BetterPhoto Q&A
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BetterPhoto Member		Poet and Ethnographer in the City I need to purchase a digital camera that can take high quality photos of city landscapes (buildings, empty lots, sidewalks, bridges, etc.) I would also like a camera that can take decent portraits and extreme closeups. To love this question, log in above July 19, 2004

Michael H. Cothran		What you need is a good quality DLSR system with interchangeable lenses, and as many mega pixels as you can afford. You should use a different lens for each of your three subject matters listed above. Thank goodness you don't mention anything about budget restraints, because what you need does not come cheaply. Starting fresh, I would recommend Canon, since they offer top drawer bodies and lenses for all your subject matter. Canon offers a 20D body @ 8 mega pixels which is quite affordable, and a 1DS @ 16 mega pixels for around $8000. First - for the city landscapes, you need a quality lens that will not produce noticeable barrel or pincushion distortion, and will allow you "shift" capabilities. ALL zoom lenses distort beyond acceptable standards for "high quality photos of city landscapes." So, your choices here would be the Canon TS lenses in either the 24mm or 45mm focal lengths (both if you can afford them). For "decent" portraits, their 28-135 IS zoom will certainly suffice. You would want focal lengths from 50mm to 135mm. If you want to graduate from "decent" to "high quality," I'd opt for Canon's 50mm/1.8 or 1.4, and/or Canon's 85/1.8 fixed focal length lenses for portrait work. Finally, for extreme closeups (and you don't define what you determine to be "extreme" in terms of magnification ratios), Canon offers a terrific 65mm/2.8 macro, which goes way beyond 1:1. For regular macro, down to 1:1, Canon offers 50/2.8, 100/2.8, and 180/3.5 true macro lenses. All lenses mentioned are top drawer. Buying this equipment will certainly set back your bank account a lot, but if you want high quality, you have to pay for it. All this said, I am a Nikon shooter, but the Nikon lineup lacks the TS (tilt/shift) lenses you need for quality architectural images with no distortion. The Nikon lineup can give you everything else you want, but it would be to your advantage to go with Canon, so as to keep it all in one family. Michael H. Cothran www.mhcphoto.net To love this comment, log in above September 12, 2005

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