Before choosing a camera, I suggest you consider the following four questions:

What subject do you want to shoot?

What is your budget?

What stage of photography are you in now?

What brand of camera does your friend use?

1. What do you want to shoot? That is, the subject matter you shoot, which is very important for you to choose what kind of camera.

Each theme has different emphasis on camera performance, such as:

Portrait photography needs a certain depth of field, and dynamic capture also needs high focusing performance.

Baby shooting and sports photography require high focusing performance of the camera, and continuous shooting performance must be better.

Tourism photography requires that the fuselage is relatively light and the focal length coverage is as complete as possible.

Wildlife photography requires a long enough focal length and so on.

In addition, with the popularity of short video and vlog, video shooting ability has become an important reference dimension when people buy cameras. Only by determining the subject matter of your own shooting can you determine what kind of performance camera you need.

2. What's your budget?

It's hooliganism to let others recommend cameras without talking about the budget. The price span of cameras is really too big, ranging from one or two thousand to hundreds of thousands. Only by explaining the purchase budget first can others give a suitable and reasonable recommendation.

Generally speaking, the performance and price of a camera are positively related. Under certain conditions, the higher the price, the better the camera performance. So generally speaking, when I recommend a camera to others, I like to say "buy the most expensive one in the budget".

3. What stage of photography are you in now?

Different photography stages are also important factors affecting camera selection. The needs of "novice" and "veteran" are different.

Some friends are novices who have never been exposed to photography, and simply want to take photography as a hobby or travel. I suggest that this group of friends buy an entry-level APSC frame first, and then see if they have sustained enthusiasm for photography, and then decide whether to upgrade their equipment.

A friend played portal for a while and wanted to upgrade his equipment. It is suggested that these friends can give priority to upgrading the frames and focus on lens configuration.

There are also some friends who are novices or have been exposed to photography for a period of time and want to develop professionally or professionally; It is suggested that this part of the small partners directly reach the designated position in one step, and Quan Huafu will start.

Of course, if you have enough budget, you can buy expensive ones directly. After all, a penny is worth a penny, and the high-priced camera experience far exceeds the entry-level machine.

4. What brand of cameras are your friends playing with?

The bayonet system of different brands of cameras is not uniform, so the lenses of different brands or even the same brand of SLR and micro-single camera are incompatible. Therefore, if you want to borrow a friend's lens, you'd better choose the brand that friends play the most.

However, one thing should be noted: the camera is a valuable item that is easily damaged. Don't lend photographic equipment to others easily, and don't borrow other people's equipment easily.

Second, the basic knowledge of the camera.

What does the camera level mean? What is flagship machine and what is the entry level? What does the picture mean? What do you mean by medium format, Quan Huafu, APSC format and 3/4 format? Which brand of camera should I buy? Nikon or Canon? Or Fuji? What's the difference between a micro camera and a SLR camera? 202 1 year, is SLR out of date? Is it necessary to buy a micro camera? Where is the most reliable place to buy a camera? Can I buy second-hand goods? How to choose the lens? Besides camera lens, what other accessories do I need to buy?

Next, I will give you a popular science, a little knowledge about cameras:

1, camera classification and level.

In order to fully occupy all consumer classes and meet the needs of different groups, camera manufacturers have designed different levels of cameras according to the characteristics of each class. Here, taking Canon's SLR as an example, let's talk about what is camera level.

Under the classification of SLR: from top to bottom, it is the level. From high-end to high-end, from professional-grade Quan Huafu flagship machine to entry-level APSC camera; Micro-cameras and digital card machines are not included in this list for the time being. If you are interested, you can go to the official to check. Other brands and so on. Different brands have basically targeted products at the same level, such as professional flagship, Canon is 1DX MarkIII, Nikon is D6, and Sony is A9II.

2. What does the picture mean? What do you mean by medium format, Quan Huafu, APSC format and 3/4 format?

The concept of picture is also mentioned above, so what is a picture?

Simply put, the frame refers to the size of the camera sensor area, which is divided into large frame, medium frame, Quan Huafu, APS-C frame and so on. You just need to remember one sentence, "The bottom is bigger than the top". The bigger the frame, the better the imaging quality.

Therefore, we can try to choose Quan Huafu and Quan Huafu. Medium format and large format will not be discussed in this paper.

3. Which brand of camera should I buy? Nikon or Canon? Or Fuji?

In fact, the camera brands are not very different, no matter what brand you use, you can take good photos.

Canon:

The camera market share is the first, the product line is rich, the screen is good and the color is pleasing to the eye; Disadvantages: low tolerance, like to squeeze toothpaste, but R5 and R6 have squeezed toothpaste recently. Canon's low-end entry-level products are not as sincere as Nikon.

Nikon:

Nikon's low-end camera is relatively solid, with high tolerance, and the lens group is OK. There is an army of 1.8g, which is very cost-effective. Disadvantages: the rubber is too easy to fall off! The video function is weaker than the other two.

Sony:

Sony camera has a lot of black technology, eye-controlled focusing and five-axis anti-shake are very strong. Disadvantages: poor screen and ergonomics are not as good as the other two.

Fuji:

Fuji camera has good color optimization, rich presets in the camera, basically a micro-single camera, without the disadvantages of SLR camera: relatively poor focus. No brand is perfect, so if you love its advantages, you must accept its disadvantages.

4. What's the difference between a micro camera and a SLR camera? It's 2023. Is SLR out of date? Is it necessary to buy a micro camera?

In my opinion, SLR cameras and micro-cameras are only different in structure, and there is not much difference in essence, and both can take good photos. The SLR has a mirror, and the micro-single has no mirror. At present, the difference is mainly reflected in the weight.

However, mirrorless cameras have indeed become a mainstream trend, and all camera manufacturers have given up research and development on SLR production lines.

The advantages of non-inverting are portability, strong video ability and strong focus, but the lens group is not complete. In the long run, it will replace SLR sooner or later. At present, SLR cameras are the peak of performance, with strong stability and rich lens groups. The disadvantage is that they will be heavy. In the future, camera manufacturers' enthusiasm for the development of SLR body and lens group may be reduced.

Personally, I think micro-orders can be given priority at present. If the pursuit of cost-effective, mainly to take pictures, you can also buy some classic SLR models.

5. Where is the most reliable place to buy a camera? Can I buy second-hand goods?

Personally, I prefer to buy cameras from offline dealers or JD.COM. Note that when buying a camera, it is best for the Bank of China to keep the invoice, because it can enjoy the official warranty policy; And there is no warranty for parallel imports.

Regarding the second-hand piece, I can only say that the water is still very deep, and the chances of renovation and dark disease are not small. Be careful when buying, it is best to trade offline, and ask senior friends to help you inspect the goods together.

6. How to choose the lens?

I have written several articles about the lens selection of SLR cameras and micro-single cameras, which can be read directly.

7. Besides the camera lens, what other accessories do I need to buy?

In fact, photography is really the hobby of three generations. I wrote an answer before, for reference only.

Third, recommend micro-cameras with the highest cost performance at different price points.

Micro-camera is the mainstream trend of cameras in the future, and it is easy to use. Novices give priority to micro-camera. The cameras recommended below all have hoods. If you don't know much about the choice of lens focal length, please leave a message to discuss ~

1, 3000-4000 Budget Micro Single Camera Recommendation

Canon M200:

Canon M200 is an entry-level product of Canon. If the budget is only about 3,000 yuan, it is the best choice, including human eye focus, touch screen/flip screen, wifi and Bluetooth. However, entry-level cameras also have some shortcomings, that is, poor control, 4k specifications are not enough, but something is better than nothing.

2, 4000-5000 budget micro single camera recommendation

Canon M50:

If both video and photos are taken into account, in the price range of around 4,000-5,000, the M50 is a micro-camera with high cost performance, dual-core focusing, fast focusing and beauty function. Ancestral Canon skin color optimization is a model used by many vlog bloggers, and its shortcomings may be slightly worse. Now the price has gone up a little, and the premium is a bit high.

3, 5000-6000 budget micro single camera recommendation

Sony A6 100:

Sony A6 100 is excellent in image quality, focusing and continuous shooting, but it has been castrated more than A6400 in video. If it is mainly taking pictures, it is a micro-single camera that can be started with confidence. If you want to take care of video, A6400 may be a better choice.

Fuji XT200:

Fuji XT200 is the cheapest miniature camera bought in fujinon (xa series is best not to buy ~). If you like retro modeling, don't like retouching and color matching, and prefer film filters, choose xt200.

4, 6000-6500 budget micro single camera recommendation

Canon M6 II:

Canon M6II is also a very good micro-camera, with 32.5 million high pixels, supporting 4k 30p, good focusing performance, flip screen and touch screen, and good skin color. Generally speaking, it is much better than M6 generation, but the disadvantage is that it has no optical viewfinder.

5, 6500-7000 budget micro single camera recommendation

At the price of 6500-7000, there are two micro-cameras worth recommending, namely A6400 and Fuji XT30.

Sony a6400:

A6400 is a micro-camera with excellent performance, which is better than A6 100, more cost-effective than A6600, and has strong focusing ability and tracking ability. In addition, the video has log mode, 4k video, high continuous shooting speed and good image quality, but the disadvantage is that the ancestral screen is slightly worse, the video is a bit jelly-like, and there is no five-axis anti-shake.

Fuji XT30:

Fuji xt30 is a micro camera using Fuji's own xtrans sensor, which has good color science and film filter. In addition, continuous shooting has a high speed, with mechanical shutter up to 8 frames per second, electronic shutter up to 30 frames per second, and video support of 10bit 40k. It can be said that before xs 10 appeared, the cost performance was very high. However, after the emergence of xs 10, it is still recommended if the budget is relatively large.

6, 7000-8000 budget micro single camera recommendation

Fuji XS 10:

Fuji xs 10 is a new model launched in 2020. It can be said that it is the most cost-effective and powerful one among apsc micro-cameras below 10,000 yuan. Its camera and video performance are very strong, 6-speed five-axis anti-shake and 240p upgrade shooting, adding classic negative filter and bleaching mode, it is worth buying.

7, 8000- 10000 budget micro single camera recommendation

Nikon Z5:

Nikon Z5 is Nikon's entry-level Quan Huafu micro-camera with high cost performance. Compared with the previous Quan Huafu micro-camera, it is more compact, with double SD card slots, excellent tolerance and excellent image quality, but the shoulder screen is removed. Compared with eosrp, an entry-level Quan Huafu micro-camera, Nikon z5 is much kinder.

Fuji XT3:

Fuji XT3 is the flagship micro-camera model of Fuji's previous generation, but XT4 didn't upgrade XT3 much. XT3 has strong performance in all aspects, and the price is more cost-effective. The only drawback is that the battery life is not enough when shooting video.

Nikon Kang Z6:

Nikon Z6 is an excellent fuselage with strong photo and video shooting ability. It is rare for the price to drop to more than 8000 yuan during 6 18. My personal guess is to clear the inventory and sell the higher-priced Z6II, but the actual Z6II has not been greatly upgraded. The price of Z6 is extremely cost-effective. Buy it and earn it! The disadvantage is that the XQD card is a bit expensive.

Among the micro-cameras below 10,000 yuan, the body of Fuji micro-camera can't be ignored, with excellent performance, retro appearance and film filter, but many people don't know much about Fuji's lens system, so they wrote an article to introduce Fuji's lens.

4. Recommended SLR cameras with the highest cost performance at different price points.

Although the micro-single camera represents the future trend, the performance of SLR is still very strong at present, and a large number of lens groups have been accumulated. Although the body is heavy, it is still one of the good choices. The following SLR except D3500 is a single price.

1, 0-3300 yuan budget SLR camera recommendation

The SLR at this price is a novice APSC format SLR camera, and Nikon D3500 is recommended.

2, 3500-4500 yuan budget SLR camera recommendation

Including Nikon D5600 and Canon 200DII. The camera models in this price range are basically more advanced than the most elementary entry models. For example, Nikon D5600 is a higher-level model of D3500, and 200D is a higher-level model of 1500D.

Tolerance, D5600 > 200D II；; Appearance, 200DII is more fashionable than D5600; On the screen, there are all touch screens, but the 200DII has a flip screen; In terms of video, D5600 supports 60fps, 1080P, and 200DII supports 24fps and 4K; In terms of battery life, D5600 > 200 DII.

3, 3500-4500 yuan budget SLR camera recommendation

Including models: Nikon D6 10, Canon 6D, two entry-level Quan Huafu SLR cameras, and D7500 and 850D APSC format SLR cameras.

Quan Huafu Entry SLR:

If taking photos is the main task, it is recommended to choose full-frame cameras Nikon D6 10 and Canon 6D for wall cracks. Quan Huafu's image quality, lens group, control and high sense are all inferior to apsc, but its video ability is poor, and its screen has no touch screen.

If you mainly shoot people, then it is recommended to choose 6D, and the skin color is optimized. If you are mainly shooting scenery, choose D6 10, which has high tolerance.

APSC format SLR camera:

If there are many photos, choose D7500, and the picture quality is better than 80D; ; If it is a video, you can choose 80D or 850D D. After all, Nikon video autofocus is a slag; Compared with 850D, I recommend 80D, because the positioning of 80D is one level higher than that of 850D, and it is also a good choice if the price of 850D is reduced a little.

4, 6500-8500 yuan budget SLR camera recommendation

Including models: in the range of 6500-8500, there are two kinds of SLR, one is Nikon's Quan Huafu D750, and the other is Canon's top APSC format 90D.

90D is a performance monster, and both continuous shooting and video are capable of shooting. It's a good choice to shoot sports and wildlife, but if I shoot landscapes and portraits, I will only choose d750. Although it was a 65438+ camera in early 2004, it is still capable of shooting now, and Quan Huafu is the first choice at the same price. I am my selection criteria.

5, 9000- 10000 yuan budget SLR camera recommendation

There is only one 6DII SLR in this range, which is probably the last one of Canon's entry-level Quan Huafu SLR, and it performs well in all aspects.