It boils down to taste
Albert Pedrosa
Photo mania
WITH the explosion of the mirrorless cameras in the market today, photographers are given more options on what device to use or to add to their arsenal. If you’re new to photography, it would be best to try as many cameras in your hands as you can before you decide which one best fits your taste.
With the geniuses in marketing, a product can be really enticing and often times very convincing. Then the hype comes and suddenly you see photographers around you start using the same brand. You probably will end up getting one. That’s okay. If it will help add confidence in you to make the shot, why not?
In the film days, just by looking at the picture, you’ll know what film was used and sometimes even the developing chemicals and photopaper. I always felt that Kodak gave me more warm, somewhat pinkish colors, while fujifilm was a bit more on the greenish blue. This all depends on what time of the day are you shooting. We didn’t have white balance back then.
It was quite difficult to know what camera was used based on the output back then. The reason to choose a particular brand during the film days is more on the features and the camera ergonomics. The film was always responsible in terms of color, grains, saturation and sensitivity.
Today, in the digital photography era, your camera brand carries all the qualities of both the film and camera. The sensor that replaced film before is processed differently in every brand. Aside from marketing hype, your choice between brands can determine if a camera fits your style of shooting and your taste.
In my personal opinion, after testing different brands side by side, my taste falls on the Canon side. It was an awkward moment when the head of Fujifilm asked me what camera brand I prefer. Although, I have so much respect for the breakthrough that Fujifilm has achieved, but my style of shooting and taste fits better with Canon. If another brand can better fit my taste in the future, I’d shift.
Please don’t take my word for it. I’m sometimes in awe with the quality of pictures that come out of my wife’s iphone. It is important for you to find the right brand that fits your taste. The inspiration and the artist in you will know when you see one. There’s a lot of professional photographers that I know who stood by their brands through different assignments.
In my case, I always find Nikon to be a bit strong in contrast, which gives you a strong visual impact. Canon is a bit softer and will have trouble shooting backlighted subjects compared to Nikon. However, I can’t resist the tones that Canon offers. I can shoot with any brand, but I’d be more inspired shooting with the brand that fits my taste.
Make sure that your choice of camera is not based on what’s new and popular, make sure it fits your style of shooting and tones that you’re after. Keep on shooting, everyone!
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