Rix Mascarenhas
Hello again guys, today I gonna talk about cameras and the question is; Do you really need to buy a new camera? I know how good it is to get to the time where you decide to change your camera, but the idea of buying new camera is one of those things can we easily confuse desire with necessity. So in this week’s article I’ll talk a little bit about what you need to keep in mind to decide if you need to buy a new camera. Maybe the equipment you have isn’t the top of the line but this doesn’t mean that it is not in a position to take great photos or to do a good job.
Do you really need to buy a new camera? Answer these questions before spending money
The moment you decide to put your hands in your pocket and buy new equipment will always have a dubious flavor. On the one hand you are excited about what you can achieve and what you will be able to do with this new acquisition.
But on the other side there’s always the “ghosts of choice.” Where you wonder all the time if you’re making the right choice and investing your sweaty buck in the right place. To help you get out of this dilemma it often takes months to solve, let’s see some important points. Even if you come from the school of smartphone photography, or if you are swapping platforms (Nikon for Canon or Sony or vice versa), answering these questions will help you to decide if you really need to buy a new camera.
Do you already have a camera?
No matter what type of camera you have, smartphone, compact camera, older film camera, it doesn’t matter. If you answered yes to this question maybe you don’t really need to buy a new camera. Until other issues are raised we do not have enough material to come up with a solution.
Do you use your camera regularly?
You have a camera and you don’t use it regularly, then why you’d like to buy another camera? Often only by the desire for possession, yes this exists, other times to be able to risk in new waters, perhaps. But in short, if you do not use your actual camera you do not need to buy a new one, let’s stop being consumerist.
Now if you use your camera, it doesn’t matter which one it is with a certain regularity you already have an idea of what to expect. And so you can decide to invest some money in buying a new camera, but not before without answering other questions.
What’s wrong with the camera you have?
You’ve come this far, cool. Now it’s time to answer if there’s something wrong with your equipment. It does not need to say that things like defect, defaulted, broken camera. These situations are clear and you really need to buy a new camera.
When you wonder what’s wrong with your camera today, we’re looking for things it can’t deliver to you, that it can’t do. Maybe your camera won’t deliver the quality you expect. Or maybe it doesn’t have the resources you’d like to have or even need. This can already be a beautiful justification for you to convince yourself that buying a new camera is the solution.
On the other hand you may just be overestimating your quality and placing the blame on the camera you have. Doing a self-criticism here is the big key, because it’s no use wanting to have a Ferrari if you can’t drive. If this is the case if you don’t need to buy a new camera, use your camera to learn more and put into practice more techniques and develop your photography better. So when you really get a better notion of things your money will be better invested.
What will the new camera bring to the game?
Dude you really want to buy a new camera right? You’ve come this far after all. It’s okay, I get it. So come on, if you ask what the new camera will bring to the game is a great question, after all it has to do more and / or better than the camera you already have. Then we come up with things like, if the new camera has a larger sensor and with this more ability to shoot in low light situations. Or the new camera can make more frames per second than my old camera, so I will be able to shoot sports. All this has to be put on paper.
Answering these questions you will have a good guide of what to expect of you new purchase. With this in mind ask yourself if you really need these new features. If the answer is positive go and buy the camera. Now if none of this makes a difference in your practical life, keep the money and continue with the equipment you have.
Does the neighbor’s grass look prettier?
We often fall into some silly traps. Like this that neighbor’s grass is always prettier. This in the world of cameras is also true and it comes from famous arguments that some photographers put;
“Canon is better than Nikon”
“Nikon is better than Canon”
“Sony has the best cameras in the world”
All this there is bs and period. Better why? Better for what? Better for who? These are the questions that people who listen to theses famous photographers should ask. Usually we get very attached to the equipment that we have and because of these “believes” that it really is the best, but this cannot take the merit of other brands that produce great value to the market.
The problem with this is when someone buys your idea and start spending money that they doesn’t just have to buy your grass, and you know what, the grass may not be so green to then. So before spending boat loads of money ask yourself if the neighbor’s grass solves your problems, if it does pull the trigger, if doesn’t, keep looking.
If you decide to change brands be sure to research other things and ask more questions. After all we have other pieces of equipment that sometimes are tied to our camera brand. Lenses, flashes are a good example.
Can I use Canon lenses on Nikon cameras?
This above is just an example of a question you will have to answer before switching platforms. What the hell are you going to do with the lenses you already have if you change camera brands?. Maybe you have to sell all your arsenal and buy everything new and in the process lose some good glass and money.
Today we have many options for adapting lenses, where it is possible to use a brand A lenses on brand B cameras bodies. The same goes for flashes and other lighting equipment that doesn’t always work universally. Can You see the size of the problem that a simple camera change can bring.
An to answer the question on the subtitle, no you can’t.
Is there support or assistance in my country?
Oh… Brazil. (for those who are in this blog for the first time I’m Brazilian, be prepare to read a bit about this country, because I sometimes can use some local references to explain my points). Unfortunately Brazil is not the friendliest market in the world for a lot of reasons and a lot of companies. And because of this some brands do not have official support here, which occurs in some other countries as well. So you should ask yourself if the brand you want to buy has some kind of support in your country, because if you do not, with whom will you claim the warranty?
Nikon for example left the national territory (Brazil) some time ago, so buying something from the brand is only possible through the used market, some autonomous importer or the famous importers of China, grey market, because official import no longer exists. Here it is clear example, if your camera gives you trouble you may have to wait months until the problem is solved, as you will have to wait for the pieces to come from the overseas if you are willing to risk in unofficial assistance. Or the option is to ship you camera overseas to be fixed, sometimes it cam take more than 4 months to receive your camera back. Think about, your camera will travel more than you probably will if you need to sen it to the official support overseas, which maybe be denied by a long list of requirements. Yes I’m talking to you Nikon….
Other brands like Panasonic are great here (Brazil talk again), more in other segments other than cameras, the same goes for Fuji and Sony. In the Brazilian market, care with the camera segment is not as great as in other countries Canada and USA for example.
Do you really need to buy a new camera? Final Thoughts.
I believe that if you have exhausted all possibilities with your current camera you should invest in a better equipment. But pay attention when I say exhaust all possibilities, because among them we have the human factor. You have to exhaust also everything you can do with this camera and be aware that a better camera should bring benefits to your career.
Maybe just investing in better lens is a solution, maybe investing in lighting, or a good workshop.In the end of the day it’s all part of a huge package. And you’re the one who’s going to decide.
And then you really need to buy a new camera? Or do you just want to? Leave here in the comments. Don’t forget to leave what equipment you want to buy and why.!
