How much sensor do you really need?

[fmw]

Beginners normally don't and shouldn't spend a fortune on a professional camera to learn the photography craft. It takes less camera than you think to learn the ins and outs of recording images.

We have full frame sensors, APS-C sensors and all kinds of smaller ones like the ones in your smart phone. So how much sensor do you really need? In this modern era you can take pretty decent images with a smart phone that can be printed in reasonably large sizes.

I got thinking about this today as I took my new Panasonic point and shoot camera for test spin in the back yard. This camera is neither fancy nor expensive yet it has most of the features an amateur needs to make good images. It is small enough to carry in your pocket and cost me $221 on Amazon. It features all the normal exposure modes you would find on a DSLR and even an electronic eye level viewfinder. It has a 1/2.3" sensor which is quite a bit smaller than the APS-C or DX sensor we see in many digital SLR's. Yet modern technology has permitted cramming quite a bit of pixel density into these little sensors. My Panasonic sports 18 megapixels. Below is a quick shot of one of my wife's roses.

This is a highly compressed jpeg compared to what came out of the camera. You can see there is plenty of detail and decent color rendition. It is a nice image considering it was made with a plastic camera, plastic zoom lens and tiny sensor.

As long as your camera provides for control over the exposure, you can learn and practice photography with something as simple as this. And, oddly, you can make great images as well.

 

[Trever1t]

Sure, but if you were really going to dive headfirst into the art of photography, why not purchase the very best camera you can afford?

Otherwise, you end up buying it later

 

[robbins.photo]

Sure, but if you were really going to dive headfirst into the art of photography, why not purchase the very best camera you can afford?

Otherwise, you end up buying it later

Makes sense, and if you decide it's not your thing they hold their resell value reasonably well in most cases

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

 

[Vtec44]

Know the tools you're using and use it well.

I use my iPhone6 for most of my personal photos

 

[fmw]

Sure, but if you were really going to dive headfirst into the art of photography, why not purchase the very best camera you can afford?

Otherwise, you end up buying it later

Two comments. In the first place, not all beginners know whether they intend to dive or not. Secondly, you can't put a DSLR in your pocket and carry it around conveniently when you aren't out shooting

I've owned and used Oustanding cameras from Hasselblad, Mamiya, Leica, Nikon - even the cambo view camera in my avatar. Yet the point and shoot is my latest camera purchase just so I can put it in my pocket in case I want to shoot something when I have nothing planned. I'll bet you would find one handy as well.

 

[fmw]

Know the tools you're using and use it well.

I use my iPhone6 for most of my personal photos

And it is capable making fine images. You may find it hard to believe but I don't carry a cell phone. I do intend to carry this little camera which is thicker than a cell phone but actually smaller in length and width.

 

[unpopular]

Medium format starts at 4x5!

 

[robbins.photo]

Know the tools you're using and use it well.

I use my iPhone6 for most of my personal photos

As I think most folks do, so I guess I don't see the advantage to a point and shoot there since a lot of camera phones have "pro" or "advanced" modes now that actually allow you to play with ISO and shutter speed. Bridge camera I could see I guess, or entry level DSLR - but point and shoot, well not much of an advantage on most of those over what most folks already have built into their cell phones.

 

[Trever1t]

Sure, but if you were really going to dive headfirst into the art of photography, why not purchase the very best camera you can afford?

Otherwise, you end up buying it later

Two comments. In the first place, not all beginners know whether they intend to dive or not. Secondly, you can't put a DSLR in your pocket and carry it around conveniently when you aren't out shooting

I've owned and used Oustanding cameras from Hasselblad, Mamiya, Leica, Nikon - even the cambo view camera in my avatar. Yet the point and shoot is my latest camera purchase just so I can put it in my pocket in case I want to shoot something when I have nothing planned. I'll bet you would find one handy as well.

I said nothing about DSLR

 

[jaomul]

Its true enough that great images are possible with all types of camera, be they iphones or hasselblad or whatever, but many cameras don't give you much creative control at all, be it with depth of field or iso ability if you take just the sensor into consideration.

A high quality image might just be a record of an event, rather than a vision of how a certain photo can be taken with criteria in mind, so sometimes colour, resolution and that are not enough

 

[Vtec44]

What I need is no more than my cell phone. What I want... now that's a whole different story

In all seriousness, get and use whatever you want. Who cares about people think.

 

[KmH]

The key is knowing how to use what you have, or bought.
Don't expect consistent results if you put any camera in AUTO mode.

Here is what a Nikon D50, 6.1 MP, almost 12 year old technology can do:

 

[fmw]

Sure, but if you were really going to dive headfirst into the art of photography, why not purchase the very best camera you can afford?

Otherwise, you end up buying it later

Two comments. In the first place, not all beginners know whether they intend to dive or not. Secondly, you can't put a DSLR in your pocket and carry it around conveniently when you aren't out shooting

I've owned and used Oustanding cameras from Hasselblad, Mamiya, Leica, Nikon - even the cambo view camera in my avatar. Yet the point and shoot is my latest camera purchase just so I can put it in my pocket in case I want to shoot something when I have nothing planned. I'll bet you would find one handy as well.

I said nothing about DSLR

OK, remove the term DSLR from my post and add "better camera" which you did mention. Why do we have to be so confrontational. Did I do something to you?

 

[jake337]

I need more.

Like 8 x 10 inches more.

 

[fmw]

I need more.

Like 8 x 10 inches more.

A fine pocket camera to be sure.