I’ve been taking pics for about 30 yrs (yes I love saying that, because it reminds me of taking pics of my grandmother’s birthday party) and moved up into the world of DSLRs a year ago (just before BlogWorldExpo 2007 in fact) from a nice Canon point and shoot. This week I really stepped it up to Nikon D300 (I’ve been using a D80 for the past year which is also an excellent camera and I highly recommend it) and well I have a new lens that, well, let’s say cannon is a apt description of it.
My friend Aaron recently stepped into the world of DSLRs and blogged about his thoughts on how to do it right:
I take my camera everywhere I go now. Out of every 100 photos, I toss 90. I insist on using pure manual settings, because there’s no better way, in my mind, to learn than to trial and error it. When I say manual, I mean manual. I manually focus. I usually keep my ISO around 200, but I can change that. Shutter and aperture settings are all adjusted on every shot.
Recently, I’ve had a number of people mention that they plan to buy their first DSLR camera. Some of these usually follow this up by mentioning really high-end cameras like the Canon 5D or the Nikon D700 as cameras they want.
My response is always the same… Why?
As rookie photographers, they don’t know why. They just know it’s better. Which is true, but that’s not the point.
Here’s what rookie photographers need to focus on when picking up a brand new DSLR camera. Source: Buying Digital SLR Cameras
I think he’s mostly right. Here’s how I’ve been teaching my kids (and my daughter is a gifted photographer even at the young age of 11), play with Auto first. Get a feel for how to frame things. See what happens when you take pictures under different conditions.
After Auto, I like Program. You have more control, but the camera still does a heck of a lot of the work for you. This is when you get to play a bit, see what happens when you tweak this or that.
After years of using various auto settings, I switched to Program in the months before my jump to the D80 (encouraged by Tim Bray and Derek Miller). Wow. It made a huge difference, even with a point an shoot.
When I got the D80, I played in Program for a while before switching to Aperture priority (where I think you can have the most fun).
I shoot in Aperture priority most of the time. I do switch to manual for some shots, especially when in low light and trying different new techniques.
Aaron is right, you do need to understand light and framing before really investing in gear. No, I can’t always explain how I get a shot (honestly some are just blind luck, getting a look or movement for example). Kris Krug gave me great tips (read instruction) today, which reminded me we all have a lot to learn from each other and that I really do need to brush up on my fundamentals.
Notice I attacked the second part of the question first? Yeah that was on purpose, because the real answer is that the two are tied together.
You learn a DSLR before you have one. Meaning, figure out what you can do with what you have. Point and shoots are great cameras. Nothing wrong with them. I keep mine around for fast and easy shots. It’s my “spare”.
I didn’t upgrade really until I knew that I wanted to have the flexibility that a DSLR provides. I didn’t move up to the D300 until I a) wanted to be serious about going pro and b) knew that I needed the power it came with.
DLSRs are fun, so much fun. Try one. Yes, I’ll probably bring both bodies, all my lenses, tripod, and such to BarCamp/PhotoCamp this weekend. See what you can do. Then see how much the they cost. Then see how much gear costs. I’ve bought three lenses, filters, three bags, flash, gray cards, photo box … yeah it adds up.
In the meantime, have fun.
Just shoot and have fun.
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