Quick Tip: 3 Reasons Not to Become Attached to One Camera

on Feb 13th 2010 with 18 comments

Sticking to one camera and becoming familiar with it’s ins and outs may seem like a good idea. You’ll soon be an expert with that particular piece of kit, and will know exactly how to get the shot you want. The problem is that, by sticking with one camera, you will never really expand your skill set as a photographer.

This article will be putting forward three compelling reasons and tips surrounding how (and why) you should regularly swap and change your camera.

1. Feel Comfortable With Different Brands

Although many photographers have a die-hard preference for one particular brand of camera, this generally isn’t the best way to look at your kit. I’m not suggesting that you build up a complete set of lenses for both Canon and Nikon (for instance) – more that you experiment with radically different types of camera when the opportunity arises.

choosing a camera

As well as a professional DSLR, it’s also useful to become familiar with a smaller compact camera. You never know when you’ll be caught out without a battery, and will need to do your best to capture a moment with a fairly basic point-and-shoot. You’ll feel much more confident if you’ve spent time getting to know the limitations and characteristics of that particular device.

Without experimenting with several different brands, how do you know that you’ve settled for the one that works best for your particular requirements?

It Doesn’t Need to be Expensive

Cameras tend to be fairly good at retaining value, and there are plenty of places to find excellent second hand equipment. Don’t be afraid to sell your camera to give another a try. Your skill as a photographer won’t come from a magical relationship with one particular camera, and you can always swap back again if you find that a previous brand worked better for you!

2. Understand the Principles

By regularly moving between different cameras and brands you’ll start to see photography less as something related to one particular device, and more as a bank of versatile techniques and skills. You’ll better understand why a particular camera works as it does, and learn the basic principles of light and composition.

If you feel this is an area that you’d like to spend a little more time understanding, we have several great tutorials that make a good starting point – whatever camera you use!

3. Experiment with Constraint

One of the most interesting things you can do as a photographer is to work with constraint. Incredibly powerful and versatile lenses are available if you have the budget, but often some of the best photos can be taken with prime and fixed lenses (or cameras).

Another worthwhile exercise is to spend a day or two shooting with film rather than digitally. You’ll spend more time ensuring your in-camera composition is perfect, and will put a great deal more thought into whether you should really press the shutter.

choosing a camera

Head over to the Lomogaphy store to take a look at various fascinating (constraining) cameras and, if you’re running on a tight budget, give one of these a try!

Alternatively, you can always create your own pinhole camera (see above). This really is the ultimate in constraint, and is very inexpensive. Our in-depth guide will walk you through the process from start to finish.

Article photo by The Suss-Man.

David Appleyard is davidappleyard on Themeforest
Tags: Tips
 
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David Appleyard is a designer and writer based in the UK. He manages Tuts+, along with having founded several design websites including Design Shack and PixelsDaily.  

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  • Twinelens

    Well… trying is OK but you don’t want to have canon and nikon, simply beacuse you know your local surport for your brand, have got the lenses, maybe even specific software. So jumping here simply keeps you from taking pictures, makes life all stressy.

    Pinhole, Analog stuff if you get it cheap is all nice. But then, if youre able to use one brand you wont be having to many problems exchanging cameras. You’ll need some trainingtime, but usually its working out quickly.

  • Qu’importe le flacon pourvu qu’on ait l’ivresse

    Money is the best reason to be attached with only one camera…

    • massafakka

      lol correct answer ;)

  • http://mindthegaspar.com Gaspar Garcia de Paredes

    ok…

  • http://www.woodsphotodesign.com Brendon

    I do agree with not keeping to one brand when searching out a camera but I can’t agree with switching around with all different kinds after finally deciding on a brand. Get used to that camera and ALL of its functions. Once you are comfortable with that camera then you will be able to focus on proper metering and composition. How can you even think about composition and lighting when you don’t know how to get a proper exposure with your camera? Know your tools well. If you decide on changing brands you will based on facts not what the internet is telling you.

  • http://www.gregveit.com Greg Goodale

    Switching camera systems is often seen as a way of boosting your creativity and extending your photographic skills. In the history of photography there are certainly enough examples of artists who have switched systems and those who have remained loyal – whether it’s to equipment-imposed constraints or to versatile systems.
    Is it cheap to switch cameras? I’m on eBay on a daily basis hunting for gear and swapping stuff and I’ve found that while lenses keep their value well, bodies don’t. This is partly because of the rate of development of new bodies (currently slowed a bit because of the recession). I’ve re-sold Canon L-series lenses for up to 95% of their original retail price after five years. Bodies will lose more than 60% of their value in that time. You will sell your Canon 5D for a price that will not buy you an equivalent quality camera. The megapixel count may be greater, but we all know that’s not the true measure of a camera.
    With selling fees, you lose around 10% of the value of your lenses and 60% of the value of the body. With semi-pro gear that is a lot of money. If you buy a newer body with more pixels, the chances are that it will produce files significantly bigger than your previous camera. Can your computer handle this? Is your CPU fast enough to churn all those pixels? Are your hard disks big enough or will you need a costly upgrade?
    Clearly, there is a lot to think about before switching systems before you even get to the serious question: how much influence do you want your equipment to have on your creativity?
    After all, anyone with enough money can buy any camera system, which certainly makes it doubtful that your outlay will buy you any originality.
    For many photographers good photography is fundamentally about content – the unique personal experience of the world which you put in your photographs. That tends to be easier to do if you know your equipment well. Knowing how much noise to expect at different exposure settings, how to compensate for the latency of the shutter button or the metering algorhithms means you can forget all the technical stuff and focus on what’s happening in the viewfinder.
    In the real world Camera companies need to make money. And they deserve to as the technology they produce is consistently developed in line with what photographers want and it delivers results in tough conditions (OK, so there are exceptions like the development of ISO 1million when anything above ISO200 is noisy!).
    However if we spend too much time in the world of photo blogs, magazines and websites, we become vulnerable to the persistent messages of reviewers, marketers, professional photographers, camera companies, lens and gizmo manufacturers (spend, spend, spend!). It is rarely in their interest to say that it is what’s in front of the camera that counts and that in today’s world, each day more urbanised, globalised, populated and photographed, their increasingly ubiquitous products are more likely to compund rather than solve the challenge of originality in photography.

    • http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard
      Author

      Hi Greg – Thanks for your excellent points!

      • http://www.gregveit.com Greg Goodale

        Thanks David. Keep up the good work promoting creative thinking on the site!

  • Dave

    What is this about?
    Taking good, well composed, artistically impressive photographs has nothing (nil, zero, nada..) to do with one brand or another.
    I still find myself using my Grandfathers old analog Kodak Retina from the fifties just for the heck of it.

    Be artists – not technocrats

  • Adoniram

    One of the first things I tell my assistants is, “Assistants argue about the best camera system. Photographers do not.” A camera is just a tool, like a brush in a painter’s kit. If you’re a full time professional, your clients’ needs will often dictate the tool you need. Listen to your clients’ requests and figure out their needs and you’ll find the system right for you.

    Never forget – if you’re a freelancer, it’s often economical to rent your body and lenses and work the cost into your estimate. A $25k Hasseblad isn’t worth it if you only use the kit three times a year – pass the rental cost (of $500 or so) on to your client.

  • http://bjornsramblings.blogspot.com/ Bjorn

    I think the spirit of this post is right on. Switching from shooting my DSLR and small digital compact to fully manual film cameras has been great for me and I think that is has improved my photography.

    I’m not actually developing my own black & white and it’s added a new facet to photography.

    Older rangefinders (non-Leica ;) ) can be found cheap. I’ve picked up a Cannonet QL17 and it’s great to shoot something old and quiet. But beware, old manual cameras tend to multiply. I’ve gone from a single FM2n to start, to picking up a second FM2n body, to adding a rangefinder and now a Holga. :) It’s a good thing that most film gear is relatively cheap!

  • http://www.cetan.ca Nathan

    I hope this guy didn’t get $150 for writing this.

    • http://www.woodsphotodesign.com Brendon

      I hope he did. It created a lot of dialogue. Thanks David!

  • Mark

    I think once you become familiar,confident and understand the principles of an slr, you can pick up any other camera and be able to use it, even at a basic level.

    So I think that the first point of being comfortable with other brands is wrong.

    I have always been a canon guy, but I can still use sony, nikon etc because I was confident on my canon and understood that camera first.

  • http://www.bloggerzbible.blogspot.com/ Bloggerzbible

    Nice tips. Good

  • Nick

    I don’t know how relevant this is, but I personally have decided for the time being to step away from Digital SLR’s…for the main reason that I actually can’t afford one, nor do I own one, and only every now and again do I get one into my hot little hands. But the other reason is because yes, manual film cameras are fantastic in that you can’t really rely on technology to help pull some of your photos through. The amount of thought process required is so much higher than with digital, in which, if it’s a crappy photograph, you press delete and try again. I have only done 3 rolls so far, and have discovered problems with my thought process rather than with the camera. I have formed bad habits such as, ‘oh i like that chair. Model, sit on that chair’ and then snapping the photo before REALLY considering what my ISO/Aperture/Exposure/whatever needs to be to utilise the lighting I have, or the location in which I’m in. However, because of film and because I’m more apprehensive in pushing the shutter down, I now spend more time looking at the surroundings and distractions that will ruin my photograph.

    I don’t think this is making any sense, but I agree with the post and I am pro-manual-film atm, just because it is training me in probably the same way the photography greats trained – slow, with patience, and constantly thinking.

    On the other hand, my canon-powershot A460 allows me to take pictures that are wonderful. Not to be cocky, but I, as the photographer, have taken amazing photos on it despite the lens/crappy flash and reduced resolution.

    Again, I think this entire comment is irrelevant.

  • Ionut

    I’m don’t really agree with this article… the main reason is that a good camera has no value without some great lens. And some great lens are very very expensive… and in this case I will need 2 sets :D

  • Rob

    I suppose I can partially agree with this article! It’s good to be open to new cameras and lenses in your photography future, however, camera lenses are not interchangeable with different brands. For example, a Nikon lens will not work with a Canon camera, and so forth! However, I agree with many people in the forum–creativity stems from a person, NOT the technology! Technology is just the tool, that’s all.