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Choosing The Best Camera For Car Lovers
Are you sick of taking photographs with your smartphone? If you’re a car lover and find yourself frequently trying to get the best snapshot of a classic car, you need the best camera for car photography. Whether you go to car shows, cruise the suburbs searching for beautiful vehicles, or work at a car dealership and need a quality camera for selling those vehicles, we’ve got you covered.
Today we’re looking at the five best cameras that you can use to capture vehicles in all their glory. Sure, a smartphone can photograph a car just fine. But you can’t bring a car to life using a smartphone. If you are truly passionate about cars and want to take the best photographs, you need a quality camera.
That’s not to say you need to spend a fortune. We’ve included some expensive items and some budget items into our list, that way everyone has something that will work for them. As usual, a higher price generally equals a better quality of camera. But still, for just a couple hundred bucks, you can get yourself a fantastic camera to use when watching the races or attending a car show.
1. Canon EOS Rebel T7 Digital Camera
The Canon EOS Rebel T7 is an astonishingly affordable camera with a whopping 24 megapixels. This camera has a small body, it’s super lightweight, and it works as a compact DSLR. It has loads of different features and is one of the best cameras for anyone new to car photography, as it’s easy to operate, it has lots of useful bells and whistles, and it’s not going to break the bank. Everyone deserves an affordable tool that can get the job done right.
The autofocus is crisp and accurate, making it ideal if you’re photographing moving vehicles. This camera also captures images in extremely high quality. With 24 megapixels, all your photographs are going to be vivid and realistic. And if you want to share your photos, it’s never been easier. It has all the standard sharing options and is Wi-Fi enabled.
The Rebel T7 uses a 9-point AF system, an optical viewfinder with 95% viewing coverage, and a massive CMOS sensor for capturing rich details and vivid colors. At such a budget price, this is a highly recommended camera for newbies and pros alike.
Pros
- The Price is Modest
- Enabled w/ Wi-Fi
- Simplistic & Easy Operation
- Large Sensor
- Fantastic Image Quality
Cons
- No Touch Screen
- Continuous Shooting is Slow
- No Video Recording Autofocus
2. Nikon D3500 DSLR Camera
The Nikon D3500 is another medium-range camera. This model costs under $500, it has an enormous image sensor that is 15x larger than the sensors used in your typical smartphone. This gives you sharper and clearer pictures with every shutter of the lens. And even though this is a pretty solid DSLR camera, it works just like a point and shoot. The design is compact, it’s comfortable in your hands, and it is one of the better budget cameras that you can use at sporting events and car races. It’s also very good for traveling.
While the camera does not support 4K video, it can still create 1080p full HD videos at the touch of a button. It also works with Bluetooth, uses Nikon’s snap bridge application to share photographs directly to your smartphone or tablet, and gives you some seriously quick autofocusing. You get 11 autofocus points spread across the entire frame that will give you amazing shots all the time. The maximum resolution is 24.7 megapixels, and that’s more than enough for photographing cars.
Pros
- Reasonably Affordable
- Point & Shoot
- Ideal for Sporting Events
- Huge Image Sensor
- 1080p Full HD Video
Cons
- No Wi-Fi
- No 4K Capabilities
- No Touch Screen
3. Sony a7 III Mirrorless Camera
It’s time to step away from the budget cameras for a moment and take a look at the Sony a7 III mirrorless camera. This is everything you could ever want in a camera, and yes, it’s frighteningly expensive. This is one of the newer models from Sony, and it comes complete with an advanced 24.2-megapixel full-frame image sensor. And I know what you’re thinking. Why would you spend thousands of extra dollars for fewer megapixels? The answer is quality. Even though this camera only offers 24.2 megapixels, your pictures are going to be infinitely better than with other cameras. This has a lot to do with the intense dynamic range of the camera.
All your photographs are rendered in perfect detail. The image sensor is back-illuminated, while the image processing system has evolved to give you superior quality with the BIONZ X image processing engine. In plain English, your photographs are processed and rendered in startling clarity. It simply doesn’t get better.
But there are other features too. You have continuous shooting at 10 frames per second, 693 phase-detection autofocus points that cover 93% of the total image area, the compatibility for A-mounted lenses, and silent shooting. This camera is top of the line.
Pros
- Incredible Camera + Newest from Sony
- LCD Tilts & Turns
- Shoots in Perfect Silence
- Image Quality is Superb
- Advanced AF w/ Tracking & Eye Detection
Cons
- Shorter Battery Life
- Super Expensive
- Requires External Flash
4. Canon EOS 6D Mark II Digital SLR Camera
The Canon EOS 6D Mark II is right in the sweet spot between budget and extortion. It’s roughly $1000 cheaper than the Sony a7 III, and it even has more megapixels. The image quality of the EOS 6D Mark II is phenomenal. With 26.2 megapixels, the full-frame CMOS sensor works together with the DIGIC 7 image processing system to give you an ISO range of 100-40000. All your photos will be incredible. And not only your photos, but your videos too. This camera can make 4K time-lapse videos, it can do continuous shooting at up to 6.5 frames per second, and it even has an integrated GPS.
The design itself is also very good. It might feel a little bulky at first, but the camera is durable. It’s excellent for use outdoors in a variety of different situations where other cameras would be rendered useless. This model is resistant to dust and water thanks to its smart weather sealing, it’s rugged and resilient, and it screams versatility. If you’re looking for the best Canon camera for car photography and you have a bit of money to spend, this might be your best option. It’s definitely the best camera to take to the track on rainy or gloomy days.
Pros
- Built-In Wi-Fi + Bluetooth + GPS
- Excellent Touch Screen
- 2 Megapixels
- 4K Time Lapse
- Versatile & Powerful
Cons
- Battery Isn’t Great
- Large & Heavy
- Costs a Fortune
5. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Mirrorless Camera
Olympus cameras are often overlooked, but they absolutely shouldn’t be. Sure, they’re not as advanced as some of the Sony cameras or the Canon cameras, but they are definitely excellent machines that can take phenomenal photographs. Plus, the Olympus cameras are typically cheaper. This particular unit, the Mark II, is a great price for what it does. It takes flawless photographs of anything you point it at. The camera may only have 16 megapixels, but it makes up for the lack of pixels with 5x optical zoom, a lightweight build, full 1080p HD video, easy control dials, built-in flash, and image stabilization.
Because of its small size and compact design, this is one of the better cameras to take with you while roaming around. Whether you are cruising the streets looking for unique and awesome cars, or you’re roaming around a car show sneaking photos wherever you can, this is the ideal mirrorless camera to slip from your pocket and take a photo. It has incredibly quick autofocus so that you can zero in on your target very quickly. It has solid image stabilization for those with shaky hands, and you can disable all the shutter noises to shoot in complete silence.
Pros
- Incredible Image Stabilization
- Quality Viewfinder w/ 0.62x Magnification
- Useable Silent Mode
- Burst Shooting at 8.5fps
- Easy to Use for Beginners
Cons
- Camera Feels Small
- AF is Not the Best
- Confusing Navigation Screen
Final Thoughts
Car photography is a little different from other forms of photography. The main difference is that cars are not typically moving. Unless you’re trying to take quick snapshots of a race, most of your subjects are going to be completely immobile. This means things like autofocus and zoom are not that important.
More important than autofocus will be the size of your sensor and the number of your megapixels. The bigger the sensor, the clearer your photographs will be. And with bigger sensors, you typically get more megapixels, which will make for clearer and more beautiful photographs, capturing all the glistening contours of your favorite vehicles in perfect clarity. Also, if you want to get the sharpest colors, megapixels are an absolute must.
At the end of the day, we are all restricted by our budget. Not everyone can afford a $1500 camera. Even so, by investing a few hundred bucks into something light, portable, and ripe with megapixels, you can always capture the best car photos at a moment’s notice.
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