Professional Digital Photography Equipment

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What type of digital camera should a new photographer begin with?

Hi,
I'm a web designer and recently took on a project to take pictures of my client's products and display them on her new website. I am totally new to the photography business and was blown away on how expensive photography equipment cost.

I purchased the cheapest professional lighting I could find (which were $80 a piece; got 2) and I used my Sony Cyber-Shot to get the job done. I really like this business and would like to go pro in this.

I was told to get a digital camera, perferably a cannon, that is 12 meg pixs. There are so many to choose from and the prices can really rang. What would be a good digital professional camera can a beginner like me should get?

There are multiple issues in your question that will help you decide on which camera is best suited for your needs. First is cost. How much does your budget allow? Second, what type of professional photography are you interested in, portraits, product/commercial, web design, etc? Are you looking for a camera that is very versatile without changing lenses or willing to spend several hundred extra dollars for additional lenses? How serious are you about being a professional? Do you want to make it your primary income? How soon do you expect to be a "professional"?

Okay, selecting a camera. First DO NOT get sucked in to the mega-pixel race. My Canon EOS 30D is an 8.1 Mp camera and more than able to capture amazing images. A pocket camera with 12-20Mp can capture images but the sensor is much smaller, adding to noise and slowing the capture speed. Do a lot of research on the specific capabilities of the cameras you are interested in before jumping on the number of mega-pixels.

Budget: Consider how much total budget you have available, then subtract 10-15%. This will start to allow for additional batteries, memory cards, tripods cleaning supplies etc.

SLR or Point and Shoot?: You specifically mention Canon, so that's where I'll focus for now. With the release of the Powershot G-11, for less that $500US, you can get a very capable and versatile camera. You have Image Stabilization, good low light capabilities, 10Mp, and the ability to shoot RAW (allowing extended image adjustments) and several other features, without the need for additional lenses.
Now, for the SLR's. Canon has cameras priced from less that $600 - $7000. All of these cameras use the Canon EF series lenses with most also capable of using the EF-S series, specifically designed for the APS-C sensor equipped cameras. These lenses cost from $100 to $12,000. There are a few very reputable 3rd party manufacturers of lenses that can reduce costs somewhat.
As a web designer, you know that the industry standard for image display is 72dpi and anything larger that 1000X1000 pixels is usually too large for a web page. Anything larger than around 250K creates slow page loads. If you're looking for a camera for web work, the G-11 would be more than enough camera for your purposes.
If you are considering a profession in photography, you are going to end up spending more than you budget will currently indicate.
If that is your intention, I will give you the method I recommend for choosing a camera. First, go back to your budget. Now, that budget has to include lenses.
After you have settled on a budget, start looking at all brands of cameras within that budget. Go to a reputable camera store, if possible, and handle all the models within your budget. Don't worry about what the buttons and switches do, just how they feel in your hands. If you don't feel comfortable with the camera, that will interfere with your taking photos. Then, after you have decided on a make and model, start shopping for the best price.
One last factor I think you need to consider is, how serious are you about this? Far too many times, I have seen someone spend thousands of dollars on camera equipment and find out they weren't as interested in photography as they thought. Then they had far more equipment than they would every use, or they were trying to sell it and getting a lot less than they paid for it.
After all of that, as a personal recommendation, I would recommend the Canon EOS 50D. It's a good mid-range camera for around $1000 that is more than capable of professional work and family vacations.

Professional Photography Equipment


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