I thought it was time to do a little round up of…CAMERAS. I know most of you reading this are aspiring bloggers, influencers or maybe you just want to take some epic photos. It took me YEARS to find a camera that worked for me. The DSLR’s were too clunky, too “photographer-y” and just not user friendly (at least for me, please keep that in mind! This is just my personal experience). I had no formal education on photography and those shooting me (aka Mom, Emin, Jenna, random person on the street) didn’t either. It was an absolute pain to shoot!

Over the years and I would probably say 4-5 cameras later I’ve found two that I really love and that are super easy to use. These are the cameras I use to take photos seen all over my Instagram feed and blog. Please note that my review below is not a photographers review but rather an every day user.

shot with Sony A6000

SONY A6000 + Sigma 30mm 1.4 Lens

My baby, my go-to, my I-got-your-back-no-matter what camera is the Sony A6000 (shout out to Francis for introducing me to this). This camera is pretty easy to use especially if you have some general photography knowledge. It’s compact and super light. Has amazing image quality, fast autofocus and Wi-Fi. I use a Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens which is a prime lens meaning you can’t zoom in or out. The 1.4 f-stop is what gives it a shallow depth of field, aka blurred background! And I am pretty much always in focus, it’s phenomenal especially for the price at $448 (for the body only). The Sigma 30mm 1.4 is $340.

I usually shoot with the following settings: Aperture Mode, 2.5 – 3.5 f-stop, ISO Auto

shot with Sony A6000
shot with Leica D-Lux 109

LEICA D-LUX TYP 109 

The second camera I shoot with is the Leica D-Lux 109. This is a point-and-shoot camera with a fixed lens, meaning you can’t buy other lenses for it.  For starters it’s a Leica which is the cream de la cream of all cameras. It has an old school “look” and takes great Instagram photos. I like using this camera in place of my iPhone. It also has built in WiFi and great focus. I use the burst option and move around to get candid shots.

You will get a much more flat image with the Leica, no bokeh or super blurred background but it’s an amazing camera for traveling and I LOVE the way my edits look with this camera. It’s a little on the pricy side at $1095 but definitely worth it!

I usually shoot with the follow settings: Apeture (A) mode, 2.8 f-stop, ISO Auto
shot with Leica D-Lux 109
iPhone 8+
 
I wanted to include my iPhone 8+ camera because they really do take great photos and some of the biggest bloggers in the game use only iPhone shots! You don’t need an expensive camera to make your blogging dreams come true, trust me. I use my iPhone camera when 1. I don’t have my other cameras on hand 2. When I’m a little lazy 🙂 or 3. When I’m taking a photo with someone else….Emin, Erin, Enocha.

 

I hope this helped answer all of your camera questions! Let me know if you guys like these blogging tips or what you want to hear next in the comments below.
xo
Emily

 

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