Is a DSLR Worth Investing in as a Blogger?

How scandalous! After a couple month’s with the so raved about Olympus Pen E-PL7, I’m still failing to see what’s so good about it? It’s a camera, it has wifi and it didn’t cost the earth. There are tonnes of cameras that have those qualities, but why are people raving on about it so much? My personal experience with the E-PL7 has been very underwhelming. I initially wanted to compare this camera to my DSRL but there’s really no competition or many comparisons I can make, they’re completely different and my Canon 70D is beyond superior. However, I did ask if that’s what you all wanted to read and you said yes. So, is a DSLR worth investing in as a Blogger? We all know think that we need the best cameras to better our blogs and whilst I don’t think that’s entirely true, the Olympus is definitely not working as my budget camera and having my Canon 70D has actually improved my photography massively. Apologies in advance for the example photos, I didn’t have any fancy backdrops but I’m looking into getting some from katebackdrop.com.

I’ve always been the first to hold my hands up and say that quite honestly, my photography is rubbish. It’s never been amazing because the truth is, I enjoy writing, not photography. Sure, I’ve learnt to appreciate good photography and work on mine a lot more than I thought I ever would, but the words in my posts are still the most important part. I don’t have a themed Instagram account or pretty photos across all my social media, I just post raw, what I’m up to/what I’m wearing photos and rarely filter because I think I look good as is, or realise that people know that pink glare on my plate isn’t actually there. Therefore if you’re looking for a super informative and intelligent argument as to why you should spend over £1000 on a camera rather than a couple of hundred pounds, this is not it. I am simply writing as an amateur and giving you my honest opinion on why I actually think a DSLR is worth investing in, and some of the reasons may make masters of photography angry, but let’s continue anyway…

Lighting

So, why is the E-PL7 not working for me as a blogger? Well, the main problem is that it’s actually not incredible unless you’re in a really well-lit area. I’m talking the BEST of natural light and/or light boxes at every angle. After taking photos in natural light on my living room floor with the Olympus Pen, which normally come out incredible (in my opinion) on my Canon, I switched cameras and put my Olympus to one side. At events, especially low lit ones, the Olympus has seriously let me and others down. I recently tried to take outfit photos for a friend in a bar and it left her incredible disappointed. As a blogger, I’m forever invited to events in whatever lighting because nobody thinks of that as long as the event is good, and rightly so. It’s just rather frustrating that you can’t capture moments at an event without having to try out settings/ask someone to shine their torch on their phone for extra light, or give up and just use your iPhone.

Settings

Now, I’m not one who has all the knowledge to go into all the settings and change them around, however, I do have basic knowledge and understanding on the thingamajigs and if I twist things and try again, the photo quality changes. I’m fibbing, I can change exposure/settings with ease, however, for people who cannot, the auto-settings on DSRLs not only save time, effort, but they’ve also been 99.9% of the time, the best possible settings for what I need it for. Obviously, when shooting outfits, things need to be changed but for products, it takes beautiful photos on automatic and allows me to be able to have a point and shoot camera that gives me incredible results. The Olympus is not that easy, and it’s probably why it has so many built-in settings. I found my photos felt really dull on automatic and when changing things around a little, I was just unimpressed. It was very difficult to take photos of people making the slightest of movements too. I’ve seen people take incredible photos with the Olympus, but with how busy I am at the moment, I need a point and shoot where I don’t have to edit the photos and with my Canon, I’ve never had to edit one. It saves SO much time.

On the move

A lot of DSLRs will have wifi, fantastic for snapping photos on the go and wanting to Instagram them immediately, but so do digital cameras for half the price. This feature was SO important to me when purchasing both cameras because when I am at events or on the go, waiting until you get home and import the photos to then have to email them back to yourself is time consuming, and often no one cares about the event anymore because they’ve seen it from all the other bloggers there. The Olympus is far better to vlog on for ease of holding it and storing it away with how small it is, however the Canon takes much better videos in general, so if you have a strong arm, it’s definitely worth using. The quality on the Olympus pen is actually 16mp whereas on the Canon 70D is 20.2mp, bigger is better in this case. I have vlogged with the Olympus before and I was happy with the quality in good lighting and ease of travel, but if Alfie was with me to help with the weight (as I still can’t carry my own bag from pain) I’d definitely take the Canon out every time.

I don’t think the Olympus is the worst camera, or not as fantastic as others say, I just think that you either need to REALLY know your way around cameras, have all the free time in the world to sit and play with settings, or only use it with the best of lighting. It’s a good camera, and I’m obviously going to continue to use it when I go to events on my own, but for my blog photography, outfit photos and anything else I get up to, it’s the Canon 70D all the way. This may seem like silly reasons to not like a camera, but here are some examples below of the Canon vs Olympus and then the Olympus at events.

I realise these might not be the best of example, but all the photos on my blog are taken by my Canon. I’m not saying I don’t recommend the Olympus at all, I’m actually quite happy to have both so I can vlog on my own whilst on the go, but if I could go back? I’d shop around for a cheaper camera to use at events rather than getting the Olympus and I’m certainly not going to use it over my Canon for product photos.

Both cameras were purchased by me, or Alfie for me. Completely not sponsored at all.