December 6, 2006
Photography Department
When Your Camera Does Not Matter
Ken Rockwell compares the picture quality from a $150 camera to that of a $5000 camera.
As you'd expect, if you pixel-peep, the $5000 camera is better.
If you examine the photos at a reasonable resolution, however, the cameras take similar pictures. They'd look the same in 8x10" prints too.
The differences between the cameras are not as important as variations in how you use them. Ken is more familiar with his $150 camera than the $5000 camera, so he likes the photo from the cheaper camera better.
Ken gets all excited about stuff like this, but a few caveats are worth mentioning. The scene in the photo is a sunlit still-life. If there's less light and more objects in motion, the $5000 camera will make it possible to capture photos that the $150 camera can't get. For example, if you were photographing an indoor sporting event or a school play (where flash is prohibited or the subjects are far away), the $5000 camera will get beautiful photos that are impossible for the $150 camera to capture.
Still, that $150 camera takes some nice pictures, and for hundreds of dollars less than the sales tax on the $5000 camera. It's a Canon Powershot A530, and you can buy it from my online store for slightly less than $150.
Just thought I'd mention that.
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