Understanding Camera Guts
So, you’re thinking about buying a camera. Whether it’s your first or an upgrade from your current machine, there are tons of articles in Internetland that help you decide between camera makes, DLSR’s vs. Mirrorless, cost and so on. But, I don’t think that helps you truly understand how the parts work.
That’s where I come into play.
Alright, kiddos, it’s 4th quarter and I’m the last sub with fresh legs, so let’s go make that touchdown basket and learn some terminology that’ll better explain what camera’s are about. Go sports!
Megapixels
Megapixels relate to image resolution or quality. One megapixel is equal to one million pixels. Digital images are made up of tons of pixels. Remember flip phones and how blocky your selfies looked? They had smaller megapixel cameras. In theory, the larger the megapixel value, the better the image resolution, but I wouldn’t let this be the deciding factor between two cameras.
Megapixels only really matter depending on the size of the prints you’re going to be producing or where you’re planning on viewing the pictures you take. For larger prints you’re going to want to have more megapixels so you don’t lose the details at max resolution, but if your photos are exclusively going on the web, then you might not need over 16 megapixels (12 megapixels is fine too — what an iPhone’s back camera shoots).
Processors
Processors take the image you’ve shot and you guessed it — processes it into a certain file type/size. It’s like the hard drive of the camera. If you’re planning to take pictures with continuous shooting in RAW format, then you might want a speedy processor.
Sensors
There are 3 different kinds of sensors, CCD, CMOS and back-illuminated CMOS.
CCDs are the most expensive sensor to make, so any camera with it is going to cost a bit. CMOS are less expensive to produce and are the most commonly found nowadays. They also don’t use as much battery power as a CCD. Back-illuminated CMOS sensors are primarily a Sony feature, but they can also be found in certain Canon cameras. The main difference is that you have a greater dynamic range, better ISO performance, and decreased noise. Back-illuminated CMOS sensors offer a higher frame rate as well.
Another thing to keep in mind with sensors is sensor size. Larger sensors generally perform better in low-light settings. But it’s not always the case — back-illuminated CMOS sensors are small and perform great in low-light.
Lenses
The first thing you need to know is what kind of mount the lens you’re looking at has. Not every camera body supports all lens mounts. There is the option of buying an adapter, but active adapters that allow you to control the aperture are a little on the expensive side.
Speaking of aperture; aperture controls how much light gets to your sensor. Usually, lower aperture lenses are more expensive. Focal length, measured in millimeters, shows us the viewing angle of the image and how much detail we’ll get. So, a shorter focal length gets you a larger viewing angle, but decreases the amount of detail you’d get on the individual subjects in your shot.
There are two kinds of lenses — prime and zoom. Prime lenses have a fixed focal length while zoom lenses vary. You might want a zoom lens if you’re shooting various subjects like switching between portraits and landscape photography. However, prime lenses have a larger maximum aperture so if you’re shooting a lot in low light situations this type of lens would be ideal.
Okay, team, I’ve linked some articles that go a little more in depth on a couple topics throughout this post. I think you’re now in good shape to pick out a camera that best fits your needs. Let me know what you get and why!
