Pick a new camera for me

Read through the Beginners Questions forum on dpreview.com and you’ll probably see one question in 4 asks “what should I buy”, or a variation on the theme. This on a site that is filled with reviews and any number of tools aimed at answering specifically this question, and yet still the posts appear day after day.

There are no bad cameras, just cameras that are somewhat more or less suitable for specific types of photography.

If you’re a true beginner and all the specifications confuse you, it doesn’t matter what you buy – they’ll all be more capable than your skills at this point. Here are some suggestions to help seal the deal:

  • Pick a price
  • Go to Amazon and use search, enter a price range that starts 15% below what you’d like to spend, and goes to 10% over. Want to spend $200? Search from $170 to $220
  • Sort by Avg User Review.
  • Anything at the top of the list with at least 30 or 40 reviews should work just fine

As an alternative, how about your local independent camera store? Not a big box that also sells appliances and TVs, but an old fashioned camera store – they still exist. Tell the helpful staff what you want to pay and handle cameras in person, then pick whatever feels comfortable to use.