# Photography and Cameras This is going to be one of those scatter-shot ones. * I shoot Canon because I started with Canon. That's how they get ya. * Sony has some of the best hardware attached to the worst interfaces. * Fuji and other color science focused brands tend to take better photos on "lesser" hardware. * Leica is our god, but no one knows why * RED for video stuff, but no one can afford it * Does Nikon even exist anymore? * The best camera is the one you have with you * Gear doesn't matter, and you can be good with literally anything * For my money: I'd buy a cheap, small, light body and expensive, good lenses instead of the opposite. * Prime lenses will have better quality with less glass but don't zoom in and out * Moving your body is better than zooming anyway * The Sigma ART series is half the price and outperforms the pricey Canon equivalents * Peak Design makes the best strap(s) * You should get a strap that doesn't kill your neck. It's a cheap win for anyone carrying kilos of glass * Hard cases look cool and make you feel like an operator, but are mostly inconvenient. Get a backpack * Filters (like, physical lens screw on ones) are both over and under rated * Filters (like, the Snapseed digital editing kind) can do more magic than any money on hardware buys * Since all this crap is going on instagram anyway, megapixels are useless and a scam * In fact, less megapixels might lead to better low-light quality because of sensor size constraints * On the whole, DSLRs are over built and basically indestructible. abuse them * F-stop / real bokeh is really the only reason you'd still use a DSLR over a phone camera. seriously. * Learning the relationship between ISO / F-stop / shutter speed was essential with film, less so now * Turn all beeps, boops and focus confirms off. Silent shutter if you have one. * All you need is one auto-focus point in the middle. Half-click to focus then rotate to frame the shot * No matter what they tell you, digital viewfinders are still Pretty Laggy * Photography is perhaps the most approachable art today; ignore pretentious old-timers * **My personal rule is "if this shot already exists on instagram, I don't need to also take it"**\ But also: * Just do whatever you want. Like, seriously? Who even cares. Press a button, take a photo, share it * The truth is, you probably won't be unique. There's just too many photos out there statistically to make your thing truly world-breaking, and that's totally fine too. Shoot the hipster crap you love --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://ltkmn.gitbook.io/brendex/miscellaneous/photography-and-cameras.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.