I get asked this question more than any other: “Which camera should I buy?”
And I’ll be honest with you. There is no best camera. Even the experts can’t decide. Pick up any photography forum and you’ll see the same argument playing out—Canon versus Nikon versus Fuji versus Sony. Every camp convinced their system is objectively superior. It’s not. What matters isn’t the camera. What matters is you.
There are cameras that are better for you. And you can’t figure that out from a Google review.
The Store Visit is the Real Test
If you’re going to spend fifteen hundred dollars, spend it well. Don’t buy online. Don’t listen to your uncle, your coworker, or the YouTube guy with three million followers. Pick up the camera yourself.
Is the store hours away? Make it a date day. Drive out. Spend an afternoon. It’s worth it. Hold the camera. Feel the weight in your hands. Press the shutter button. Does the menu system feel intuitive or does it make you want to throw it in the bay? Can you find what you need without squinting at a tiny screen? Does it feel like an extension of your thinking, or does it feel like you’re fighting it?
Go for what feels good. Not what looks cool on Instagram. Not what your brother thinks you should buy. Go for the system that feels intuitive. Go for the one that disappears when you’re working—where you’re thinking about the light and the moment, not about which menu you’re in.
Commit. Then Learn.
Here’s what I didn’t do when I started: I didn’t hop from camera to camera every time a new model came out. I picked one. It felt right. And I spent the next two years learning it inside and out. Learning what my system could do. Learning what I could do with it.
That’s when the magic happens. Not when you have the fanciest camera. When you know your camera so well that the camera stops existing and it’s just you and the light and the thing in front of you.
Figure out what you love about photography. Then upgrade to the system that meets those needs. Not your uncle’s needs. Not Instagram’s needs. Yours.
Start Here
Your phone is a camera. Your old camera from your parents’ closet is a camera. That dusty DSLR your neighbor wants to give you is a camera. Pick it up. Make some photos. Learn what you actually love about this before you spend the money.
Because the best camera is the one you’ll actually use. And the one you’ll use is the one that feels right in your hands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really have to spend $1,500 on a camera to get started?
No. Start with what you have—phone, borrowed camera, anything. Spend money only after you know you love this. Then spend it on something that feels right.
What if my camera feels wrong but everyone says it’s the best?
Trust your hands, not the internet. If it doesn’t feel intuitive, if the menu makes you frustrated, if it doesn’t feel like an extension of your thinking—it’s not the right system for you. Period.
How long should I stick with one camera before upgrading?
At least two years. Give yourself time to learn the system completely, to know its strengths and limits, to push it and find where you actually need to upgrade.
Own This Moment
This print—the vivid red sky, the stillness at dawn, the moment where everything feels possible—was taken with a camera that felt right. Not because it was the most expensive. But because I trusted it. And because I spent years learning what it could do.