Expert: Barry Benjamin - 9/6/2009

Question
hi barry.

looking to buy the best reasonable priced camera to take good baby and family photographs.

Can you please recommend which camera would be suitable. I find it quite confusing with so many options.

many thanks for your time.
Anita.

Answer
Anita:
Most cameras do basically the same thing. I feel what you need to determine is YOUR level of interest and how much time you are going to invest in taking the photos. The more time you are going to put into it the more I would spend on the camera and accessories. Baby and family photos are not difficult because you are around those people all the time. What is difficult sometimes is makeing a choice of taking the photo or being involved with what is going on that you want to take the photo of. Especially if it is your baby you need to take care of it and not be shooting photos. Also, the question will arise how do I get in the photo? That is easy you need to make sure there is a self timer on any camera you buy. It is easy to learn how to use a self timer so don't worry about that right now. I can divide the choice up between point and shoot cameras and SLR cameras. The first ones shoot very good photos but will not shoot photos in EVERY situation and get the best results. These also are very easy to operate, don't take much time to learn how to operate and are not expensive relatively speaking ($100 to $700). The SLR cameras (and I would go digital with both kinds of cameras) are much more expensive ($350 to $7000) and you can spend triple that amount on the accessories. They are more difficult to learn to operate as there are more controls that allow you to shoot photos in just about any and every situation possible that you will be in with your baby and family. so how much time do you want to spend learning and then shooting photos? You might want to stop at a camera shop in your area and talk with a salesperson. You will actually be able to hold and shoot some photos with the different cameras that they have for sale. This will help you to understand a little about what it will be like to take photos at home. they can also show you what the different cameras can do and what thier limitations are. It takes some work to find the right camera but it is time well spent in the end.