Canon vs. Nikon

People often ask me whether they should buy Nikon or Canon. It's been a bone of contention for years in the photographic community - much like the Mac vs. PC arguments...

The long and the short of it is that when you're starting out it doesn't really matter. It is very hard to buy a poor camera from any of the major brands! When you're gardening do you care whether you're using a Spear and Jackson spade or a Draper spade? No it doesn't.

It's not until you get into the higher levels of camera that choosing the "right one" becomes important - and by then you should know anyway. It's a fools progress to spend a bajillion pounds or dollars on your first camera.

Here's a question. Which brand of camera took that picture at the top? Answer at the end of this artcle.

Top tips on choosing a first camera:

• Spend less on the body and more on the lens - you'll probably change the camera body within a year or two but the lens (the "glass") will last for years and years.. Buy the bare body and a separate lens - you might even get a better deal
• If you have a photographer friend who is willing to share, lend or swap gear, buy the same make as them - you can borrow from them, lend to them and generally learn together.
• More megapixels isn't necessarily better
• Read reviews on places like DPReview or the Digital Photography School
• Buying second hand IS an option - check this article for some good tips but be careful!

First steps in photography

• Don't get sucked into the "more gear is better" syndrome. Buy a decent lens for your camera body and spend time learning how it works. 
• Understand the difference between "WANT" and "NEED". Until you can say why you need something (and shiny shiny doesn't count) you are thinking of buy it because you want it not because you need it. Save the money until you know WHY you want it.
• Buy the best you can afford. Buying cheap is almost always a waste of money. You will, as your skills develop, learn that the $20 tripod is useless and you will be tossing it out and getting the $200 tripod pretty quickly. That $20 is called the Newbie Tax...
• RTFM. Read The F-f-f-f-fine Manual. Seriously. Read it all.
• Read it again.
• Take the lens cap off.
• Get out and shoot. And shoot. And shoot. Look at the pictures - understand why they are good, bad or indifferent.
• Read lots and lots of blogs and books.

And that picture? I took it on my phone. An HTC Desire... See? It doesn't matter and you couldn't tell...

Someone once said, the BEST camera in the world is the one you have with you.

Please do leave feedback if you have any! I'll do my best to comment back or email directly.

My first photography blog post...

I thought my first post on this, my newly repurposed Flashing12 blog, should link the original purpose of the blog to tell stories about people who are technologically inept with my photographic passion/obsession...

For those of of you who don't know, a “Flashing 12” is a person with no technical inclinations; someone who is inept in all things technological. The name comes from the fact that when you walk into their house their VCR (yes, exactly!) is flashing "12:00", because they cannot figure out how to program it.

I had a moment last week I would like to pass on...

Every so often I need (or want) to use an expensive lens. I've hired Canon 100-400mm L lenses, 70-200 f/2.8 L lenses and suchlike from Calumet here in London. They have this weekend deal which enables photographers like me to hire a lens on the Friday and return it on the following Monday and get charged for one days hire. Sweet eh?

It gets better. Over a bank holiday weekend the same deal applies so you get 4 days hire for the price of one! Last weekend here in London was a loooong weekend so I decided to push the boat out and hire a BIG lens. So off I trotted to Calumet at Drummond Street (Euston / Euston Square) and hired a Canon 400mm f/2.8 L lens.

Now, I was expecting a biggish lens. What I wasn't expecting was the killer monster lens from hell which I duly left Calumet with. Man this thing was heavy...

Canon 400mm F/2.8 L lens (Mark 1)

I got it back to the office okay and as my hands and arms recovered I thought I would see how heavy it was. The Canon USA website is, by far, the best Canon site out there and downloading the spec sheet and manual for the 400mm L was easy.

The lens weighed 5.3Kg (11.7 pounds) and that got me thinking a bit more...

You see, each tripod is rated to carry a certain weight. Stay below that and you're fine. Go above it and bad things might happen. With Calumet's parting comment of "Don't Drop It" ringing in my ears and the £4,000 deposit weighing my credit card down I researched my Manfrotto 190CXPro4 carbon fibre tripod's own weight rating. It can handle 5kg. When you add in the 1.2kg weight of my Canon 7D and grip it makes it an interesting combination.

Worst case? A gust of wind blows my (top heavy, overloaded) tripod over and with it my camera and £4,000 deposit...

I rang them back and explained what I was concerned about. The guy I spoke to sad that if it was his gear he would probably go for it but as it was a hire he probably wouldn't.That settled it. I duly trooped back to Calumet and, I have to say, they were brilliant. They reversed out the deposit and cancelled the hire

I may be thick but I'm not stupid..

Lesson learned: Before you hire that piece of dream gear research it all properly...

There you have the post that links my Flashing 12 days with my Photography days. More to come shortly.