Choosing the Right Camera for Food Photography
So, you’ve been photographing food on your phone for years, but you’re wanting to make a career out of it; whether that be a blog or for work. Now, it’s time to invest in a camera, but where do you even begin? With hundreds of cameras, lenses and other photography tools on the market it can be stressful to know what’s right for you. Browsing online can be daunting and the options can seem never ending, so we’ve pulled together a few tips that will help you pick the perfect camera for you.
Be reasonable and realistic with your budget. One thing to remember is spend as much on your lens as your camera. We know this seems crazy, but the real magic happens from within the glass. A 55mm lens is always a great place to start. The lens will have the biggest impact on the quality of your image.
Make sure your camera isn’t insanely heavy! Try shooting a flat-lay over and over again with a 10-pound camera, it’s hard. The weight of your camera will definitely affect your image. Some lenses can be quite heavy and can almost double the weight of the camera. Look for a cropped sensor camera because this allows them to be more lightweight. The cropped sensor cameras may change your image quality a bit, but technology is changing that.
Food photography is still life photography which definitely narrows down your lens choice. You won’t be shooting from far away, so all that really matters when choosing the lens is your cameras resolution, depth of field and color. When photographing food, the focus of the image is usually a single plate. You want a lens that allows you to focus on the plate and blur out of the background.
Camera prices vary greatly. Depending on how much you’re willing to splurge, you could spend anywhere from $300 to upwards of $2,000 on your choice. You don’t have to go for the most expensive to get the best photos. Photography is also about the person behind the lens and their capability to make something beautiful. Remember that you can spend thousands of dollars on a camera, but the person behind the lens is going to make all the magic happen. We’re a firm believer that people make the image good or bad. You could own the best camera in the world, but by no means does that mean your photos will turn out the best.
