So You Want a New Camera

11 min readApr 25, 2016

You have a point and shoot camera (or just a phone camera), and want a new camera to take better photos. I’d like to help.

First, let’s go over some background, then I’ll provide some suggestions.

How I Got Here

I went on an extended tour last summer, and decided to buy a camera. My main requirement: “I want a camera that will take good indoor photos without a flash.” I thought my budget was fairly generous, at $300-$500.

I now know that professionals spend 10–100x more on their equipment, with many enthusiasts spending thousands. I missed my budget by a large margin, spending over $1000, but I now know my initial parameters aren’t unachievable. Amazing image quality can be had for $250-$1500 — but more on this later.

First, why do you want to take photographs?

I hope you have something in mind; your reason is perfect for you, and I don’t want to change it.

The Art

Now that you have that in mind, what makes a good photo?

We’re going to skip the rule of thirds, having balance in a photo, leading the eye… these are tools to help us create and evaluate pleasing compositions, but that’s not what makes a photo good.

A photo isn’t about perfect images, just like music isn’t about sound, and writing isn’t about words. Art is about expressing and conveying a feeling, a mood, a thought, a moment… a yearning.

You aren’t just recording something. It should bring you there again — and I think most photos can do that for the creator — but we want something more. We want to share our experience.

What do you think of this next photo? It has a slightly unusual perspective, but to be honest, I barely recall taking this photo. I think I took it “because I’m bike touring and I should take pictures.”

A good camera will help you take better pictures. The camera will focus faster, produce better images, and be easier to use. But it won’t help you know when to take a photo, or how to highlight the experience or emotion you’d like to capture.

That is an Art.

The Technique

So, photography is an Art. What are its components?

At its most basic, a photo has a subject (Who or What), and context (Why or How). If a photo is boring, make it interesting by adding context, or giving an unusual perspective on the subject.

You can raise or lower the camera, add an item on the foreground, move angles so you don’t have a tree coming out of your head, etc.

There is much more. Books have been written on composition — and it’s critical, but they don’t matter right now.

Awareness is enough to start.

The Tool

On to the camera! These first 3 controls are important for everyone.

Exposure Compensation (Brightness)

Cameras guess how bright you want a photo to be, exposure compensation allows you to change it. Most cameras have a dedicated dial for this.

Focal Point

Modern autofocus is amazing, but it sometimes needs help knowing what should be in focus. Touch to focus (also on smartphone cameras) is great.

Focal Length (Zoom)

Ideally, a zoom is used to change the background/foreground, not to zoom in on the subject. There are exceptions (wildlife, landscapes, architecture…)

These next 3 controls are important for some people.

Aperture (Focus Blur )

The easiest advanced mode to learn, it helps draw the eye to the subject.

Shutter Speed (Motion Blur)

Allows you to better freeze action — like taking a sharp photo of an active child. Alternatively, you can add blur to highlight movement.

ISO (Light Sensitivity)

Leaving this on automatic is usually the best choice. It will be selected based on the aperture, shutter speed and available light. Higher ISO adds noise, visible as grain.

A Confession

I’m just some guy on the internet. I’ve been shooting for a little over a year.

Many of my photos are terrible. I get caught up in just taking photos — documenting an event and not capturing emotion.

I also have a hard time looking at someone else’s photograph and understanding why they took that picture, feeling what they must have felt to take it — being there with them.

I am very much a student.

I tell you this, because you are also a student. We are all students.

Did you enjoy thinking a little about art, technique and the tool? What drew your attention? What do you think sounds useful? Do you want to learn more?

Why do you want to take photographs?

On to Business

Here are 3 requirements for your next camera.

It must be made within the past 3 years
It must have a large sensor; 1", 1.5", m43 or APS-C
It must be easy to use

By easy to use, I don’t mean “press the button and it takes a picture.”

It needs to be small enough to take with you, but secure and comfortable in your hands. It needs to have physical controls — at a minimum, something to change exposure compensation without looking or fumbling. That probably means at least one dial is under your thumb or forefinger. If you want to learn about aperture or shutter speed, there should be a 2nd dial.

My camera, with 2 dials for exposure compensation, aperture or shutter speed.

Some cameras have a dial around the lens that can be used for exposure compensation or shutter/aperture priority. I don’t love that, but you may.

A camera matching the above description is all you need for general-purpose photography, but some types of photography are best with specific features.

Here are some examples:

Landscapes: wide angle lens (24mm is wider than 28mm), viewfinder
Sports: long zoom, DSLR or 2016+ mirrorless.
Wildlife: long zoom (300mm+ equivalent)
Photos at night, in bars, or of children inside: lens without zoom (prime)
Portrait: lens without zoom (prime)

A Delicate Subject

To a degree, price doesn’t matter. I mean — money matters, but not quite the way we immediately think. You should not consider the price of something without considering how much you will use it.

If spending an extra $200 means you’ll use it more (because you like it more, or you like its pictures more, or you’ll carry it with you everywhere), then don’t waste your money; spend the extra $200.

I’m going to show you some cameras. All of them are wonderful, capable of taking amazing photographs — even in the hands of a child.

The Cameras

There are 3 groups of cameras for you to consider.

High Quality Point and Shoot
Fixed Lens Walk-Around
Mirrorless

* I’m avoiding DSLRs because I think they are too large. All of the above will easily fit in a purse or (in some cases) a jacket pocket.

I’ll describe each and provide some examples.

You may feel overwhelmed by the options. Remember — they are all good quality — great quality, even. Choosing the one that looks coolest is an entirely valid strategy. Most importantly, YOU MUST LIKE USING THE CAMERA.

High Quality Point and Shoot (P&S)

Like what you are probably used to, but with a larger sensor.

Lightweight and (sometimes) Pocketable
Usually 3–4x Zoom.
Much better image quality than a regular P&S or cell phone

Examples (ordered by size):

1. Canon G9 X ($400)

.46 lbs
The smallest 1" sensor camera
No viewfinder
One physical dial (lens ring)
The zoom isn’t as wide-angle as other options.
Slow when taking multiple high-quality image files (RAW file)

2. Sony RX100 II($550)/III ($800)/IV($950)

.64 lbs
I/II have no viewfinder
III/IV have a viewfinder and are wider angle
Menus aren’t great

Good technical review here

3. Panasonic ZS100K ($700)

.69 lbs
Very long zoom
Trades zoom for low-light performance
Panasonic menus are nice

4. Panasonic LX100K ($700)

.87 lbs
Great physical controls
Best image quality in this section
Largest P&S, but will fit in a jacket pocket

Good review here

Fixed Lens Walk-Around

Cameras with no zoom and no interchangeable lenses. Owners frequently have additional cameras for other situations.

They allow for even better image quality than the P&Ss listed above, while being smaller than mirrorless cameras.

Examples:

Ricoh GR II ($600)

.6 lbs
No viewfinder

Looks like a camera from the 90s

2. Fujifilm X100T ($1300)

.97 lbs
Lots of physical controls
Amazing image quality
Pros love it as a travel camera

Fujis have regular firmware updates, but the autofocus isn’t blazing fast. Video quality isn’t as good, either.

Mirrorless

Relatively compact (the smallest are jacket pocketable), with changeable lenses. Lens selection becomes a big deal.

The zoom (kit lens) that comes with the camera will give equal quality to the point and shoots above, potentially at a lower price. The tradeoff is that most are physically larger.

If you get a mirrorless to get better image quality than a P&S listed here, you will also need to either buy a “prime” lens ($250+) or a high-quality zoom ($500+). I’ll add a link to a good general-purpose prime (50mm equivalent) for each camera.

Models within the past 3 years are worth considering (old enough to be cheaper, but with minor image quality differences).

Current Examples:

Sony A6000 ($600 with kit lens, +$400 for prime)

1.01 lbs (including kit lens), but bulky.
Has lots of features, but the physical controls aren’t great.
Kit lens isn’t very good

The next model (A6300) has come out, but it’s twice the price.

2. Olympus E-M10 Mk. II ($700 with kit lens, +$250 for prime)

1.11 lbs (including kit lens)
Very good physical controls
(Barely) jacket pocketable
Very fast single autofocus

Olympus menus are the hardest to initially set up.

3. Panasonic GX85 ($????, +$250 for prime)

To be released at the end of May
The best consumer video (stabilized 4k)
Can take 4k video, then extract photos from it.

An update of the $1100 GX7 (which is now $600)

4. Fujifilm X-T10 ($900 with lens, +$400 for prime)

1.27 lbs (including kit lens)
Amazing physical controls
The best image quality here
Bad for video
No touch screen

Fujifilm is the favorite of several world-class photographers.

Older Examples (still available, great quality images):

Olympus E-PL5 ($300 with kit lens, +$250 for prime)

.97 lbs (including kit lens)
Screen is low resolution
Screen has a selfie mode
No viewfinder
1 physical dial

Jacket pocketable

2. Olympus E-M10 ($450 with kit lens +$250 for prime)

1.12 lbs (including kit lens)
Nice physical controls
Some say the grip is too small

The original version of the E-M10 Mk II, listed above. This is my camera

3. Panasonic GM1 ($400 with kit lens, +$250 for prime)

.6 lbs (including kit lens)
Tiny, but not flat enough for a pants pocket
Only has 1 physical dial

Expanding Your Search

This is not a comprehensive list, but all these cameras are excellent choices. If you decide to do more research, don’t get too carried away. Remember:

As a rule, it must be made within the past 3 years
It must have a large sensor; 1", 1.5", m43 or APS-C
It must be easy to use

Some additional points that may help:

Megapixels don’t matter, sensor size and age matters
The longer the zoom range, the worse the lens (at the same price)
For aperture, smaller numbers are better (f/1.8 is better than f/2.8) but don’t compare aperture between different sensor sizes
Viewfinders don’t help as much if you wear glasses
Expect to upgrade your camera within 5–10 years

Final Thoughts

I spent many hours researching which camera I should buy, ultimately buying my E-M10. All the photos in this article (except for product photos and the one immediately above) were taken with it.

Artistically, the first photos I took with it weren’t much better than those I took with my cheap P&S, but they were less blurry and less grainy. I liked them more, and I felt I could do more. Liking the result encouraged me to take more pictures —many more pictures.

Not surprisingly, taking pictures and looking at them has helped me take better pictures and better evaluate them.

I’m still learning.

I hope you find a camera you like, one that encourages you to take pictures.