When I took my first picture it was with a polaroid camera and today I am shooting with a Canon 5D Mark IV. My food photography is mainly shot with a Canon 100mm f/2.8 lens or my Canon 35mm f/1.4.
Landscape photography is shot with my Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 or my Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8.
Here you’ll find my personal recommendations for all types of camera gear, from a basic point and shoot to a camera that lets you change out the lenses and all the gear you could possibly want.
The most important piece of advice I can pass on is this, find a camera store that is there to help you, that offers classes and will take the time to show you how a camera works.
It is one of the scariest feelings walking into a camera store if you don’t understand the equipment, talk and process. I have two stores that I highly recommend and have been doing business with for over 5 years now.
Precision Camera & Video
They ship all over the world, they are right there to help you with any question you could ever have and they offer classes. Make sure to look up their lens rental department too. I purchase camera houses, lenses, camera bags and take classes from them all the time.
B&H Photo
Based out of NY this company has everything you could ever want or need, I have purchased all my diffusers, C-stands a few tri-pods and a few used lenses from them.
What if you want to try out a new camera lens but the price is a bit too high? Renting a lens is the answer.
I have had this company ship lenses to my destination point or sometimes I just rent a lens to try it out and see if it’s a piece I would like to add to my kit.
Lens Pro to Go Is your source for all things lens rental, they will ship directly to you, your hotel, campground or where ever you need your gear to get to you. Audio, video, lighting, cameras, lenses and a lot more.
Now onto actual camera picks!
Family Camera
If you are like me you want a camera that is durable enough to allow your kids to take a picture with out the worry of breaking if they drop it. But you also want amazing clear and colorful images of your vacation, what I recommend is the Nikon Coolpix W300 .
For around $380.00 you can safely let your young children capture the moment they see through the lens or you can enjoy swimming in a crystal clear lake taking underwater images of your family. This camera is waterproof, freezeproof, shockproof and dustproof.
The low-light sensory helps you in the shady areas of National Forests, that camera feature will help you capture all the detail of moss fronds in macro mode. With 5x zoom, you can easily zoom in to capture the faces of bison in Yellowstone National Park while staying at a safe distance away.
The added Nikon Hybrid VR (vibration reduction) means your photos & videos will be steady and clear. With does all of that and more.
Beginner Photographer
An amazing entry level option is the Sony Alpha a68 it is small but packs a punch with vivid color capture and sharpness. The camera body costs about $600.00 and the lenses are extra but there are kits that include a lens, cleaning kit some have a small tri pod and memory cards.
This camera is marketed as the friendliest to users in its’ category. With simple settings, easy to follow instructions and a very understandable user system. If you are a grab the camera and go type of photographer and don’t want to be weighted down with a ton of lenses and gear this is your camera.
From the trails to the beach and then soccer games and stops along the way. With the ability to capture video you can get every moment at the campfire especially with an ISO of 100-25600. I would suggest the Sony 55-200mm f/4-5.6 lens as your kit lens, it has a great telephoto zoom. This will allow you to capture that image of Old Faithful perfectly from the boardwalk area.
The Sony 18-55mm f/3.5 is fantastic for at the park, macro, portrait and general images that do not need a strong zoom.
Intermediate/Advanced Photographer
When you get to the point that you want to work with lenses and capture the moment on a digital camera where you control the settings and have the freedom to create the look you want to capture then a full frame DSLR is what you are looking for.
A full frame camera sensor allows the individual pixels to be physically larger, you can get more light which can result in a relatively noise-free image.
The Canon EOS 6D DSLR which sells for $1,200.00 that is the camera body only however some camera stores like the two I mentioned above work with Canon to create bundles. A bundle includes: lens, cleaning kit and sometimes memory cards are included in the price. I shot with this exact model for 4 years as my main camera.
The Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens captures the tiny hairs on a caterpillar or the sesame seeds on a bun. For night photography this camera with an ISO range of 11-25600 easily brings out every star in the sky and the color bands within the Milky Way. I used the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 lens for that and any other wide-angle images.
The kit lens that usually comes with it in a bundle pack is the Canon 24-105mm f/4.0 I call this the work horse lens, you can do so much with it and it will deliver incredible images time and time again.
From the great zoom to the telephoto the auto focus or manual feature is right at your fingers. Video work can easily be captured with this lens because with the image stabilization when hand holding the camera.
Gear… you know you’ll want more stuff!
Camera Bag
Memory Card Holder
Camera Strap
Tripod
Lens Cleaner
