5 Things You Need to Know Before Buying a Camera

Since my college time, I have started learning about photography. Back then, I joined the Audio, Visual and Photography Club as part of the extra curricular. It was a good experience to be exposed to some of the latest film and digital cameras thanks to the club facilitators. Gone are the days when we have to spend time and money to refill the roll film into the camera with the progressing of the digital camera era.

Image credit Freepik.com

Basically, photography is the combination of science, art, application and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation. It involves various elements of the lenses, shutter, display system, image processor and many more. If you are a beginner looking to buy a camera either as a hobby enthusiast or learning to be a professional, here are the five (5) things you need to know before buying a camera:-

1. Budget

This is the first thing on the list because generally Malaysian are very realistic about the price tag. We can't just buy a new professional DSLR camera from the camera shop if we have a really low budget to begin with unless the shop is own by your father or grandfather. Hahaha...

Image credit Productnation.co/my/

For a decent digital camera, we can get it for around RM400-1,000. As for a DSLR camera, the most affordable one would be the Canon EOS 1300D with kit lens under RM2,000. Action camera wise, the price can be as low as RM300 for SJCAM action camera to as high as RM1,900+- for the new GoPro HERO 6 Black.

While googling for the best budget digital camera, I came across one of the best tech reviews in Malaysia where you can find 8 digital cameras under RM1,000 for the budget-conscious.

2. Purpose

What is the objective or purpose of getting the camera? Do you prefer to shoot portraits, landscape or macro photography? Are you always on the go and do not like to carry heavy camera equipments? Or do you like to travel and at the same time demand for a camera which is portable and waterproof? Mirrorless or non mirrorless? With or without WiFi feature for easy sharing and many more.

Image credit Productnation.co/my/

You need to make sure that you are buying the right camera. I have different camera for different occasions and knowing this it helps me to produce the best images with the camera. When travelling, I rely on my action cam and digital camera. When I go for a food review or events, I prefer to use my DSLR since it can produce a sharper images with the combination of good lenses and lighting.

3. Speed

Speed plays a big part as a deciding factor too. Most of the digital camera and DSLR camera have the burst function where you can take a number of pictures in every second. It's also known as frame per second and it helps a lot especially during sports event where you need to capture the high speed action without resulting in blurry images.

Image credit Productnation.co/my/

Camera lenses can also influence the camera speed. By getting a lower lens aperture for example a 50mm f1.4 lens, the shutter speed for the camera can be increased many times higher than a kit lens which normally starts at the aperture of f3.5. The lower the aperture, the faster your camera can shoot. Unfortunately, it also mean that the price you may pay is higher too.

4. Accessories

Some camera come with a build in pop up flash and some camera don't. It is important to identify this so that you can cut down on the budget. Anyway, it's always better to get an external flash since it has better adjustability function with different mode to suit the environment.

Selection of SD cards are also important. For those who likes to use the burst mode or shoot full HD video, you may want to go for a higher speed SD card with a larger capacity of at least 16GB. The SD card must be Class 10 too to prevent jerky HD video quality from occurring.

Image credit Productnation.co/my/

If you love to shoot landscape or time lapse images, a good and sturdy tripod is a must. It's not necessary to have an expensive one but the most important criteria is that the camera can support the weight or your camera including the lenses and flash light.

5. Research

Last but not least, you have to start doing your own research. The four things which I have mentioned above can be found with the help of the tech and review website. There's no point having the most expensive camera that you can buy but it doesn't produce the quality of image that you expected.

ProductNation Malaysia is your destination for all the latest product reviews and roundups that are at the right price, on-trend, consumer favorites and timely in Malaysia. Some of the cameras that you are looking for can be difficult to get locally but you can check out their website since they have linked the product that we can buy in Malaysia instead of getting them from overseas.

You can also find out which camera type and model that suits your skill level while you are at it. Do let me know in the comments below if you are planning to get a new camera or simply just want to upgrade to a better camera.

.: Peace Out :.