Which camera should I buy to be able to create beautiful nature photographs? I can imagine that thousands of people all around the world have asked themselves that same question. I know I did! The funny thing is that this is not a complicated question at all! In fact, you can use any box that can capture light onto film, good old analog or digital. It doesn't matter! If you buy an expensive camera and an even more expensive set of lenses, it will empty your pockets, but it won't necessarily make you a good photographer. Why not? Because an image is created by the photographer, not the camera. Finding the right subject, composition, determining the best time of day for perfect light ... It is all done by the photographer, the camera is just a tool. Photography is art! Of course there are a lot of differences in various camera systems, but that does't mean you can't take a beautiful photograph with either one of them.

On the other hand ... it's nice to have a tool that is suited for the task at hand and feels right when you're working with it;-) So which camera, you are asking again? There are three questions you need to ask yourself:

1. What format to choose from?
There are many formats available, but for nature photography I can only come up with three suitable ones. 4x5 inch camera systems can give you the ultimate quality in landscape photography, but since this website is also covering animals, they are beyond our scope. Medium format can give you maximum satisfaction in both landscape and animal photography, but there are a few serious drawbacks. A medium format camera system with the right lenses is big, very heavy and extremely expensive. For animals you would need a big telephoto lens of at least 500mm that will cost you an arm and a leg. And compared to a 35mm system you would only have the equivalent of a 300mm lens (due to the larger format you need a bigger lens to get the same subject size). My recommendation would be to use a 35mm SLR camera system. It's affordable, compact, light, very versatile, has interchangeable lenses and you have a huge choice of new as well as used equipment.

2. What brand?
Who cares? It's the end result that counts, not the fact that you can brag about your super duper so and so at the next party ... I would say that if you stick with one of the major brands, you cannot go wrong. They all make very good camera's and very good lenses. Don't just look at that one camera with the best specifications at this moment, that can change next month when the competitor comes out with a new model. Look at the entire system. In the old days you could buy a Nikon body, stick a third party flash on and it would work ... there were only two electrical contacts. These days it's a whole different ballgame! A modern camera is fully computerized, so you're better off using the original accessories to avoid compatibility problems. So does that particular brand have all the accessories you are going to need? Does it have the lenses you want? And since the lens is far more important than the camerabody ... how is the quality of those lenses? There was a time that Canon owners had an advantage over Nikon. Canon had special lenses with IS (Image Stabilizer), Nikon didn't. That has all changed some years ago when Nikon came out with their own version of IS, called VR (Vibration Reduction). I own Nikon equipment. Not because I don't like Canon, but because I bought my first Nikon almost 30 years ago. After that I had several Nikon camera's, because the old Nikon lenses would still fit the newer bodies.

3. Film or digital?
Both have their advantages and disadvantages. For good old analog photography you don't need anything else than the camera, a couple of lenses, a tripod and a few other bits and pieces. But you still have to buy film and have it developed and printed, which costs a lot of time and money. With digital photography you need more than just camera equipment, you need a decent computer too. But then you can edit your own images and file them onto harddisk, cd or dvd, print them exactly the way you want, and do a whole lot more. A couple of compactflash cards will last you a life time, no more film to buy and you get your results immediately. The quality of digital camera's has come a long way. A couple of years ago I wouldn't have dreamed about going digital. The quality of the very best digital camera was a laugh compared to my Nikon F100. I now own a Nikon D200 digital camera and I love it! The quality of the images is great and I see absolutely no reason to return to film. In short: If you are looking for a new camera, I would definitely go for digital!

There's a lot more information about camera's on the internet. I would recommend going to some of the links I have provided for you on the Links-page.

I wish you lots of fun and success in choosing your camera!