this article will just call it a compact camera. If you are the latter then one word…or four words depending, DSLR – Digital Single Lens Reflect Camera (I should stop and point out that yes you can get an SLR camera for around $300 but you will spend way more in film and processing in the long run, so don’t even muse on the thought). DSLR’s are much more versatile then other camera’s and are used mostly by amateurs wanting to go pro and pro’s. However if you don’t want to commit that kind of scratch to something you’re not sure about you can always go hybrid like the Canon Powershot S5 IS.

If you are casual go compact. If you really like photography, nothing less than a SLR will do. If you aren’t sure, maybe the hybrid is right for you.

To help you in your initial search here are a few articles by people who know much more about life, love and photography than me.

Here is a good article that breaks it down pretty good. The author owns a dog large enough for a small child to ride on and if that doesn't scream trust and professionalism I don't know what does. Plus he went to MIT which is ranked just below the Dixie College in IVY league schools.

Another article on selecting a camera by someone claiming they know what they're doing. Which is good because I don't even claim that and I'm still giving advice.

On last article by a guy who writes a lot of other photo articles and maybe paints wooden soldiers. This one is like a choose your own adventure in that the first part of it is short and too the point but then it gives you the choice to go to more links if you like. EXCITING!