Megapixel madness . . .
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
First, let me say that I have nothing against technology. I, as a professional photographer, use it every day. The problem with the newest and greatest technology is determining what you really need, and secure that for your business.
New cameras have come out with incredible capabilities. These include the Nikon D800 (in two forms) and the Canon 5D Mk III. The former has 36.6 megapixels, and the latter has around 22.3. Both shoot HD video.
Let’s look at what is needed. I have been a photographer for a long time. I currently shoot for various companies on assignments that include food, products, services, architecture, and lifestyle images. I cut my teeth on event and consumer photography. One thing I can tell you is that it is folly to show up with only one camera to a professional shoot, especially if reshooting it is difficult or downright impossible. Let’s take a wedding photographer, for example. Let’s say he has $3K-$3.5K to spend on a camera or cameras. Should he buy one new Nikon D800 or Canon 5D Mk III to shoot weddings, or should he buy two Nikon D300s or Canon 7Ds?
I would say he should buy 2 of either of the latter 2 cameras. First we usually buy the brand that will accept our older lenses. That usually dictates the brand. For weddings these days, how many people will be buying or making anything larger than an 8X10?
You don’t need over 12 megapixels for anything under 30X40 (and you might even be able to push it to 40X60). Most images are printed smaller, and even wind up on the web, where a sub- one-megabyte image has sufficient size. The only photographers who need such a large megapixel camera are those who produce images in excess of 30X40, or severely crop an image from the original size. An 8X10 from a D800 won’t necessarily be better-looking than one from a D300!
Let’s also look at logistics. A 12.2-megapixel D300 Nikon produces a tiff file around 35-megabytes (8-bit). A D800 is said to produce a tiff image at around 76-megabytes (8-bit). In Photoshop, professional photographers regularly make layers to enhance their images. Each layer adds multiples to the size of that file, and unless you have a pretty robust 64-bit computer system, it may create delays in workflow, or even give you dreaded “out of memory” messages.
The second argument for buying two of the same camera is that you have a backup for the first camera. The lenses are interchangeable. A wedding couple and their families don’t want to hear that your camera failed during their wedding and you didn’t get the pictures. When we did weddings during the days of film, we used to show up with no less that 3 medium-format camera bodies, 3 lenses, and multiple film inserts or backs. We also had two shooters, and this allowed broader coverage. If you are hired to shoot, and you do not deliver, you may be in breach of contract, will possibly get sued, and will definitely generate bad will. This is very bad in this modern age, what with Facebook and Yelp.
My advice is if you are considering going pro, buy affordable cameras in pairs, or even use an older camera to back up your newer one. Never turn up for a pro shoot with just one camera. It can be a recipe for disaster.
– Gary Silverstein
