When purchasing your new DSLR camera, it is important that you know what you need, and for what purpose you need it. Every single lens camera bought in a kit - whether digital or standard - comes with a ‘Kit Lens’. However, for our eager photographers, this kit lens may not be quite what you’re after - you may need to investigate your options of purchasing a specialty lens.

What is a ‘Kit Lens’? A kit lens is a starter lens sold bundled with a DSLR or SLR camera. It is generally an reasonably inexpensive lens, with basic qualities, but perfect for a beginner photographer. The kit lens you receive most likely will be a zoom lens, ranging from medium wide-angle to mild telephoto. Some higher end or more expensive DLSRs will not come with a kit lens, as they are expected to be bought separetly.

For a photographer looking to capture a specific style of image, a specialty lens may be the way to go. Specialty lenses are typically broken down into five categories - fast, fish-eye, wide, lensbaby and tilt and shift. A brief knowledge of each can assist you in making a decision.

A fast lens enables you to shoot in low light without compromising your shutter speed, and you can shoot extremely shallow depth of field. Many photographers love shooting landscapes and group shots - a wide lens is perfect, giving you the option of capturing a broad image. Effectively, a fish-eye lens is a super wide lens without the geometric correction - meaning that the edges of the image distort to fit the image in. The lensbaby is mounted onto the end of a bellows, allowing you to tilt the lens to change the centre of focus and create a smeared effect. Finally, the element of a tilt and shift lens can be moved side to side and up and down.

So, when you buy your DSLR camera, you need to know whether to purchase purely the body of the camera, or also the kit lens. Kirk’s Cameras in Ringwood are more than happy to advise you, and point you in the right direction, so come in and visit our team!

Every piece of technology has a life span - some cameras will last years and years without a glitch, others will die within a few months or years. Accidents do happen - all it takes is a small drop to fracture the screen or dint the body. Or that awful moment when a glass of wine is knocked and liquid seeps into the inners of your camera. So, the question is, do you repair or buy new?

Nowadays, cameras are a household item - one that can be bought in any price range, with any level of quality. It is far less common to have a camera repaired, due to these low prices and options of brand new exciting functions and abilities. Digital cameras are updated more and more frequently, so often it is not advised to repair a camera that is three years old or more.

Deciding whether to buy new or repair is very dependent on the damage done to the camera. Repair costs for a digital camera can range from $150 to $400 or more, and a repairman can charge up to $120 per hour, plus GST, and your camera generally will be returned to you in one month. Five years ago, camera companies were sending out three to four cameras a week to be repaired, however now, this number has significantly dropped back to one - if that.

Warranty is always an issue when it comes to repairing or replacing. Thinking in advance is always a smart idea - when purchasing the original camera, consider buying from a dealer who supplies an Australian Manufacturing Warranty, and be sure to ask all the right questions. Ordering your digital camera online is always risky, some websites can easily void the warranty due to being an unauthorised seller.

The best option for your battered camera is to have it examined by a specialist - determine the issue, and the cost to repair. With such a huge, diverse range of cameras on the market, why choose to repair when you could upgrade for a similar price? You can easily build your own opinion when researching more camera resources.

Give Kirk’s Cameras a call, or come in down to our Ringwood store, and ask our fantastic team for some advice!