The
most important things to consider when investing in a camera body that you will
use for photojournalism or documentary photography is durability, shutter lag
time, frame rate and low light
capabilities. Durability is a
no-brainer; you want your camera to actually work when you’ve just spent two
weeks and $2,000 to get to a small village in Africa to shoot a
story.
Shutter lag time is the time it takes the camera from when you push the shutter
button to when it actually takes the image. When you put your little point-and-shoot up to your
face and press the button and it takes about two seconds for the image to
capture—and you missed the shot—you just got your first lesson in shutter
lag. Since timing is so important
with photojournalism and documentary photography, you want your camera to
capture images as quickly as possible. You also want to be able to shoot several frames in a relatively short
period of time, as it will allow you to capture the perfect moment when you
subject is acting natural and the person in the background has stopped picking
their nose.
If
you like shooting anything other than outdoor tourism shots in peak sunlight, you want a camera
that does well in low light. Low
light capabilities in a camera are usually judged by the highest ISO, or film
speed, that the camera can shoot at without becoming too noisy (noise is
basically a digital grain but is not as attractive as film grain). You should be able to use your camera
at ISO 800 and even 1600 and get usable pictures out of it. I will talk about post processing and
noise reduction in later posts as well as selecting the proper lens for low
light work.
As
far as the whole Canon vs Nikon debate goes, just pick one and stick with
it. One year Canon will have the
best camera, the next year Nikon will improve on the Canon, etc., etc. Invest in the best lenses that your
chosen manufacturer makes and then update the bodies as you see fit.
The
choice for photojournalists, at least in the Canon realm, usually boils down to
the Canon 1D, 1DS or 5D. If you
are at all abusive with your equipment or plan on working in extreme
environments, I would immediately rule out the 5D. Although it is a wonderful camera, it is just not built to
deal with abuse, extreme temperatures and humidity. If you have a nice Nikon lens already and want to get a
better body, I would look at the D3 line, which is what I would shoot if I shot
Nikon. I will give advice on
buying used, demo and refurbished gear in a future Camera Corner post.
The
Canon 1D is probably the most common camera carried by photojournalists and
documentary photographers. It has
an extremely fast shutter frame rate capable of
capturing a large number of frames in just a few seconds, and there are
obviously times when this can come in handy. Unlike the 5D, the Canon 1D is environmentally sealed,
meaning it has a lot of rubber washers and other seals that keep moisture and
dust out. It also has an extremely
strong metal frame capable of taking quite a lot of abuse. If you plan on doing the majority of
your work overseas, I can not emphasize enough the importance of having
reliable equipment. Remind me to
tell you the story about how I shot the entire Asian Earthquake aftermath in 2005 while holding
my camera upside down because the mirror was broken and it would only take
pictures when held with its top-side facing to the ground...
Because of stories like the one above, I now shoot with a Canon 1Ds
MKIII as my primary body with a wide lens and a Canon 1Ds MKII as my secondary
body with my long lens. I will
talk more about my lens selection in another segment (along with other
important issues such as RAW vs. JPEG, memory cards, etc.)
For
me, shooting with Canon 1Ds bodies has been the obvious choice. Resolution is extremely important for
me and the 1Ds is the leader in the category (at least it was about a week
ago…who knows what is best now!).
Resolution is important for a number of reasons but for me the
editability and cropablility of higher resolution images is the deciding
factor. I often shoot in
conditions that are not ideal and the ability to sit down later and crop down
an image, straighten the horizon and still have enough pixels to dodge and burn
without making a terrible mess of things is essential. To come
out with an image that can be printed large and hung on a gallery wall after all of these processes is
really wonderful.
Before you buy ANY camera, spend a few hours visiting dpreview.com. If it is
too technical for you, just go the camera review sections and look at the
conclusions for the cameras you are interested in. There is no better way to research your purchases than on
this site.
To
sum up: Whatever camera you
currently own is good enough for photojournalism, so just get out there and
shoot with it. When you have the
money to upgrade, make sure it is rugged and environmentally sealed,
has a short shutter lag time, high frame rate and works well in low light
conditions (has low noise at higher ISOs.) Take the time to research your purchases on DP Review.
Every camera I have ever purchased I have purchased used,
and personally I think it is better to buy a used $8,000 camera for $4,500 than a
brand new $4,500 camera. You get a lot more for your money and you wont be as
worried about giving the camera its first scratch!
