Time for an updated report
Factor 1; Why do you want to buy a camera, how much will you use it and how willing are you to learn more about using the camera.
Factor 2; What kind of picture taking will you use the camera for.
Factor 3; What is your budget; how much are you willing to spend.
The answers to these questions will help determine the camera that is right for you.
Let's discuss Factor 1
If you do not have a digital camera - that is a very good reason to buy a new camera. Film is used only by a small percentage of photographers and mostly for specialized work. Film is getting hard to obtain. Film takes you out of the most important part - editing your photos. To do that, you must have your negatives or slides scanned so you have a digital file to work with.
How willing are you to learn to use the camera? Those who make a commitment to learning enough to use many of the camera's capabilities will be rewarded if you buy a better camera.
Of course, your desire to use the camera a lot will drive you to spend more for a better camera.
How much you can spend is also related to how much you are willing to learn. However, a better (more expensive) camera will help you take better photos.
Let's discuss Factor 2
Let's discuss Factor 3
Why do you need a view-finder? Putting the camera up to your face to see through the window helps you hold the camera steady (reduces blurred pictures). Use of the view-finder is more accurate for composing the picture and makes your view much clearer (on a sunny day). Often taking photos outside, the LCD screen is very difficult to see. You find that you can't see what you are trying to photograph. Also, using the LCD screen uses up your battery power much faster than using the view-finder and leaving the screen off.
If you plan to use your camera more; for vacations, out at parks on nice days, to take pictures of interesting things or scenic spots or if you have an interest in using your camera to create artistic images, then you need to buy a better and more versatile camera.
Camera types
Millions of people are using cell phones to take pictures. If they use those pictures for social media, on-screen presentation or tiny prints they will be happy with the images. For any other uses they will find the cell phone images are not acceptable.
Point n' shoot. This is a class or type of camera that I do not like very much, but these must be discussed. The reason is simple. Some people really like these cameras and, for the casual picture-taker, they can be all that is needed.
Point n' shoot cameras usually have the lens built into the camera. The quality of these cameras can be very low to high, however, the better ones cost a lot and you can get more versatile or more flexible cameras for the same price or even for less cost in some cases. So if the good ones are expensive, why do people buy them?
Well, it can be that they are un-aware of the technical aspects of cameras and they purchase them in error. It can be because they want the small size for carrying in a pocket or purse. It can be for the huge zoom capability that some of these cameras have.
It is here that I need to talk about sensor size. Digital cameras are made with different size sensors. In a way, it is like film cameras. Some photographers took big cameras with 5 by 7 inch film sheets (or even 8 by 10 inch film sheets) out into the world to take photos. The large film produced very sharp images that could be enlarged to make huge prints. Then film progressed to the point where small 35mm film cameras could make images that were pretty good and newspapers took to using those type cameras.
Modern cameras use sensors that are very tiny in cell phones and tiny in point n' shoot cameras. Other digital cameras use bigger sensors. It is rather complicated, but for simplicity we will talk about groups. There are small, medium and large sensors. As the sensors increase in size, so does the quality of the images they make.
Back to point n' shoot cameras. The better ones with medium sensors (most have small sensors) are very expensive.
Mirrorless. These are digital cameras without mirrors, meaning that light comes through the lens and when the shutter is opened, the light reaches the sensor to create an image. These cameras then have LCD screen and sometimes view-finders, that are electronic and show the user an image that is like that which will be created on the sensor. These cameras have medium or large sensors and tend to be larger in size than point n' shoot cameras. They are usually smaller in size than traditional SLR cameras.
Mirrorless cameras provide the capability to change lenses. Many different type lenses are available.
Traditional SLR (cameras with mirrors). These cameras use mirrors to send the light coming through the lens into the view-finder. What the user sees is what the sensor will capture. Some people prefer this kind of view as they are taking the pictures rather than seeing the electronic version of the image (which is what happens in mirrorless cameras). I should point out that view-finders in the mirrorless cameras have improved to the point where they are very good.
When the photo is actually taken on SLR cameras, the mirror rotates out of the way, the light travels to the sensor and the image is created. Then the mirror rotates back into position. All this takes place very quickly. There can be some sound as the photo is taken and some slight camera movement is possible, but it is very slight.
These cameras tend to be somewhat larger than mirrorless cameras. They can also be heavier.
These cameras use medium and large sensors, but most of them have large sensors. There are many lenses available for these type cameras.
A little more about sensors
Sensors in the medium category run from about 3/4 of an inch to about 1 and 1/8 of an inch. The largest sensor in this group is called a "four-thirds" sensor. Panasonic and Olympus are proponents of these four-thirds sensor cameras.
Sensors in the large category are APS-C, full-frame, and medium-format sensors. The full-frame sensor is the size of the 35mm film negatives. The APS-C sensor is about one third smaller and medium-format sensor is about two-thirds larger than a full-frame sensor.
With this general information about cameras in mind, read my next blog post about current and other cameras that fit these categories and which ones of each type are good. Estimated prices will be provided. Exact models will be described to help you figure out what camera would be best for you.