If you want to submit your stock photos at one of the microstock sites you will need a digital camera. Naturally, best results are achieved with a semi-professional camera, although a compact can get you some pretty nice results too. But the quality of a picture is not only determined by the quality of the equipment. For a great part the quality is determined by the skills of the photographer. But it is of course true that a more advanced camera is more versatile and will offer you more to work with to demonstrate your creativity.
If you are looking for a new camera because your hobby is getting slightly out of hand and you want your photos to be eligible for stock sites, than your best option is a digital SLR (Single Lens Relfex) camera. And they come in many shapes and types and matching price categories. You have to find a way to match your artistic demands with the features of your camera.
What to look for
A number of aspects you can pay attention to in your hunt for a new SLR camera are:
What is the purpose you will be using your camera for? Are you a landscape photographer or do you like portraits or news items better? What type of photographer you are can influence your choice of camera. Read more about in books, magazines and on the internet and ask for advise at your specialist retailer.
Do you prefer to handle the settings of you camera manually, or do you prefer a camera that does the thinking for you? A SLR naturally has more options to take care of settings yourself. Pay attention to things like shutter speed, aperture and ISO. These are all important issues when working under different circumstances, such good or bad lighting conditions.
Use of existing accessories. If you are making a switch form analog to digital photography you may want to watch for a brand which allows you to use your old camera accessories , such as lenses and filters. This can save you a lot of money on the purchase of new accessories.
Accessories. If you want to buy all new accessories decide before buying the camera which accessories you might want to buy in the future and whether these accessories are meeting your wishes.
The megapixel value and the CCD (Charge Coupled Device). A lot has been said about this issue, but the important things is that you should not let herself be misguided buy a sales pitch telling you that you need a camera with the highest megapixel value. This is simply not true. Quality is not in the amount of pixels, but in other aspects, such as the skills of the photographer. More pixels means your will be able to have large prints made of your photos. A 6 MP camera will allow you to make prints of no less than 35 x 27 centimeters. Much more important however is the quality and size of the image sensor. The CCD (or image sensor) is composed of light sensitive cells which are one of the determinants for the number of pixels. A sensor can register a certain number of pictures in height and width. A 6 MP camera produces 6,000,000 pixels (3000 wide and 2000 high, which makes 6 million when multiplied). Each manufacturer has its own type of CCD and the quality of these can only be really determined by actually using the camera. You can also consult the many web sites on the internet with camera reviews. There is also a downside to making pictures with a camera that uses too many pixels: your memory card will reach it maximum capacity sooner than you think, the performance speed of your camera will slow down and your photos will take a lot longer to download to your pc.
Speed of the camera. If you are a sports photographer then you will need a camera with a fast reaction time. It should be fast when starting up your camera, it should have a quick auto focus system and it should be able to save the photos to your memory card real quickly. Also when you are traveling it is nice if your camera is able to point and shoot without hesitation.
Ease of use. Whether you find your camera is user friendly is a very personal matter, so try to decide before you purchase your camera which aspects are really important to you. Are all the buttons in the right place, are the menus intuitive enough, can you do multiple settings quickly etcetera?
Lenses. Is the lens that comes with your camera up to standard? Usually the lens is of the same brand as the camera body, but occasionally the lens supplied is of a different brand. Try to do some research beforehand into different manufacturers of lenses.
Memory: what types of memory card does your camera use. There are many types of cards and each camera brand seems to have its own favorite. Some cameras can even use more than one type of memory card. The cards that are used most often are: Secure Digital, MultiMedia Card (MMC), CompactFlash, Memorystick, xD and Microdrive. The type of card will not be a decisive element when choosing your camera, but it might be handy if your new camera uses the same type of memory card as your current camera. Also remember that there are differences in speed between brands. Therefore it is best to buy a memory card of a well known brand, because the unknown brands tend to get damaged more easily and produce lower speeds.
Comparing equipment
To compare cameras and accessories you can consult one (or more) of the many comparison sites on the internet. You can read reviews, recommendations and compare expert and user ratings as well as prices. You can find reviews at the following sites among many others: Digital Photography Review Let's Go Digital DC Views Camera Portal
If you would like to know more about digital photography and stock photography in particular, have a look at our links page or perform a search with Google using the search box below:
