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Essential Things to Bear in Mind When Buying a DSLR Camera

After much experimenting with your basic point-and-shoot camera, you're finally ready to take your photography to the next level and start creating some more professional shots. Well, it's time to start your search for the perfect camera that has all the features to fulfill your creative ideas for unique photos. With their simple manual controls and amazing picture quality DSLR cameras are ideal for beginners who are looking for a more advanced camera at a reasonable price point. These give you great control over different technical aspects of your photos, so in terms of creative freedom and customization, the possibilities are pretty much endless. This means that they can be used for many different styles of photography, from wildlife to sports photography which makes them very popular among professional photographers as well. Due to their popularity, there are hundreds of different types and brands of DSLRs, therefore making an informed purchase can often be quite difficult. To help you figure out what kind of camera will best fit your needs and budget I've put together a few essential things to look out for before you make your purchase.

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Brand

While the brand might not be that important when choosing a simple compact camera, it becomes a major consideration when choosing a DSLR, simply because once you start collecting lenses and accessories from one brand it can be quite expensive to switch. The leading DSLR camera brands these days are Canon and Nikon and they both offer models that provide exceptional image quality. While the key is, of course, to choose a camera based on its features first and then consider the brand, the advantage of getting one from a well-established brand is that there are a lot of compatible lenses, flashes and other accessories for Canon and Nikon cameras.

Sensor

The image quality of your digital camera depends largely on the sensor which has the function to record the image. Leading DSLR camera brands offer models that feature two types of sensors: APS-C and full frame one. Smaller and practical the APS-C sensor is ideal for beginners and is very easy to use. A full frame sensor is a bit bigger in size and is great for taking pictures in low light conditions. It is often used by professionals and is usually more expensive than APS-C sensors.

Megapixels

Although megapixels are not as important as the sensor in terms of image quality, they're still an important feature that can have an influence on the overall functionality of your DSLR. The resolution of the camera directly depends on the number of pixels. The higher the megapixels the higher the resolution of your images would be. The resolution is particularly important if you want to print bigger photos, or frequently crop them without compromising on image quality.

ISO Performance

The sensitivity to light of your DSLR camera is defined by its ISO performance. IOS capabilities for many of the basic DSLRS range from 100 to 1600, where 1600 is often used for shooting in low light conditions. Besides, on the level of lighting how you will adjust the IOS settings on your camera will also depend on the visual effect you want to achieve. For example, if you want to add more grain to your photos for that vintage aesthetics then you should increase the IOS. A lower IOS, on the other hand, is best for capturing clean and more colour-accurate images.