Prosumer photography is bigger than ever, and somewhat of a phenomenon in my home country of South Africa – probably because of the wide variety of beautiful things on display. I am often asked for advice in choosing a first SLR camera – it can be very confusing and something that perplexed me when I first took the plunge some years ago. So herewith the simplest advice I can think of, based on my own experience.

I’m also steering away from things like post-processing software and speed-lighting because those are best addressed in isolation. I won’t elaborate on terms like aperture or shutter speed either as those are easily referenced elsewhere and should be in your vocabulary before purchasing an SLR anyway.

Spend on glass, save on cameras

A lot of first-time buyers make the mistake of fixating on camera bodies. They want to know whether to choose Nikon or Canon, generally, or whether it is worth getting one of the less-conventional SLRs from Sony or Pentax, for example. That’s the wrong question. Instead, you should be considering what your first lens will be. Spend more on your first lenses than you do on your first camera.

Digital photography has taken giant leaps forward in recent years and cameras are constantly updated, replaced and improved. The cheapest “entry level” SLRs from Canon and Nikon today are as good as the best professional bodies of five years ago, even if they aren’t full frame.

The body you choose is important, but not as important as your lens collection. Lenses will determine what you can shoot and how. A good lens on a cheap body is much, much better than a crap lens on a good body.

Your choice of lenses is also what will lock you into a camera system – be it from Canon, Nikon or another manufacturer. Start with a really good, versatile zoom lens like the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II or equivalent Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. After that you might want to buy a good, prime lens for shooting portraits or a nice telephotofor wildlife – whatever floats your boat.

You will likely upgrade your camera body every so often as new models are released, but glass will be with you for much longer, unless you have so much money that buying expensive lenses whenever you feel like switching systems isn’t an issue.

Avoid kits

I will probably get some flack for this recommendation – but I believe that beginner photographers should avoid the temptation to buy cheap camera kits that include lenses and camera bodies. The reason I say this is because all the kits I have seen include inferior lenses – see my first point, above.

My first SLR camera was bought as a kit and I regretted it almost immediately. I had a great camera body and a mediocre lens. This is the wrong balance for a beginner. What you want, as I’ve said, is a good lens, even if it’s mounted on a cheaper body.

Ignore the zealots

Some people will tell you to buy Nikon, only because that is what they have chosen, or Canon because they have some weird attachment to the brand. Ignore them.

The best camera for you might be a Sony or a Pentax. Or, if you’re loaded, you might consider a Leica. I recommend playing around with friends’ cameras or picking up and handling cameras in a store to get a feel for them.

I love the accurate colour-reproduction of Canon cameras and lenses, but prefer the build quality and feel of Nikon. These are personal preferences and you will have to find yours.

I’ve also recently been messing around with Sony’s new single-lens translucent (SLT)cameras. These are great for beginners because they allow you to view the effects of shutter and aperture settings in real time on the camera’s display or in its digital viewfinder. I also like the built-in GPS on some Sony models that automatically geotag photographs – something that generally costs extra for Nikon and Canon bodies. The Sony Alpha 65 is particularly good thanks to the high quality of its digital viewfinder.

So the right camera system for you might not be a Nikon or a Canon – and that’s OK.

Ask the big question

Do you really need an SLR? You might find a compact camera that covers your needs and presents less frustration than a full-on SLR. Learning to master a single-lens reflex camera will take time and practice whereas you could get a really good compact that will allow you to just point and shoot. Oh sure, you can put your SLR into Auto and just start shooting, but then you aren’t really capitalising on your investment even if you are benefitting from better lenses.

Compact cameras have come a long way. The Canon S100, for example,  is ridiculously good and features a remarkably powerful image processor. Or you might consider the Nikon P7000 or Canon G12 that many professionals use as travel cameras.

Buying a good compact will save you money and might allow you to achieve what you want from your camera without breaking the bank or causing headaches.

Follow the experts

There are so many great photographers that make their knowledge available on social networks and elsewhere. Follow these people and use them for inspiration. Below are some of the photographers, both pro and hobbyist, that I follow:

• Chase Jarvis -  Chase is an edgy photographer that experiments with lights, mobile phones and other things to create new effects. Check out his website and follow him on Twitter.
• Light Stalking - A fantastic community of photographers that freely share their tips, tricks and work. I strongly recommend following Light Stalking on Twitter.
• The Strobist - Lighting is one of the most overlooked elements of photography, especially by beginners. The Strobist is all about lighting, and specifically using speed-lights – or flashes. This site is indispensable and should inspire photographers to pick up some lighting equipment.
• Dustin Diaz - I met Dustin in 2009 and spent some time with him in the bush in South Africa where I was blown away by his photography. Based in San Francisco, Dustin is a wealth of knowledge on speed-lights and shares his setups with the world. Be sure to check out his Flickr stream where you’ll find links to his book for Kindle, iOS and other platforms.
• Darren Smith – Darren is a friend of mine from Johannesburg and one of my favourite photographers. He takes photos for the best reason – because he loves it. And he’s bloody good.
• Craig Rodney – Another friend of mine, Craig takes photos for the sheer joy of it – and he is massively talented. Be sure to follow him on Instagram and see what he can do with an iPhone when not shooting on his 5D.

You never stop learning in photography and I consider myself to be a beginner. The important thing is to take time and learn. Equipment is not as important as knowledge. And the best camera is the one that’s with you

Got any other suggestions? Want to argue any of my points? Please share your thoughts in the comments section…

For the past week I have been testing a 3D home entertainment setup in my lounge thanks to the guys at LG that sent me some equipment to combine with my own system. The picture above is of the wall in my lounge. Before we talk about the realities of 3D television, let’s take a look at the bits and pieces and their prices.

1. LG LX9500 47” LED LCD TV - This is the heart of the system: a beautiful 47″ monitor with 4 HDMI inputs that handles five different ways of producing 3D imagery. This is honestly the most ridiculously thin television I’ve ever seen and does a great job of rendering 1080p high definition visuals and, of course, 3D. More about that later. Price: R42000
2. LG AG-S100 3D glasses - The LX9500 television comes with two pairs of glasses and additional pairs can be bought separately. The glasses are charged using included USB cables and a micro USB port. A 2 hour charge and they’re good to go for at least a week of moderate viewing. Price: R1000 per pair.
3. Microsoft Xbox 360 - The Xbox 360 with HDMI port is 3D compatible, but older XBox 360 units without HDMI don’t cut the cheese. The only game I had to test with the Xbox is Avatar, which was provided by LG. The Korean company has allied with Microsoft for the development of 3D gaming. Price: R3000
4. Sony PS3 Slim - The Sony Playstation 3 is also 3D compatible, but I don’t have any 3D games to test it with. Time will bring them though. Price: R3300
5. LG BX580 Blu-ray player - LG’s latest model of Blu-ray player handles 3D and also has n-class wireless for accessing network media silos and online services like YouTube. That said, the n-class settings are curiously missing from the menu. It did produce the goods in 3D, however, with a disc of demo 3D footage provided by LG. Price: R3500
6. Sony HT-CT150 - This is a compact sound system that makes use of a speaker-bar and woofer to produce 3.1 sound. It also does a great job of playing 5.1 surround sound audio. Most importantly, it has 3D-passthrough for compatible devices. Price: R3000
7. Logitech Harmony 1100 - A universal remote is a must when you’re dealing with this many components. The 1100 is overpriced but does the job fantastically and is programmed via Logitech’s online Harmony service where just about every device known to man is catalogued. Price: R2500
8. Dude with a camera - That’s me. For 3D effects to work properly I need to be at least two meters away from the TV with powered-up glasses on my face. Price: Name it.

Now my only problem is that all I can watch in 3D is the demo Blu-ray disc that LG sent me to play with and the Avatar game for Xbox 360. But it is early days. If I was in the USA and signed up with a compatible pay-television company I’d be able to watch live sport in 3D on ESPN. Japan has also commenced live 3D broadcasts. In South Africa none of our pay-television providers have plans to do that just yet but we should have 3D movies on Blu-ray and console games arriving soon.

I am suitably impressed with the footage on the LG demo disc. High definition 3D is a fantastic experience although there is some noticeable blurriness here and there. The only real disappointment I’ve had is with the Avatar game for Xbox 360 which doesn’t look very good at all. The 3D works, but when you start running around in the game things get blurry and unplayable. It’s also a crap game. Definitely not a shining example of what the LG television can do.

It’ll be interesting comparing 3D gaming on Xbox and PS3 in future. PC gaming is also entering the fray with 3D monitors now making their way into the market and technology from Nvidia that even converts existing titles into 3D.

3D is a nice to have, but it’s not indispensable and I would wait for prices to come down before investing in a compatible HD TV. That said, this is one of the most fantastic monitors I’ve seen and if I could I would definitely keep it attached to my wall. As I continue to use it I’ll post more reviews in the various publications I write for, and on Twitter.

Making the announcement at the massive E3 gaming conference and expo currently underway in Los Angeles, Mirosoft said that the service is set to launch in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece,  Hungary, Poland, Russia and South Africa.

Said Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live for Microsoft,“This expansion is another step toward our vision for Live – to deliver the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, wherever you are in the world.”

The service will be available in the USA summer, which means it should come online in South Africa within the next three months, and definitely by the end of September.

Microsoft said that Xbox Live in South Africa will focus first on delivering core gaming and community features including matchmaking, friends list, achievements, Gamerscore, a tailored Games Marketplace and other features, with content like movies and music being excluded at launch, but on the cards for addition later on.

Yvette van Rooyen, product and marketing manager for Xbox 360 in South Africa added that, “Xbox fans in South Africa will now be able play the best games in the industry with 23 million other Xbox Live users across the world who have made this their online gaming destination of choice. “

Given the long wait for Xbox Live it is likely that most South African Xbox users will have already created international accounts by lying about their location and will be loathe to switch to a South African account because they will lose all their stored information in the service. This will keep numbers down, I predict, while making it look like regions such as the USA and UK have unrealistically high numbers, as is the case with, for example, the Apple iPad which claims 2 million sales in the USA in under 60 days while I’m willing to bet that half those sales ended up elsewhere in the world (heck, I bought two).

I have been an Xbox Live Gold subscriber for some time and have compared the service to Sony Playstation Network (PSN). In my opinion there is no competition really, Microsoft’s service is streets ahead of Sony’s – but the latter gets all the credit for betting on South Africa first.

Microsoft had a slew of announcements at E3 2010, including unveiling its Project Natal accessory which will go to market as Microsoft Kinect and a new version of the Xbox 360 called the ‘Slim’ that will retail in the USA for $299.

On the eve of the World Cup 2010 kickoff in South Africa Leo Laporte and I discussed technology at the tournament and how South Africa has been upgraded for the biggest event in human history. We talked about 3D television, stadium bandwidth, Google StreetView, social media and gigapixel image technology, amongst other things. Check out the video above for our full discussion.

Firstly, the Nomad played the same game cartridges used by the Mega Drive or Genesis. That’s right – imagine having a PSP that played your PS3 games. It was that awesome.

The Nomad also had a controller slot on it, so that you could plug in a second Genesis gamepad and have two players on the same Nomad. Rad doesn’t even begin to describe this feature… think two-player Mortal Kombat anywhere.

It also had a standard power port, so you could buy any generic power or even car-lighter adapter and use it to power the Nomad. It came with a cable to connect it to a TV, so it really was like having a full-fledged Genesis with you anywhere. Proprietary ports are the work of the devil and I wish today’s console manufacturers would support standards more widely than just HDMI.

The Nomad’s battery pack clipped off and you could buy spares. The pack held six standard AA batteries so you could pick up batteries anywhere or carry a few loaded packs with you. Batteries, however, were the only down-side of this device as you would only get a few hours game time out of six AAs. I used to use rechargeable batteries with the device. Unfortunately we were a few years away from decent batteries in 1995.

I picked up a Nomad in 1996 while visiting my girlfriend of the time in the USA. The exchange rate was R4.40 back then and I paid around $160 for it – so roughly R700. I brought it back to South Africa and was instantly promoted to legendary status with my friends. I still have it. I throw out things all the time, but the Nomad is a keeper and I’ll never intentionally get rid of it. And you can pick up second-hand Genesis game cartridges now for a fistful of change.

What’s the coolest thing you bought in the 90s? My Sony MZ-R70 MD recorder/player is a close second to the Nomad.