THE BEST CAMERA IS THE ONE THAT FITS FOR YOU
By Enio Leite

FOCUS SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHY – Sao Paulo, Brazil.
http://www.escolafocus.net 

The good camera is the one that meets the expectations of the photographer. Based on that, it is possible to say whether your camera is a good one or not. All that you need to know, however, is what you have in mind.

One photographer has got an analogical camera , the other, a digital, and so on. But no one seems to be satisfied. And, out of the many questions that have been asked, the dissatisfaction has been proved by the common question, "Is my camera good or bad?" The answer is virtually nonexistent. It is impossible to answer every single case, due to the fact that in photography there is a principle that says, "only the owner of the camera is able to say whether the camera is good or not." The only thing we can do is to offer help. Every camera must have two essential qualities: conditions that allow the correct exposure and the proper features, such as diaphragm control, speed, exposure meter, and the like, that may satisfy the objectives of the photographer. Nowadays, almost all cameras can expose correctly.

The exceptions are with the most popular cameras, with their objectives not always having a sufficient quality for correct exposure. But, don't worry about that, as there is no such camera that will not distort in any way the reality, whether it be in size, as in proportion, in perspective or even in color. There is no picture that may represent reality exactly as it is. The picture is always a reality different from the subject you are shooting.
The connection between these two realities is made by your own conscience and by the conscience of those who are seeing your picture. And, since all the cameras transform the photographed reality, the problem of which one is the best comes to an end. What is of interest is to know how each camera transforms reality.

Each one has a characteristic way of exposing films, and it is just natural that every photographer may prefer other ways. Some like Canon's way of exposing the films, others Nikon's, Fuji, etc. This problem is related to the second quality necessary for a camera to be considered good. Today it is common to use techniques to purposefully produce movement, focusing, contrast, granulation, and high color saturation effects, among others. All of these are considered to be distortions of reality. For a photographer interested in these types of effects, the "good camera that represents the reality perfectly" problem, makes no sense at all.

“Each camera has a characteristic way to expose the film and it is normal that each photographer prefer determined way”.

It is necessary to know what the photographer wishes to do with the camera, and that makes both your choice and judgment call even more difficult. The first problem is that these objectives change quickly. Today, he may be interested in shooting rock concerts or plays, thus needing a 35 mm camera, with a bright objective and highly sensitive films, for pictures in dark backgrounds. Later, he may decide to shoot the texture of rusted metals, and will be after a medium to large size camera, with a 15 Kg tripod. And, since it is impossible to make a camera, which is capable of satisfying all of the imaginable objectives, these were designed to meet as many of these objectives as possible. For that reason, the greater the number of objectives that a camera may satisfy, the better it is. A notorious fact in the photography history illustrates this statement well. Many of the pictures shot late in the 19th century, including some of the very famous ones for their photographic quality, were taken with defective lenses, incapable of a perfect focus. There were not better lenses at the time, and the solution was to manage with the ones available.

But if you have good lens, capable of producing a perfect focus, the better it is. You may choose whether you want a picture in focus or out of focus, which was impossible back then. The great number of features expands your freedom of communication through pictures; but since there is not a camera with all of the features imaginable, you will always have to determine your objectives in advance, and from those, choose what would be the best camera for you. It is very common for the beginner not to know at first where he is going to. That being the case, he will have to make a fundamental decision: he will either have to get a Reflex High Tech camera or purchase a simpler camera to be used at first, and then to be replaced it later on.

The high tech ones, in addition to not producing the "parallax error," carry a great number of accessories such as objectives, zooms, filters, and others. The simpler and inexpensive cameras, with few or no extra accessories that may allow for a manual adjustment of the focus control, diaphragm and speeds, have the advantage of worrying you for a while at first, with technical details. Regardless of the camera chosen, the result will only be a good one. The programmable, state-of-the-art, electronic high tech cameras, with Auto Focus free the photographer from the technical adjustments and figuring, developing the capacity of choosing the subject well and exploring it visually the best way possible.

Consulte também  http://www.focusfoto.com.br/melhor.camera.htm