Digital Cameras

Cameras for organisations that produce their own material - project documentation for a funder, training content, event coverage, marketing photography, inspection records.

Be honest about whether one is needed. A current phone produces perfectly usable photographs in good light, and for most internal documentation that is the end of the discussion. A dedicated camera earns its place in poor light, at distance, where a shallow depth of field is wanted, or where the output has to be printed large.

Where it is justified, the choice between a compact, a bridge and an interchangeable-lens body is really a choice about who will operate it. An interchangeable-lens camera in the hands of somebody who leaves it on automatic performs like a compact and costs several times more; the same body with somebody who knows it is a different instrument.

Lens matters more than body for image quality, and the kit lens supplied with a body is rarely the reason to buy it. If the work is indoors or in the evening, the money is better spent on a faster lens than on a higher-specification body.

Tell us what the output is for and who will be holding it. We would rather specify a modest camera that gets used than a good one that intimidates.