What is the Best Camera Gear for Beginners?
We are often get asked what gear do we have or what kind of gear would we recommend for someone just starting out? So here is a quick blog post with a few of the things I would suggest or recommend a beginner might want to look into.
Cameras
The options for cameras are endless these days with Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, and so on and so forth. I've personally used Nikon, Canon, and Sony cameras, which many would debate are the top three brands when it comes to cameras right now. They all have their own pros and cons depending on what you want to use them for. While I have used all three brands, the two main ones I use are Sony and Nikon.
I initially started out with Nikon purely out of the fact I was gifted the Nikon D40. A few years later I upgraded to the Nikon D3200. The only reason I stuck with Nikon at the time was that I already had two lenses that came with my D40 which also worked with my D3200. So it was easy to just upgrade the camera body.
I later invested two Nikon D7000s, and one Sony Alpha a6000, and I could not be happier! While the overall specs from D3200 to the D7000 were technically a downgrade, the D7000 shot slightly faster than the D3200. The D7000 also had a dual memory card slot. As someone who shoots a lot of timelapses, and photos in general, that was a gift from heaven. Of the D7000 family, for the price, the D7000 is also the best bang for the buck since only minimal changes came from the following models. That is until they came out with the D7500, which now has the ability to shoot 4K, Ultra HD, and 1080P Full HD video. In the near future that will likely be the next upgrade I make, but I will wait a little bit for the price to drop. All these cameras are crop sensor cameras, by the way, and are not full-frame cameras. This is important to note later when I talk about lenses.
As for my Sony Alpha a6000, this is an entry-level mirrorless camera, and man is it a workhorse of a camera! It is about 5 frames per second faster than my D7000s with about 8.1 MP higher resolution. Other than the fact it is a mirrorless camera, everything else about this camera is pretty much the same as my D7000 as far as video and it is still a crop sensor camera. It is a much lighter camera and more compact, so when it comes to being mobile, this camera is absolutely perfect! I have also noticed that when it comes to timelapsing with this camera, the flicker I used to get when using my D7000, no longer exists.
A 2021 update for these cameras, I now only own one D7000 and still own the Alpha a6000. My primary camera is the a6000 for most of my work, with the D7000 being my backup in case something were to happen to my a6000. One thing I have run into when trying to cover low-light video situations, the a6000 seems to struggle no matter what ISO setting I am at. The video will be very stop-motion-like, so in those situations, I will switch over to my D7000. My future plans for equipment will likely be a slow transition to all Sony. My business partners and I all use Sony. To keep our work consistent across individuals, using the same equipment would be easier. This will require me at some point to upgrade to a full-frame camera to match the others, but for the time being, I am able to accomplish all the necessary work with minimal issues.
What to Look For in Each Brand as a Beginner
Nikon
If you are just starting out, I highly recommend starting out with something like the Nikon D3200 which you can get as a package with two lenses and a bag for a pretty good price. The Nikon D3200 has since been replaced by the Nikon D3400 and the Nikon D3500, which are pretty much the same camera, and both the links I have added here include an option to bundle.
Sony
On the Sony side of things, I would again recommend the Sony Alpha a6000. It is one of Sony’s best-selling intro cameras! Especially for those travel bloggers, or someone who wants something that is less bulky, this is without a doubt the camera for you! What is also great about this camera, is for around $500 you can get the body and a single lens. If you did in fact want the next model up, that would be the Sony Alpha a6300, the price jumps up to around $750.
Canon
On the Canon side of things, when it comes to beginner kits, the Revel T series is pretty much equivalent to the Nikon D series. I have plenty of friends who own a T series camera and when I was looking at cameras, I thought about getting the Rebel T4i. The newest model from this series is the Revel T7i which is also a good option for beginner cameras.
Lenses
To this day I still use my kit lenses that came with my D3200. They work just fine and get the job done. Those two lens are the Nikkor 18-55mm VR II with auto focus and the Nikkor 55-200mm VR II with auto focus which was my zoom lens. The camera kits now come with pretty much the same lenses, except the zoom lens is now a Nikkor 55-300mm VR II with autofocus which is actually a better lens. I do have one other zoom lens, which is the Nikkor 80-200mm. It is an amazing workhorse of a zoom lens and probably one of the best professional style zoom lenses you can buy for the price. I use this lens often for sports/action photography, portraitures, wildlife photography, photojournalism, aviation photography, and concert photography.
When it comes to landscape photography, some of my timelapses, and storm photography in the past I have used a Rokinon Ultra Wide Angle which is a fixed or prime lens. Another prime lens I used to love to use for astrophotography/low light situations, and portraits were my Nikkor 35mm. I have since sold both these lenses though as I was not using them as much as I once was.
For my Sony, I have the 16-50mm power zoom lens that came with the camera when I bought it via the link I have above and then I invested in the 55-210mm zoom lens to pair with the camera. I have used both lenses extensively and I have to say I am pretty impressed. Great quality and fast lenses, whether I am shooting landscapes, wildlife, concerts, or weather! I have more recently invested in one more additional lens for my Sony, and that is a fisheye lens for my Real Estate photography. This lens is the TTArtisan 11mm F2.8. It’s a completely manual lens with some interesting quirks when it comes to post-editing. Since this is not the standard lens you find in Lightroom, for instance, you have to manually fix the lens distortion to get rid of the fisheye effect. Once you have done that though, I’ve found the images to be very clean, with sharp detail. So I am pretty happy with rolling the dice on this newer, unknown piece of glass!
Memory Cards
As far as memory cards go, the only thing you really need to make sure you are looking for are the cards with a Class 10 or higher (10 in a circle). Class 10 memory cards essentially render your images faster, making your life easier. As far as size goes, I own about four 16GB and two 64GB cards, and two 128GB cards. The size of the card really will depend on how many photographs you plan on taking at one time or over a duration. The average person is probably fine with 16GB as it can hold on average around 2,000 regular large photos.
Intervalometer
When it comes to timelapsing an intervalometer is going to be one thing you might need if the camera you have does not have the ability to timelapse built into it. Now you can invest a pretty penny to get some very nice intervalometers, but I found the one by VILTROX (featured below) does exactly what I need it to and is the one I use personally with my Nikon D7000, and for my Sony, I have the JJC Intervalometer You are able to set the time increments from 1 second to 99 hours and I have even used this as a shutter relief for nighttime photography for single images. It is a very useful, multipurpose tool!
Tripod/Monopod/Bags
I have two camera bags that I currently use depending on the situation. The first is the AmazonBasics Backpack for SLR/DSLR Cameras and Accessories. You can fit two cameras and a few spare lenses in the main area and it has plenty of pockets for all your memory cards and other accessories you might have. This bag is the first image I have sampled below. The second bag I use when I am traveling offers just a little more protection and allows me to be able to store various things in the top pouch for my travels. There are several ways you can set up the second bag, but I really like that there is a side zipper you can use for quick access to the camera if needed. There is also a sleeve for fitting a 15.6" laptop and also a rain fly that is located at the bottom of the bag. It also has a spot on the front of the bag so you can strap down your tripod to bring it with you. that bag is featured in the second image below. The thing I really like about both bags is that they are brandless on the outside. For instance, there is no "Canon" or "Nikon" on it. Other than the tabs for the zipper, there isn't anything on the bag that screams "Camera bag full of expensive camera gear." Which I personally really like. Sure someone can put the pieces together if you are holding the camera and going through it, but it doesn't blatantly spell it out for them.
When looking at tripods and monopods, it is going to depend on what your personal needs are. For monopods, the Manfrotto Element Aluminum 5-Section Monopod is probably your best bang for your buck! I do not have this exact one, as the one I have was a gift, but if I were to get one this would be the one I would personally get. Depending on your needs, I would also pair this with a Manfrotto quick release. I have the quick release both on my tripods and monopod, as I am an avid storm spotter/chaser and photojournalist, so the need to be able to hold my camera and put it on a tripod or monopod quick very important for me.
Water Proofing
Since I am an avid storm chaser and am out in the elements often collecting video for my broker, it is very important to have something to protect your camera from the elements if they are not weather-sealed, not just water-resistant. I say this because dust, sand, and dirt are all things that can get into your camera and really give you a headache later down the road! While the average person can probably get away with a plastic bag tapped around/over the lens, I invested in Altura Photo Professional Rain cover for large DSLR cameras. I also saw they have a less heavy-duty two-for-one deal on a rain fly that is actually transparent as well if you are also using a flash on your camera. I have included links to both of those below.
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