Why You Should NOT Buy the New Camera…and Use Your Phone Instead

This is a post I have been meaning to write for a while. It’s a post for all my friends and colleagues who have come to me over the years asking the seemingly simple yet actually very problematical question: WHAT CAMERA SHOULD I BUY?

Believe it or not, but this question to me is a little like asking, what career should I choose in life? Before you become outraged and claim this comparison to be over the top, let me explain. 

You see my dear readers, currently there are hundreds of cameras on the market. All quite excellent in terms of quality, they range in a variety of brands and prices, each promising to deliver a better photo than its next door competitor. Point and shoot, DSLR, mirrorless and film cameras are all competing for your attention, the potential buyer. But before you decide on whether Nikon or Sony or Fuji are the ones that deserve your hard earned money, consider this most important question: what exactly do I like and what am going to shoot? 

If you are a young and budding photographer or just simply a photo enthusiast who wants to bring better photos back from her oversees vacations, to you specifically I say this: DO NOT BUY A NEW CAMERA. Please, just DON’T. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and skip getting new gear altogether. 

Here’s why:

* Cameras do not capture photos. YOU DO. If you do not know the basics of photography, the new gear will not teach you. As a matter of fact, this new camera you have just bought and taken out of the box the day before your exciting trip will become a burden rather than a tool. It will not fix your faulty composition, your lack of understanding of light or your sharpness. After a few snapped photos that do not meet your expectations, you will likely leave it in your bag and not take it out until you’re back home again. Your hard earned $850 will not fix what you don’t know.

* Given how affordable and accessible photography gear has become in the recent years, you likely already own a camera of sorts that can capture excellent photos if you simply allow yourself to learn how to use it. Yes, that includes your phone! Mobile cameras have reached excellent quality and can be used to a great advantage. The key is to learn HOW to use them. No matter what smart phone you currently have, they all posses some excellent features that will improve your photography. The obstacle lies in the fact that most people never take the time to learn how to use them. Take a good look at your “old” camera. Take out the users manual or if you don’t have one, search for it online. Most exist as a digital version as well as a paper copy. Learn the basics and go out and shoot with it! Nothing trumps experience of actually using your gear and making work with it.

* Instead of spending close to a $1000 for a new gear, spend $25 for a proper photography manual. There are many great ones on the market. Instead of wasting hours searching whether to buy a Cannon or a Nikon, spend that time learning about the basics of light, composition and shutter speed. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING will improve your photography faster than learning a few basic rules and shooting with those rules in mind, no matter what camera you currently own. I challenge you to really embrace this, it will change your photography forever. 

* If you absolutely must buy the new piece of gear you’ve been desiring for so long, please get it a few weeks before that fantastic trip you have been planning and not the day before. There is nothing more frustrating in life than trying to capture something you’ve been wanting to see for a while while fumbling with buttons and functions in a camera you just acquired and are not sure how to use. New gear, just like a new lover, takes time to reveal itself to you and while the process can be super exciting, don’t expect it to perform at its fullest potential the day you meet each other for the first time 🙂 Take a moment to get know it, learn its secrets and test it out before you commit fully. You never know whether you’ll be compatible for good 😉

To illustrate my point a little more concretely, all the photos in this post have been taken with my camera phone. It truly isn’t the gear, but the photographer and her vision that make great work. Keeping in mind some rules of composition and knowing how to read light correctly can transform your photos, even when using a simple point and shoot camera. Please let me know what you think and share this post with anyone you think might find it useful! Onwards my friends!

***all photos taken with iphone X