How to choose a semi-professional camera

Who most often wonders how to choose a semi-professional camera? First of all, those who decided to take filming seriously. There is still a small segment of frank perfectionists who, even in the format of “photos for a family album”, do not want to suffer the slightest flaws.

First of all, the main sector of buyers is interesting. These are relatively former "dummies" who already know enough about the process, are a little guided in indicators, technical parameters, brands in the market.

How is the choice made?

To get confused in answering the question of which camera is better to buy is easy at the stage of considering the available range. Immediately there is a group of concepts for the configuration and execution:

• compact cameras;
• in a complete set "body";
• offers of the Kit series.

The answer to the question of how to choose a camera for execution, lies in the intentions of the owner.

Compacts

The performance of the compact is, first of all, a clearly defined restriction. The camera has its own non-removable lens. It will not be possible to exceed the capabilities that are laid down by the device developer. However, no one says that the mirror compact is bad. In good hands, a good camera works wonders, because in the end it all depends on the skill of the photographer. Compacts are widely represented on the market, have excellent characteristics and often occupy a high rating in the personal preferences of customers. The good thing is that their price is very affordable, in comparison with other camera options.

Execution "body"

The camera in the body design is recommended for people with above average experience. This package means that only the body and the electronic filling are bought. The lens is not included in the delivery. The “body” performance, as a rule, wins the competition of choice, if it is clearly known in what conditions the pictures will be taken, the brand of a suitable lens is determined, and other features of the process are taken into account. By purchasing a “body” SLR camera, you can immediately equip the system and start creating. However, the total cost in this case tends to the maximum.

Options "kit"

Kit is translated from English as “kit”, and it says everything about the configuration of cameras. Inside the box there is a camera with a lens that is ideally suited to the parameters of the mechanical and electronic parts. Such a purchase has the highest rating among beginners. Kit SLR camera is immediately capable of taking high-quality images, the settings are wide, but most importantly - there are no surprises. Everything works exactly as indicated in the documentation or reference materials for photographers. There are no subtleties that often arise when combining matrices and lenses with different indicators.

Myths and some conditional divisions

The technical equipment of modern cameras is so great that it is often impossible to carry out
edge and separate the concept of “soap box”, “entry-level”, “semi-professional”, “professional”. In specialized forums, battles are boiling, participants with a high reputation express terribly smart, heavy-weighted opinions, often sprinkling dust and mothballs on everyone. But no one can give a clear answer. In fact, a tangible line can be drawn.

1. Firstly, no one expects anything special from soap dishes. The minimum settings are easy to take, the quality is sometimes pleasing, sometimes not, there are conditions under which the image is simply beautiful.
2. Secondly, the camera for beginners allows you to set parameters that directly affect the quality of shooting. For example, shutter speed, aperture, photosensitivity.Having some experience, you can set the desired values ​​in a matter of seconds and get high-quality images in specific conditions.
3. Thirdly, semi-professional devices do not necessarily imply the use of removable lenses. Compacts with a wide range of settings, excellent hardware parameters, without any stretch, are gaining popularity and are used by very experienced photographers.
   
   A distinctive feature of a semi-professional camera is its great freedom to adapt to shooting conditions.
   This is an opportunity to configure many parameters, conduct serial shooting, mount on a tripod, autofocus on dozens of points, tracking.

Opinion (according to the statements of users), what distinguishes a professional camera from a semi-professional one, is the availability of automated systems for interfacing with additional equipment. It’s easy to enter the forum, to interfere in the discussion about specific brands and preferences.

According to some participants, the best semi-professional cameras can literally grab stars from the sky and pull the owner's hand, recognizing a successful frame. And at the same time, a good camera, the performance of which is impressive, but not maximum, is considered professional if it has the functionality of remote control, forced start and synchronization of connected flashes via wireless protocols. As you can see, the division is relatively far-fetched.

What is on the market

If you look at the market and look for the best semi-professional camera, you can conditionally divide it into three key segments. It is very difficult to determine the rating of manufacturers clearly and unequivocally, but it is easy to determine the key characteristics:

• Nikon The brand positions itself as the very best. The equipment is reliable, the quality of the pictures is at a very high level, the functionality is flawless. The price is not a record, but it bites painfully;
• Canon Reliable, responsive technology. High-quality sensors, relatively inexpensive lenses, an extensive network of warranty and after-sales services. The policy of using a single standard for the dimension of a photocell within wide model series looks very attractive. Matrices are low-noise, sensitive. In terms of pricing, brand products are very popular among consumers;
• Sony Brand for connoisseurs. What not to take away - the presence of incredibly high-quality, literally unsurpassed optics and high computing power of the hardware. A distinctive feature of the brand is not only the presence of very high-quality offers, but also the presence of camera lines with small sizes, as well as a narrow range of applications.

It’s definitely not worth buying a semi-professional SLR camera according to the assessment “the newer the better”, and it does not matter which brand we are talking about. According to users, cameras with the year of release 2014, 2015 often not only look better in terms of cost and features, but also bypass the latest in image quality. Therefore, before going to the store, you should still look through specialized forums in search of recommendations.

What is worth buying

Here is a short list of cameras that are popular and almost guaranteed to please the owner. Given the brands listed above, we will indicate several models with reference to the names mentioned.

Canon

The EOS 6D model is very popular. In terms of price and quality, she is an undoubted leader. Among the characteristics:

• full-size matrix;
• adaptive intellectual focus, tracking, including on the face;
• 2 million effective pixels;
• wide ranges of parameter changes;
• the ability to save in RAW format;
• frame coverage in the pentoprism viewfinder - 97%.

There is a remote control, the ability to connect wirelessly, an evaluation system (measuring white balance, for example), focusing is carried out at 11 points.If you have money, you can buy a model Canon EOS 5D Mark III, which has lower autofocus capabilities, but it is better and faster, passes along 61 points, the camera has 22.3 million active pixels, wider ranges of parameter settings. But the price is one and a half to two times higher than its popular counterpart.

Nikon

A prominent star of the brand is the D7000. The camera won the title of best product and led the well-known EISA rating “Advanced SLR camera”. The characteristics of the device are as follows:

• 2 million effective pixels;
• there is a record in RAW format;
• the matrix is ​​not full-sized, crop factor 1.5;
• focus on 39 points.

It does not make sense to list all the parameters and features. The camera is very decent, but inferior to Canon EOS 6D in most parameters, it costs only 20-25% lower. This is the aforementioned feature of Nikon's market positioning and the result of a well-thought-out marketing policy.

Sony

Among Sony products, Sony A77 II is the leader in terms of price and quality. She has:

• excellent CMOS sensor with controls built on the BionsZ X processor;
• 3 million effective pixels;
• autofocus has record characteristics - 79 points;
• electronic image stabilization.

The camera features are impressive. It is always included in the rating when choosing a particular purchase, directly competing with the Canon EOS 6D in the context of the price tag. The model loses to its competitor by the matrix. Canon has the full size for the same money, Sony also offers APS-C format crop.

Assessment of semi-professional cameras includes the amount of finance that a potential owner is willing to spend. The price of models can vary significantly, even if we are talking about a simple increase in the autofocus class or a relatively small increase in the number of effective megapixels. Therefore, we recall once again: before going to the store, you should carefully study the recommendations of experienced photographers.

In conclusion

The answer to the question of how to choose a camera of a semi-professional class, necessarily includes an assessment of the features that are useful to the owner. Among them may be:

• functional continuous shooting, which offers to take several frames with a minimum interval;
• estimation of shutter speed, a parameter that plays a big role if shooting is carried out in conditions of rapidly changing, dynamic scenes, for example, sports;
• protection against moisture and dust, it is also worth choosing models that offer matrix cleaning;
• the number of available interfaces for external devices, the ability to connect a group of flash units.

Still, choosing the perfect camera will fail. In any case, focus on the most desirable estimates and wallet size. Any good camera of a semi-professional class will become a beloved and constant assistant, given the main features of shooting in which it will be used.