Before considering DSLR upgrading from compacts: Hunting & Buying
HUNTING: 11. When & where to buy?
- anytime as prices take a long time to depreciate, not worth waiting and not shooting
- avoid buying too short before going overseas (one of the most common reason to get a good camera), play around well with your camera before setting out.
- avoid settling the deal with the various fairs, as prices is poorly competitive, gives you junk freebies and often poor customer services + lack of time to consider your purchase with higher likelihood to buy on impulse without due information from retailers.
- call up the shop to get the e quotes to compare, dun be shy about it
- go to the shop you are comfortable with, best with a friend who knows the shop already
- avoid going for less known shops if you have no general idea about the market, start off with a safe shop listed here, venture off when you feel more comfortable about the market
BUYING: 12. What do you need to check at the shop?
- more over
here
- of cos that it is working and has the various components included (a gd habit), but this is less often the case once you are comfortable with the shop, especially when it is more or less reputed
warranty.
yes, confirm that it is warranty from the manufacturer and if their service centre is in Singapore. Grey set means it is parallel import without going through the distributor and hence does not carry warranty. If so, warranty may be covered only by the shop and yet nothing is stated on paper and often not spelled out too, even verbally. Next thing is whether the item is covered by local or international warranty and how long is it. wanted to be more confident and dun get bluffed? search for warranty information online first.
BUYING: 13. What accessories do you first consider to buy almost immediately after the camera system?
- yes, things that you would start to use immediately experimenting with your camera. you dun need to have a tripod and a flash immediately, although they are essential equipments in your next step of exploration.
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a UV filter to protect the front element of the lens
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a lenspen
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extra battery (cos it is almost always essential subsequently and price do not fluctuate)
There is two school of thoughts about the UV filter. One is to get the best immediately and not worry after that - that is B+W UV or Nikon NC filter, which is expensive. Another school of thought is if you are unsure of getting an expensive UV filter immediately, you can still just get a cheap hoya filter less than $10-20, covered up the front element and bear with the inferior optical quality induced by it, at least you get the front element protected in the time being until you are decided on getting the better UV filter - the problem is you wasted that money on the cheap hoya if you can just make up your mind right at the start where the purchase of the better UV filters is worth it and you won't go wrong. The last thing you should ever do, is to leave it unprotected because you may never know when you will get it dirty (it can be immediately after a new purchase). seasoned users can afford to leave it unprotected if they know how to take care of it and uses lens hood, but i won't recommend that to a newbie.
The semi-immediate accessories that you can still buy slightly later but might as well get first would be
- a shoulder bag, the most common camera bag format. bags is something that most people will remain unsatisfied with and largely dependent on individual preference. start with a shoulder bag first, then slowly consider what you want to change to, e.g. brands with better straps, backpack, SBO types? dun worry, it is common to have a few bags and still remained undecisive on what's best.
- a dry cabinet to keep your camera and other stuff (can consider a mid to big size as chances of upgrade is high)
- a starting reading material e.g. Understanding exposure by Peter Bryanson, and maybe a good magazine to spice up your interest, e.g. photography monthly, practical photography, digital camera world
BUYING: 14. What accessories would you slowly consider on adding on?
- more memories
- circular polariser and neutral density filters
- tripod and ballhead (you will need this to start experimenting with long exposure and some night shots)
- external flash (although everyone would say get this first, you seriously get afford to hold off until indoor shots are essential)
- graduated neutral density filters
- a more complete cleaning kit
- more and better bags
- a good editing software
- monitor calibration tools
BUYING: 15. Should I compliment with more lens now?
Generally the first task for newbies with their new equipments is to get familiar with the settings on their bodies and train their handling with focus and along the way, composition and interaction with subjects. The next step is to refine exposure, details and colors to give the necessary aesthetic and impact. All these can be achieved with the kit lens, before further request for more clarity and sharpness, or desire for a different focal length or better low light latitude with large maximum aperture demands a different lens.
It is not a good idea to buy all the different lens you want at the start, hoping buying more will give you more discount. First of all, you hardly know your stuff and may not get what is good, and you may even get what you do not need. But i do propose that a cheap AF and MF prime (consideration of manual focus if you dun mind absence of auto focus gives you more choices) can help you train your composition for that focal length. You will start to see where you stand and how big your subject is, will give you what kind of composition. It is not so easy if you use a zoom.
Newbies often use a kit lens for a duration, and wonder if they can try out more with others. It is not wrong either, but among so many choices, what should you buy first?
1. Do consider what is your limiting factors that push you for a new lens. Do you need a larger aperture? Or do you need a longer range of focal length?
2. Do you need to have only 1 lens for the range of focal length in view of convinience? Or can you break up the range into a few focal lengths in order to accomodate better optics?
3. What eventually do you want to capture the most? Decide on that, narrow it down and ask specifically for what focal length would be suitable.
with regard to additional lens,
i would suggest that one optimise the use of his kit lens, and first understand one's shooting preferences and what the focal lengths of one's existing lens can give him. if the lens is the true limting factor, e.g. focal length and maximum aperture, and if the decision is to stick to the current brand being used, then the investment of additional lens is to be considered. there is a tendency to buy more lens at the start with impulse, try to hold it down first until you are sure it is the lens that limits you, not your photographic knowledge, technical handling and aesthetic visualisation. always remember, in terms of sharpness, correct focusing, steady handling and knowledge of control of shutter duration is to be dealt with first, and not by changing into sharper lens or lens with vibration reduction mechanism.
1. do you want to change your distance to subject and shooting style?
2. do you want a wider field at same distance?
3. do you want a tele magnification at same distance?
4. do you need a faster lens with larger maximum aperture for low light situation?
5. do you need better image quality with a prime or a high quality zoom with reasonable optical zoom range?
6. do you need a single lens with wide optical zoom range to avoid changing lens?
7. do you need a shorter minimal focusing distance for macro?
8. do you need specialised lens, like lensbabies and tilt shift lens?
with these 8 questions, you can vary your priority and decide which lens do you want to buy. buying one lens at a time is good for you to learn each lens well.
If planning for overseas trip, and thinking of adding new lens or equipments...
if newbie considering purchase for 1st DSLR for a shortly incoming (less than a month ahead) overseas trip, hold off temptation to consider to buy additional lens and take time to understand your existing lens first. for subsequent trips, plan ahead and allow ample time to practise on new lens and equipments.
test all equipments before bringing overseas. plan your weight carriage for overall, and for shooting outdoor. read here for more information.
Whether to upgrade a body or to buy a new lens,
decide on which one is the limiting factor. This
article from Ken Rockwell is worth a read, except that I disagree with one point. I think the body has more to do with ease of use. The rest is however true, the lens is a better buy as
1. The lens is a more important determinant of clarity and overall optical quality.
2. It can be used for a longer time than a body before getting obsolete.
3. It holds better resale value in a couple of years.
4. It opens up to different focal length and different composition, hence different subjects.
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