Anything more advanced than a dSLR (such as a medium-format camera) costs more than $20,000 and is more than you need for the purposes of street style photography. We advise starting to think about camera choice by selecting a price range and then thinking about features. Our next section will give you some things to consider when narrowing your choice.

Features to Consider

Canon and Nikon are like the Coke and Pepsi of the camera world, the two heavy-hitter brands. A few alternative brands get a smaller share of the market. The quality of the different models varies, so it’s wise to do some comparison shopping and read consumer reviews on Web sites like cnet.com and amazon.com. Buying Canon or Nikon is usually a safe bet in terms of quality, but value is another story. There’s also the issue of holiday sales and such. A little market research can go a long way. All of the photos you’ll see in this book were shot using either a Canon dSLR or an Olympus four-thirds.

The brand of camera body you select will be especially important if you plan to purchase a dSLR. Remember that camera equipment is generally proprietary. If you buy a Canon camera, you’ll have to rely on Canon brand lenses, flashes, and other accessories. A few third-party manufacturers offer compatible equipment and accessories, but you are pretty much restricted to what is made for your brand of camera. Whether you select Canon, Nikon, Olympus, or Sony, make sure that the brand you choose offers the variety and quality of lenses and accessories to suit your needs down the road. You’ll want a camera you can grow into. Once you’ve committed to one brand of camera body, it can be costly to switch brands.

Megapixels and Capabilities

Don’t assume that more megapixels necessarily mean better photos. These days, even the cameras on an average smartphone have 3 to 5 megapixels, which is enough for a low-resolution Web photo. A standard dSLR has around 12 megapixels and a “prosumer” model with a full-frame chip will have 20-plus megapixels. More megapixels simply mean more pixels in the photo, and thus more detail when you zoom in—which allows you to reproduce the photo at larger sizes. Consider the medium you plan to use to display your photos. Higher resolution will be necessary for print, but not Web. If your goal is to start a blog, you do not need to have a high-end camera right away, since you can get away with lower resolution for photos posted on the Web. The issue of megapixels will only come into play if and when your work is published in a paper format, such as a magazine or book. Like this one. Baby steps, though—as we warned you earlier—it might not be the best idea to buy an expensive sports car for your first set of wheels.

LENSES

Ahh, the meat to the potatoes. A camera is only as good as the “glass” you put on it. (That’s how the cool kids refer to their lenses.) Seriously speaking though, lenses are very important. If you do purchase a dSLR, remember that a good lens or two is an important part of the initial investment. Some dSLRs come packaged with a kit lens, but these lenses are usually of poor quality. It’s best to buy the camera “body only” and customize it with a good lens of your choosing.

IMPORTANT LENS TIP: When you are attaching or detaching a lens, make sure you align the red dot on the lens with the red dot on the camera. Those dots are there to help you. Lenses can jam if installed improperly. Also, keep the contacts—the metal rings on the inside of the lens and the inside of the camera where they connect—clean and unscratched. These metal parts transmit data between the camera and lens. Last but not least, don’t switch lenses in dirty or unstable places. The insides of your camera and lens will be exposed, and dust or dirt that gets in could damage your equipment.

So what lens should you get? Well, for the purpose of street style fashion photography (SSFP), you will likely be shooting people right in front of you, and perhaps as far back as ten to fifteen feet at the most. To capture this close-range action, we think that shooting with wider angle lenses is most effective—20mm to 35mm on most cameras. However, if you want to use your camera for other purposes too, you may want to get a versatile zoom lens that covers many ranges.

Prime Versus Zoom. Many photographers insist that prime lenses (lenses that do NOT zoom) produce better quality photos. We subscribe to that school of thought. There is a simplicity to prime lenses, since your only concern is focusing. If you need to fit more into the frame, you can take a few steps back. Primes are also smaller and easier to carry. So for the purposes of street style photography, we recommend prime lenses. Zooms do have the advantage of being able to zoom in when you are in a situation where you can’t get closer to your subject, like a crowded wedding, concert, or fashion show, but if you plan to focus exclusively on street style, you won’t necessarily need a zoom.