106 Equipment
microstocks. For microstock use, it is game over—my advice is to use
a digital camera and don’t look back!
The Best Digital Camera for You
So, assuming you are set on a digital camera, what type is best for
you? I mean “type” and not “make” because new models of digital
cameras are being released every few months. By the time you read
this chapter, the current latest and greatest kit will probably have been
replaced by something later and greater.
COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS
Compact, or “point-and-shoot,” cameras are great carry-anywhere
microstock tools (Figure 6.2). All the major brands market models with
similar characteristics, and for a couple of hundred dollars or less, you
can be the proud owner of a relatively sophisticated and versatile
photographic tool. I carry a compact nearly everywhere. My runaway
most popular microstock image, which has made me hundreds of
dollars in commission, was taken on a 6-mp compact (see Chapter 2,
Figure 2.2).
Size and convenience are the pluses of compacts—but they
do have issues, so beware. Their sensor size is much smaller than
that in a dSLR and is therefore more prone to noise. This means
that compact cameras are normally not much use above around
200 ISO; some even have visible noise and artifacts at their base
ISO, normally 100 ISO.
The diagram in Figure 6.3 compares the sizes of different types of
digital camera sensors. The largest size shown is for a 35-mm fi lm
AB
FIGURE 6.2A and B A typical point-and-
shoot compact camera. Fun for all the family,
and also useful for microstock photography.
© Mark_Aplet/iStockphoto
