Cheap Camera Versus Expensive Camera

Source:  Fstoppers

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article pitting the venerable Nikon D800 against a lowly Nikon D40x in a portrait shoot. The purpose of the article wasn’t to see if the D40x was as good as the D800 (it obviously isn’t), but to ascertain whether a beginner would be better off getting something cheap to start out with than starting with a behemoth of a camera.

I printed out the six shots used to compare the cameras at 12"x18" using my printer of choice, ProDPI. I figured at that size I should be able to see the difference. Also, for my needs — magazine covers, headshots, model portfolios, weddings, and engagements — that size would cover 90 percent of my gigs. For the odd blown up wedding portrait, I knew that a 10-megapixel image would stand up just fine.

In a completely unscientific way, I showed the images to about 20 random people. Not one of them could say with certainly which print belonged to which camera. Most got one right, and statistically speaking that was bound to happen. By and large, though, when it came time to make their choices, most people just guessed.

What about an industry professional?

For that I turned to my colleague, Georgia Benjou. Benjou has worked in the fashion industry for almost 20 years, starting as a buyer and merchandiser for Hermes, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Chanel. She’s styled campaigns for Hyde Park Jewelers, The Brown Palace Hotel, and American Crew among others. She’s also the fashion editor for 5280 Magazine, one of the top five city publications in the country. Hundreds of images go through her on a weekly basis. She also receives many, many submissions every month for consideration in the magazine.

She couldn’t tell the difference.

And, here’s the important part: she didn’t care. The images were so close at that size that any difference was insignificant.

So what does this all mean? Get the camera that’s right for your budget. Don’t feel the need to save up for the be-all and end-all of cameras when you’re starting out. It just isn’t needed.

Aftermath

I really was surprised by these results. After all, the D800 was my camera. What should I do about it? I put my money where my mouth is: I sold the D800. I found a used Nikon D3 with low mileage on it, snapped it up, and haven’t looked back. My workflow has sped up, battery life is stupidly good, each file is 85 percent smaller, the camera is ridiculously fast, and I’m not choking trying to keep up with hard drive space. Life is good. If, for whatever reason, I need an ultra high megapixel camera, I’ll rent it. But for my day-to-day shooting, a 12-megapixel workhorse will do me just fine, thank you very much.

Perhaps more people need to evaluate their needs and determine if the camera they're using is really necessary. It wasn’t for me.
Source: Cheap Camera Versus Expensive Camera, Part 2: The Prints | Fstoppers