Canon® EOS Digital Photography Photo Workshop

2.1. CONSIDERATIONS FOR BUYING A CANON DSLR

My photography students often ask me which camera they should buy. The truth is that no one can tell you what camera to buy, but if you understand the commonalities and differences among Canon's dSLRs, then you can make informed decisions when it's time to buy a new camera, upgrade your existing camera, buy a backup camera body, or add another camera to your existing system.

Regardless of which camera you are thinking about, many considerations go into selecting a camera:

• Image quality. What size and quality of images do you need to produce? Do you need a full-frame camera, or are other attributes more critical? Will a slightly lower-priced dSLR suffice so that you can spend more money on professional lenses?

• Lens quality and selection. What mix of lenses are necessary, versus ones that you can put on your "wish list"? Do you need a "fast," wide-aperture lens that will hold its aperture at any zoom level? Do you need to shoot close-up images with a dedicated macro lens, or distant images? Will you benefit from a very wide aperture, exceptionally narrow-depth-of-field portrait lens?

• Exposure. What camera features are necessary/important to your work? You may want to consider an external flash (or two) if you do lots of indoor, low-light shooting so as to expand your capabilities. Do you need the ability to shoot low-light, nonflash images that would require low-noise, high ISO capabilities and very wide aperture lenses?

• Speed. If you're ...