This month: How to choose the right gear for your specialty.

I have not yet purchased any photography equipment besides a basic SLR, but I'm wondering does the kind of equipment I purchase depend on what kind of photographer I want to be? For instance, what kind of equipment would a landscape photographer purchase vs. a portrait photographer?

AnswerThe subject matter of photography has evolved, to a large degree, in direct proportion to the type of equipment that has become available. Thus, the specific equipment used in each of its many specialties does influence the kind of images that you can produce. Some extreme examples would be the kinds of equipment used by underwater photographers or the long 300-800mm telephotos used by wildlife photographers.

On the other hand, many specialties do use similar equipment. For example, high-end studios doing sophisticated product work, architectural photographers and many fine art landscape photographers (particularly those using the Zone system) all tend to favor the view camera or field camera. These cameras have movements to correct for perspective and use the largest film formats to deliver the highest print quality.

Of all the equipment available today, the 35mm SLR is the most flexible, versatile and fastest handling camera system. It is, for example, the mainstay of photojournalists, sport photographers, street photographers and most nature and wildlife photographers. In addition, portrait and wedding photographers are using these cameras more and more although the main studio camera for the portrait remains the medium format SLR. Not to be overlooked is the growing availability of "35mm SLR" type digital bodies that further extend the usefulness of this camera design. It is probably safe to say that the vast majority of photographers, regardless of the special equipment they use in their chosen field, also own a 35mm SLR. In short, the 35mm SLR is the best choice for the widest variety of subject matter.

What then are the limiting factors for 35mm? The most prominent is the small image area as compared to medium and large format cameras. While you may hear people argue about just how much you can blow up a 35mm frame, the larger formats do give better over all quality. Thus, one of the things you need to decide is how large you want to make your prints. For example, I shoot with 35mm, 6x4.5 and 6x7 formats. Up to about an 8x10-inch print size, there is little noticeable difference in quality between these formats. But once I go beyond 8x10 the greater film area of a medium format negative or transparency does make a difference. This is not to say that you cannot make very good 11x14-inch prints with 35mm-- you can. But if you do a side-by-side comparison with a medium format print, you will see better overall quality in the latter.

For some subject matter, this difference is not critical. For example, sports and other action photography where there may be some blurring of movement or out of focus areas versus the tiny details that should be rendered sharp as in a landscape shot. Also, if a soft focus filter is used in a portrait, the size of the film format is not as critical for a bigger enlargement.

So unless you plan to routinely make very large prints (16x20, 20x24) requiring fine detail or have a need to control perspective as in the case of a view camera, the 35mm SLR is your best overall choice.

Joseph R. Meehan
Technical Editor PDN/EDU