"I Love Taking Pictures, What Kind of Camera Should I buy?"

I get asked that questions all the time, in fact so much that I decided to write a blog post about it. Many people love taking photographs, documenting the day to day lives of their families. If you want to take snaps of your children on the go for sharing with family online or social media we recommend using your cell phone--that's right, many current models have great built in cameras, most have flash and video. In fact they shoot pretty nice photographs. I’ve often just taken my phone for short trips like conferences where I might want to take maybe a dozen photos. Todays cell phones produce high quality files.

But maybe you want to go deeper, you want to photograph the kids and take great vacation pictures and not just use your phone. There are many excellent point-and-shoot cameras on the market that are easy to use. And with a point-and-shoot you get a built-in-flash and usually a zoom lens so you can do wide angle as well as telephoto shots. We recommend that if possible, you find one with a view finder window so that you can use that as well as the live view. This becomes important outside on a sunny day when you really can't see the live view screen. Most of these newer camera have pretty nice sensors and lenses and produce great images. The video from some of these cameras is equally as good. There is however a bit of a lag—same with cell phones—between pushing the button and getting the image recorded.

But what if, you ask, I want to capture great images of my child playing soccer, or inside on a stage in a play or at some other event and my point-and-shoot camera just won't cut it? Then you might be ready for a DSLR camera (digital single reflex camera). These cameras are a step up and often bigger in size as well as price, however you get many advantages, among thembeing able to to change lenses. There are many quality cameras on the market for beginners under $600. Now there are now many cameras on the market that are mirrorless—different from DSLR as there is no mirror that you see the image from in the viewfinder. These are similar in concept to the older rangefinder cameras and close to the point and shoot types—yet they have interchangeable lenses, great sensors and no lag. Many not these offer an electronic viewfinder as well. They’re lighter and overall great cameras with a wide range of styles and lenses available.

So there are many options depending on what it is you really care to photograph.  And as always I recommend that you back up your photos in some way so that you don't loose them. You can use the Cloud, a computer or a flash drive among other tools. These cameras are great for capturing the day to day action in your life. However, when you reach important milestones in your life, a new baby, child beginning school, changes in your family or high school graduation its recommended that you use a professional photographer to capture these memories in a way that will preserve them for future generations. Think art for your walls.