Finding the Best Digital Camera for Your Budget

Yes, lovely readers! After a long wait I got an email from Danielle over at Etsy to say that my article has been posted. Remember a few weeks ago when I teased you with images taken with three different cameras? Well, the long wait is over; now you can know which one was taken with an $800 and which was taken with a $15 camera!

Here's a delicious preview:

Etsy Success: The Right Camera

Story by daniellexo, Jenkiabaphotography Published on April 7, 2010 in How-To	Photo by SusannahTucker

Jen Kiaba, a.k.a Jenkiabaphotography, is a self-proclaimed camera addict and seasoned photographer. I recently asked her a few questions to help you choose the right camera to shoot your product photos.

What kind of camera would you suggest for an Etsy seller who's just starting out, and has a limited budget?
If you're just starting out in the handmade world, probably the last thing you want to do is shell out a sizable pile of money for a camera. You know you need good photos, but will a more expensive camera really ensure that you get those great photos? The answer is "No." Promise! To prove this, I decided to give myself a little challenge and put several cameras to the test. The goal was to see if I could get great photos no matter what. At the moment I own three digital cameras (yes, I know — it's a sickness). These are all older cameras as well, to prove the point that you don't have to run to the mall and buy the newest camera on the market. A gently used camera is a great tool to begin with to learn the basics of photography! The first contender is a mid-level professional camera: a Canon 30D, which retails for about $800 online. This is the camera that I shoot all of my professional gigs with at the moment. It's a bit pricey for the Etsy seller just starting out, but I wanted to use this baby as a basis of comparison.

The second camera is a Fujifilm FinePix F30. With a little bit of online digging you can find this one for about $250. This is an amazing camera! If I could show up at all of my professional gigs with this camera and not get laughed out of town, I might try it. You have a full range of control with the exception of a true manual mode. There is a lot of bang for your buck here.

The last camera I tested today is a Nikon CoolPix L4. You can get this baby for $15 online! This camera came into my life when my sister moved to New York City and left it behind. Your exposure is fully automatic, but there seem to be all kinds of fun goodies to play with here.

Around 11 a.m. I found a window with some southern exposure, put a gauzy white sheet over the window to diffuse the light, and snapped some pictures of a vintage locket. I took two photos with each camera and then did a quick edit using Picnik.

The results:

The Fujifilm camera allowed me to get really close AND blur out my background by shooting in Aperture Priority mode and shooting with the widest aperture possible (in this case f2.8, which is really amazing!).

The Nikon doesn't give you that kind of fine-tuned aperture control because the exposure is fully automatic; however you could try mimicking that lovely blurred effect with Picnik's Focal Soften tool. The Macro setting also didn't allow me to get quite as close as the Fuji camera did, but the results were still pretty great!

*Check out the rest of the article on Etsy!*