1. What You Get For Your Dollars
Camera buyers too often base their purchasing decisions on two things: sticker price and a bullet-point list of features. This approach eliminates a lot of key questions. For example, how does the camera feel in one’s hands? Are its features easy to understand and access? How good are the camera’s built-in algorithms at making decisions about variables such as white balance and ISO (this is doubly important if you have no idea what things like white balance and ISO are)? How clear are the optics?
Some people care to research these things, many don’t, and we know lots of people on both sides of this fence. The non-researchers aren’t stupid or uncaring. Quite often, they’re just busy and have bigger priorities demanding their attention. Those of you now into your third or fourth digital SLR are probably researchers and this article is probably not for you. Instead, we will answer one simple question: When you spend X number of dollars on a camera, what can you expect to get?
In the following pages, we hope you’ll make two observations. First, it doesn’t take much money anymore to get a surprisingly good camera. Second, paying a bit more money will often open up a lot more flexibility with your photography, even if you’re a total newbie who doesn’t know an aperture from an elbow.
Trying to tackle the entire range of camera options here would be impossible. To make this article quick and accessible, we decided focus on one vendor, Canon, which is representative of the larger camera market. As you move higher up the ladder of cameras into the professional range, differences between brands and models become critical.
However, in the $100 to $1,000 consumer-camera segment, features tend to equalize as you move down the price scale. This is why we’ll list a few other-brand alternatives within each of our five price bands and try to call out some notable features that might not fit into Canon’s current repertoire. For 90% of the features most ordinary camera buyers will want, though, Canon makes a fine example.
What? No alternatives in any of the first 5 price ranges? Is this a Canon sponsored review?
This ain't no "camera guide".. Lame
it's just Canon lent them cameras for review, yet, I see alternative cameras for each range though.
TG, what about a buying guide for users upgrading their cameras for better image quality and performance, specifically, Micro Four Thirds.
I've seen many newbies with heavy and bulky SLR's and can't take advantage of it and thought they just want better images.
Oh come on, this is waaaaaay obviously Canon sponsored...
Tomshardware just lost all their credibility
Nikon D50?
Lol, that camera was launched more than 5 years ago, and is now discontinued for years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_D50
please retain from publishing such articles in the future, or do your homework first.
What? No alternatives in any of the first 5 price ranges? Is this a Canon sponsored review?
This is not a Canon sponsored review. We did have access to Canon products to help us get define what we see as the different categories of non-Pro cameras. Why do you not see the alternatives for the first five price ranges. We've discussed alternatives for each price range (each price range gets two pages so make sure you look at the second page of each).
Thanks for reading,
Rachel Rosmarin
Editor, Tom's Guide
Oh come on, this is waaaaaay obviously Canon sponsored...
Nope, it isn't. Here's exactly what happened. Remember we posted an article recently about how-to for nature photography? Here it is. Well, the writer had access to a lot of different Canon models during that trip. So we figured he should use that refresh--that hands-on time--to our readers' advantage by discussing the breakdown of point and shoot and non-pro cameras in a guide. Canon's lineup was fresh in our minds but we also wanted to make sure we discussed other brands, so we sought out what we consider to be the best options.
Please stop saying we were bought out--we will always be transparent about our coverage.
Thanks for reading,
Rachel Rosmarin
Editor, Tom's Guide
Tomshardware just lost all their credibility
Reconsider your position after reading the other comments on this page. If you still think this article is biased, you're entitled to your opinion.
Nikon D50?Lol, that camera was launched more than 5 years ago, and is now discontinued for years.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_D50please retain from publishing such articles in the future, or do your homework first.
My apologies. I meant to include the Nikon D5000, not the D50. It was a slip-up on my part. The D5000 without lens sits in that $600+ range and makes for a great starter DSLR.
To second Rachel's feedback here, I can assure you my choice to focus on Canon here was done solely for simplicity and expediency. In fact, it was Rachel who insisted that we have the inclusion of other vendors in those "alternatives" sections in order to be fair and more helpful to readers. I know that it can be fun and somehow gratifying to overreact and fly off with accusations about Tom's Guide being bought. In no way is that true, and we all know that such practices would only come back to harm us later. When content is advertorial, we say so. This article looked to educate readers new to the subject, and a single-vendor approach seemed the most effective way for following feature additions up a product stack...nothing more.
I agree, this buying guide was not very in-depth at all. It seems that it is merely a Canon review guide with a couple superficial additions at each price range.
A proper buying guide would at least offer some comprehensive comparisons, perhaps with side-by-side images shot with different cameras. If Tom's Hardware is going to throw a recommendation for purchase without a detailed comparison, then this site's "Recommended Buys" just lost a lot of weight with me.
I agree, this buying guide was not very in-depth at all. It seems that it is merely a Canon review guide with a couple superficial additions at each price range.A proper buying guide would at least offer some comprehensive comparisons, perhaps with side-by-side images shot with different cameras. If Tom's Hardware is going to throw a recommendation for purchase without a detailed comparison, then this site's "Recommended Buys" just lost a lot of weight with me.
Rhys--this was not a side-by-side comparison of models, it was a guide to the camera categories and what you can expect from each one. That said, what do you mean by "recommended buys"?
Hey Toms rocks and I'm glad to see rachel answering questions. I would recommend to add the titbit in the comment about the cameraman's having access to diff models thingy included in the article itself. Well it may not prevent idiots from saying you sold out but atleast we know where you are coming from.
Oh and I think the title is NOT suited to the article. though I myself cannot think of a better title, but you know the title seems a lot more traditional (as in readers would expect more brands, more choices) than what the article offers. It's a good read, unsuitable title though, therefore all this nonsense about SOLD OUT!
I thought of an interesting title "Our Experiences with Canon Cameras". It certainly intrigues me as to what Toms has to say about Canon and it moves away from the unnecessary "Buying guide format mindset" of not only the writer but the reader too. Don't forget us humans pighole ourselves way too much in our thinking.
This would've helped even the writer from unnecessarily shoving in products that he didn't know too much about (atleast not as well as Canon's).
Being a tech editor myself, I know the balancing issues and title mindset appropriateness. But good job nonetheless