If you’re thinking about taking up photography as a hobby, you’re in for a real treat when it comes time to select the right starter camera. There’s a wide range of options out there, and strong competitors at every price point. Add in the fact that there are so many features and things to consider when choosing a camera, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the choices! Color vs. clarity. Speed vs. weight. Viewfinder vs. touch screen. Battery life vs. shutter speed.
And then there are the available lenses and attachments, which (for the most part) are unique to each model. Aggghhh!
Thankfully, I have a nephew who’s a full time photographer in Tuscon, AZ (obligatory shout out to TJR Photography, http://www.tjroxasphotography.com/). Knowing that I don’t like to get caught up in the minutiae, TJ broke down choosing a good starter camera to three things:
- Light handling
- Color depth
- UX, or user interface (that’s the button layout, for all you non-techs out there)
With that in mind, I did some quick Amazon searches to guesstimate my spending range. I found that the best bang for the buck for a good starter, DSLR was between the Nikon D3200 and the Canon Rebel SL1. From what I’ve read, they both have similar UX, with the Canon having better light handling, and the Nikon having better color depth. Well, that still left me in a quandary on which camera to choose.
Fortunately, I found a great website that does in depth comparisons on many of the most popular camera makes and models (www.snapsort.com). Sure enough, they had a detailed comparison of the D3200 vs. the SL1:
http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-Rebel-SL1-vs-Nikon-D3200
So, it looks like my starter camera for my new found hobby is going to be the Nikon D3200 DSLR. I’m off to buy it this weekend, so I’ll let you all know how it goes!
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