Gerd Waloszek       

Astronomy | GXR · GR · RX100 M1 · RX100 M4 · RX10 M3/4 · TZ202 · X Vario · M240 · General | Photos | Conf. Places | Calendars | Art

General: Frequently Asked Questions

On this page, I collect questions regarding digital cameras and photography in general. Please note that some users may laugh at some of the questions...

Overview of Questions

Latest Questions / Updates

• Which camera should I buy? new
• Which one is the best camera? new
• What are the differences between small and large sensors? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each? new

General

• Which camera should I buy?
• Which one is the best camera?

Sensors

• What are the differences between small and large sensors? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each?

Answers

General

Which camera should I buy?

I was asked this question again and again by people who wanted to buy a camera. The simple answer is, "I don't know." And this is the correct answer for at least, four reasons. I do not know...

1. ... the market well (long ago, when there were only few digicams on the market that was easy, but nowadays..).
2. ... for what purposes (motifs) a person wants to use a camera.
3. ... the "shooting style" or the shooting habits of the person.
4. ... what type, size, weight, look, and so on, a person prefers for his or her camera.

Let me expand a little on items two to four...

Purposes or motifs vary largely: landscape, people (friends and relatives, children, street photography = unknown people on the street), close-ups of flowers and animals, flowers in general, animals in general, wild animals or birds far away, sports, architecture, cars, night shots, holiday photos of all kinds, diverse stuff - the list of motifs is endless... Not all of these subjects require a different camera, but some of them call for very different requirements (speed, focus speed, close-up facilities, long focal length, high sensitivity, water resistance, and so on). And since most people want to take photos of several different subjects, they may be forced to search for an "optimal" compromise, if possible. Some photographers, by the way, prefer not to compromise but to have different cameras for different purposes (sometimes even for the same purpose so that they need not change lenses o films...).

All in all, before the question can be answered, it is important to get an understanding of the purposes (or subjects) for which a camera will be used. Then it is much easier to scan the market for possible candidates.

Shooting style or habits may be a little bit surprising in this list, but there is a reason for this. Let my explain this using an example: Friends told me that they want to take photos "spontaneously". Therefore they set their camera to the "all-inclusive" automatic, that is, to the automatic that automatically selects the appropriate automatic or scene program. That is, they do not want to think about how to take a photo, they just want to take it. That's OK, but this excludes any camera for them where you have to care a bit for the camera settings.

"Habits" might also be described by the following example (in can also be put in the "size" category): My wife accepts only a camera that fits her trouser pocket. Any camera that is larger and therefore does not fit her trouser pocket is excluded this way, irrespective of how good it may be.

All in all, these arguments can - sometimes surprisingly - exclude a lot of cameras from the candidate list.

Size, type, weight, look (yes, even this...) can also be arguments for excluding certain cameras from the candidate list. Here are a few anecdotic examples:

• Type: Some people know already in advance that they want, for example, a DSLR, a bridge camera, or a compact camera with large zoom range - for whatever reasons. This makes the choice a little bit easier...
• Size: I mentioned already that my wife's camera has to fit a trouser pocket...
• Weight: I once sold my DSLR equipment because I found it too heavy and bought a lighter system camera. I am not alone with such a decision. In forums, I often read that people sold their heavy (DSLR) equipment in favor of a lighter camera (fixed zoom lens or fixed lens). Rarely people want a "heavy" camera, but there may also be reasons in favor of this...
• Look: When my wife wanted to buy her first digital camera, I showed her a Minolta camera. She did not like its look, but she liked the look of a Canon Ixus that lay next to it on the shelve. So we bought (a little later...) an Ixus for her.

You may ask yourself, why I do not mention image quality, speed, zoom range, test results, or other technical data. Aren't they important? They are, but I found out that these are often quickly pushed aside by other arguments, such as the ones I mentioned above. Thus, before you inspect test results, make sure that you know all these arguments. Otherwise, these may quickly kick out the "top-camera" that you, after laboriously studying the literature and the Web, selected because of its outstanding image quality or the brilliant test results...

Usability and design guru Alan Cooper used to show two pictures of a car: The first was the one that was built according to the customers' requirements and looked like a craftsman's truck. The second was the one that they actually had in their minds - a classy sports car. This seems sometimes also be true for cameras...

Which one is the best camera?

I was asked this question again and again by people who wanted to buy a camera. The simple answer is, "I don't know." Déja vu? Definitely, but the arguments are a little bit different...

Like any other industry product, a camera and its design are the result of a multitude of compromises. These compromises are weighted or biased in one or the other direction (quality, price, user type, ease of use, universality, weight, size, appeal to certain age groups, ...), but they remain compromises. Cameras are meant to take photos. Thus, image quality is an important, perhaps the most important, factor when debating "the best" camera. But handling, the ability to carry it everywhere, and many other factors also contribute to what we mean by "best". I often read in forums the saying, "The best camera is the one that you have with you." This is meant to say that people often leave their "best" camera (equipment) at home because it is too bulky, too heavy, or both. Sometimes, they take a smaller and/or lighter camera with them instead, which is, of course, not as good as the one they left at home. Sometimes, they take no camera with them at all and regret this later...

Image quality is also a "multi-dimensional" problem, so even in this respect you rarely find that people agree on it. In forums, you often find that someone reports that he or she just sold a camera, whereas another poster just bought it - and sometimes even vice versa. Of course, both blame the image quality of the camera that they just got rid of... On the other hand, there are some overall agreements on image quality and quality in general that can be trusted. But then the price may be prohibiting...

I think that it is nevertheless possible to narrow down the number of possible candidates when you know what camera type you want and what is important for you. But you can only be sure of your judgment about these cameras if you had and used them all... And others, see above, may well disagree with you.

Sometimes, you may be lucky that you can narrow down the number of candidates to "one" - as I was able to do with my Leica M (Typ 240). But this is not at all the best camera in the world. It only seems to be the best fit for my lenses, other aspects were more or less neglected... And then the price may be so high that even this "one and only" candidate may not be a valid choice...

On the other hand, I often meet people having a camera (mostly compact ones with some zoom range), who tell me how content they are with their camera and the pictures it takes. This is really the "ideal" camera for them and they are proud to have made such a brilliant choice. In the end, this is what they want to tell me: How excellent their choice was. As I have become older and wiser now, I do no longer contradict, but nod my head instead and tell them that I am glad that they are so happy with their camera. Maybe, I take a look at the test results afterwards, but I will never give away what I read there...

Sensors

What are the differences between small and large sensors? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each?

This is a question that is probably the least relevant for those people who should be interested, namely those who are using small-sensor cameras, including smartphones and who are not much interested in camera technology. Therefore, I should better withdraw this question... There are, however, also some "serious" photographers who favor small sensors, but they know already the answer. That would be another reason to withdraw this question...

But I decided not to withdraw the question and answer it briefly in my favorite data format, a table:

The most important aspect from a photographic point of view is probably the difference in depth of field for the small and large sensors. The following table serves to to illustrate how the "DOF-effective" f-number increases with decreasing sensor size (or increasing crop factor) for different sensor types and exemplary cameras (most of which are/were owned by us):

*) All focal lengths are given as 35 mm equivalent values.

I would also like to add that most small-sensor cameras one have two "real" f-stops, the remainder is created by applying neutral density filters. This makes it also difficult to estimate the effect of aperture on DOF for these cameras. Note that a huge DOF range also makes life easier for the autofocus system: small errors are usually not relevant. All in all, for people who like it "sharp from here to infinity", a huge DOF and a small-sensor camera can just be what they need. Photographers who like to play around with DOF are, however, best served with a full-frame format camera, but the chance of setting the focus at a wrong position is high, as my own experience shows...

For more information, see page About Focal Length, Aperture, and Depth of Field for Different Sensor Sizes.

Note: The light gathering ability is not affected by the crop factor (or sensor size). That is, an f/1.8 lens on a small-sensor camera is as fast as a full-frame format camera with such a lens.