choosing a digital camera

see also:

• camera systems compared
• choosing a digital camera Xmas 2019
• digital SLR cameras
• mirrorless camera systems
• lens mount cross-compatibility table
• megapixels - how many is best for you?
• photography and camping main index page
• https://blog.mingthein.com/2018/12/24/the-most-important-things-in-photography/
• my blog posts on choosing a camera:
  • Which camera and lenses to take for your overseas travel holiday? Best travel camera kit in 2017
  • Can’t afford a mirrorless camera? Here is a brief guide to the budget dSLRs in Jan 2017
  • Affordable compact mirrorless cameras for the parent wanting to capture their child or pet

• the following is to give you are good idea in a very brief time of what type of camera you need to be looking at depending upon your needs
• if you don't really care about learning photography, making high quality images, using telephoto lenses, external flashes, or blurring out the back ground to make your subject look better - just use your smartphone
• if you want to learn photography and want to improve your image quality without carrying big heavy, expensive lenses around, then buy a relatively discrete, compact, light, quiet Micro Four Thirds camera with a few nice lenses
• how many pixels do you need?
  • to trick your eye into thinking the pixels in an image are smooth continuous, you just need a pixel density in the output image of 3438/viewing distance in inches. This equates to 72ppi for an A1 poster at 4' and 300ppi for a small print viewed at 1', both of which would be satisfied with a base photo of 8 megapixels - so unless you are severely cropping an image or your viewers will be scrutinising detail in a poster close up, you will probably NOT need more than 20mp. This is why Apple can make those roadside billboard advertisements showing off the capability of their iPhone.
• if you really must have the shallowest depth of field (DOF) and money is no object, and big, heavy, expensive lenses don't worry you, and you are not traveling to places where theft is a constant worry, then consider getting a full frame mirrorless camera.

• the largest sensors with the best quality lenses are what generally wins out here
• these cameras need to be used on a tripod to get the most out of the sensors
• examples of usage: studio work, landscapes, architecture, fashion
• medium format digital camera systems - these start at ~$10,000 and go to $100,000+
• if you cannot afford that price, you could consider either:
  • medium format film camera systems
  • Nikon Z7
  • Canon R full frame and APS-C mirrorless camera system - Canon R5
  • Canon 5Ds / 5DSR full frame dSLR 50mp full frame dSLR
  • Nikon D850 full frame dSLR 45mp full frame dSLR
  • Sony A7RIV 61mp mirrorless full frame

• a full frame kit excluding flashes will set you back ~$15,000+as a minimum
  • two full frame dSLRs (or now, preferably, mirrorless) cameras with pro lenses such as 24mm f/1.4, 24-70mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4, 70-200mm f/2.8 IS are usually the safest bet
  • examples:
    • Canon R full frame and APS-C mirrorless camera system - Canon R5
    • Nikon Z full frame mirrorless system
    • Sony a7R IV
• a lighter, more compact and more affordable Micro Four Thirds system option with better hand held video:
  • Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II or Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III allows:
    • accurate closest eye AF
    • light, compact affordable kit
    • adequate depth of field (DOF) and lovely bokeh when used with wide aperture primes such as Olympus mZD 25mm f/1.2 PRO lens, Olympus mZD 45mm f/1.2 PRO lens, Olympus m.ZD 75mm f/1.8 lens
    • sharp, edge-to-edge group photo images with the Olympus mZD 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro weatherproof lens
    • hand holdable low light dusk or candlelit shots with longer than usual shutter speeds
    • the BEST run and gun video thanks to its awesome image stabiliser and color science although file size limitation of 4Gb requires joining files in post.
    • Olympus Hi Resolution mode for static subjects such as wedding ring, cake, flowers, etc.
    • radio remote TTL flash now available via Cactus, Godox, Profoto
    • the main downsides are:
      • limited ability to obtain shallow depth of field (DOF) with wide angle shots - nothing to really match a 35mm f/1.4 or a 85mm f/1.2 full frame imagery

• you need a weatherproof dLSR with fast tracking C-AF camera with wide aperture telephoto lenses, excellent high ISO performance, and preferably image stabiliser
• see professional sports / journalistic dSLRs
• these cameras generally cost ~$5000+ and the lenses generally cost $2000+ each, and they are big, heavy and designed to take some abuse
• examples:
  • Nikon Z9
  • CanonR3
  • Sony a1 full frame mirrorless camera
  • Sony a9ii full frame mirrorless camera
  • Canon 1DX Mark III
  • Nikon D6 sports dSLR
• if you cannot afford the above, then a high-end cropped sensor dSLR or the latest mirrorless camera systems may be adequate such as:
  • Olympus OM System OM-1 mirrorless camera
  • Olympus OMD E-M1X pro sports camera
  • Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II or Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
  • Panasonic G9

• these are take anywhere cameras which will cop a lot of abuse and give adequate image quality for 8“x10” prints or the web use
• they can fit easily into a pocket or hand bag, and can cope even with sand and salt water at the beach
• see Olympus TOUGH cameras

• if highly detailed B&W images in a relatively compact package where cost is not critical - Leica M Monochrom rangefinder (~$10,000 body only + $2000+ per lens]]
• if highest HD video quality and versatility - Panasonic GH5 video-optimised stills camera or Nikon Z6
• if shallowest depth of field (DOF) is the prime need and you can afford $2000+ for camera without lens:
  • full frame dSLR such as Canon 5D Mark IV dSLR, Canon 5D Mark IV dSLR, Nikon D750 full frame dSLR, Nikon D850 full frame dSLR, Canon 1DX Mark III
  • full frame mirrorless such as:
    • Sony RX1 fixed lens full frame with leaf shutter for full flash sync to 1/2000th sec
    • Sony A7 III or A7RIV mirrorless full frame
• compact super zoom camera for travel:
  • Sony RX10 24-200mm f/2.8

• it is hard to look past the offerings of the Micro Four Thirds system with its compact, quiet cameras and fantastic range of quality lenses with fast AF
• the BEST camera is the one you have with you, so if you have little need for the above features, then get the smallest camera and lenses that will give a high image quality capable of printing great prints at 20“x30” if you need to - and that is Micro Four Thirds system
• in particular, the leaders at present are the Olympus OM-D E-M10 mark III camera, Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II, Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III or Panasonic G9
  • if you can't afford this, or you need an even smaller camera, you can get a cheaper Micro Four Thirds system camera such as the Panasonic GX850 / GX800 camera or Olympus E-P5 PEN (EP5/EP-5) and build up your lens collection
  • if you really need better subject tracking or HD video quality then go for a Panasonic GH5 video-optimised stills camera

• sensor image quality - all current digital cameras with a sensor size of Micro Four Thirds system or larger will give adequate image quality for MOST people (larger sensors will do better for low light and ultra shallow depth of field (DOF) photography)
• fast and accurate AF
  • as a baseline, this MUST be reliably possible for most slow moving or stationary subjects with closest Eye being able to be automatically selected with AF points spread across at least 60% of the frame
  • in addition, it would be preferable that the camera can focus track moving subjects
  • even better if it has AI to detect the subject YOU want - only the latest mirrorless cameras will have this
• build quality and weathersealing
  • for a camera you want to take to the coast or out in dusty or rainy weather then this is critical (Olympus make the most weathersealed cameras in general), however, you may just need a budget cheap camera for travel (eg. Olympus OM-D E-M10 mark III camera) which you don't want to spend much money on in case it is stolen
• good range of high quality, relatively affordable dedicated lenses
  • no point having a camera if you can't buy the lenses, or the lenses are not dedicated for that system so you can't use the full range of AF capabilities
• hand holdable movie mode with excellent image stabilisation
  • most of us only occasionally do videos, but when we do we are probably not going to have a big heavy gimbal stabilisation kit or a tripod
  • sensor based image stabiliser (IBIS) is a critical basic requirement (not Canon's “digital Dual IS”)
  • fortunately most new mirrorless cameras (except Canon) have this - Olympus is the best at present
• not too expensive
  • cameras lose value rapidly so unless you have a specific requirement to justify the cost, go for a more affordable camera system that will do the job you need

• cropped sensor dSLRs such as Canon or Nikon
  • for a start, dSLRs are going out of fashion very quickly and will be replaced by mirrorless so if you are buying into a new system, mirrorless makes the best sense for most people
  • whilst the image quality from these sensors is adequate for most people, the problem is that neither Canon or Nikon have invested in these camera systems as they generally only make inferior quality dedicated lenses which in my mind has really crippled these cameras
  • none of these cameras have eye AF in normal still mode
  • none of these cameras have sensor based IS
  • most of them have an extremely poor user experience with tiny tunnel like cheap optical viewfinders from the dark ages
  • most have severely crippled functionality and often very poor plasticky build quality
• full frame dSLRs unless you can buy them cheap second hand
  • these are great cameras in general with great lenses but they are now legacy old technology and will be replaced by mirrorless

• Micro Four Thirds system
  • for most people who just want to travel lightly and have a great system
  • Olympus OM-D E-M10 mark III camera - budget camera not weathersealed and no PDAF
  • Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III - weathersealed
  • Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II or Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III- pro sports capabilities
  • Panasonic G9
  • Olympus OM System OM-1 mirrorless camera - awesome 2022 camera but expensive
• Fujifilm X mirrorless system
  • a great cropped sensor mirrorless system but quite expensive
  • Fuji XT-4
• Sony NEX FX full frame mirrorless cameras
  • the front runner in full frame mirrorless and the best value but the lenses are very expensive and the range is not great
  • Sony a7 III full frame mirrorless camera
  • Sony a7R IV
• Nikon Z full frame mirrorless system
  • this full frame system is looking like it will be a great system
  • Nikon Z6
  • Nikon Z7
• Canon R full frame and APS-C mirrorless camera system
  • Canon R3
  • Canon R5
  • Canon R6
• Panasonic S full frame mirrorless system
  • this is looking like it will be a great high end full frame system but still very early days and very limited and expensive lenses