Updated June 2024
Believe it or not, the question that I often face on Instagram and from many of my students is – ”which camera should I buy for pet photography?” and “what camera do you use?!” (TL;DR: I use the Sony a7iii & Sony 135mm mostly).
HOWEVER…!
I have always believed that the camera does not make a photograph. No matter how good the camera is, or for that matter the lens, the photographer pressing the shutter release while making a million decisions on the fly, is the one who determines how the image is going to be captured.
The camera is a chef’s oven. YOU have to bring all the ingredients together. A better quality oven may cook the food more evenly, or have more fancy knobs, more hobs, more finesse… but if the chef doesn’t know how to get the most out of it, the food it cooks could be mediocre at best… raw at worst.
A Short Note on Lenses
While we are talking about cameras and stuff it is pertinent to mention the lens. I put more emphasis on the lens than the camera body because that is where the magic essentially happens. Again, the camera merely records the image that the lens sees.
Many beginners and novice photographers usually spend a lot of time trying to find their perfect camera and completely forget about the lenses.
I recently ran a poll among my students and many have said that once they moved on from the lens that came with the camera, they never looked back. Some have bought a separate lens even though their camera came with a kit one. The kit lenses that come with camera bodies aren’t usually the best quality or best suited for pet photography, so I’d advise you to steer clear.
My advice for you here is the following: When you’re choosing your first (or next, or first real) camera, don’t forget to set money aside for a nice lens. You’ll never regret that decision.
I have two blog posts: one on lenses for pet photography, the other on how your lens effects your background!
Why I Don't Believe in Beginner Cameras
When choosing a camera for pet photography, we’re quickly overwhelmed by the number of choices we have, but when we know what we’re looking for, the list quickly gets smaller and smaller until we’re left with only two or three options.
The cameras marketed towards beginners will usually lack features, which will make it harder for a beginner to learn and get the photos they want. For example, they might offer a limited number of autofocus spots, have slow autofocus speed, less than ideal low light capabilities, low frame rate counts or even all the above.
Because all cameras are essentially built on the principles of shutter speed, ISO and aperture to create properly exposed photos, I don’t feel like you need a “beginner camera” just because you are a beginner.
These are some of the reasons I have always resisted giving recommendations. I believe that every photographer has his/her unique style of working and that they need to find the best camera for them.
In other words, I don’t believe that there is a single recommendation that will work with all photographers. I also believe if I tell you what camera or lens I use. That will not necessarily help you capture the images that you envision.
That is to say, instead of looking for camera recommendations or buying the exact same equipment that a particular photographer you look up to uses, you should pick the camera that best fits your needs. Consider what kind of photography you want to do and choose the camera and other gear based on that and your budget.
This “recommendation” or “buying guide” is not going to be a black-and-white list of cameras that I recommend. My priority will be to share a list of the important parameters that you should consider when choosing a camera. But don’t be disheartened I will share a few camera recommendations at the end based on those parameters.
In any case, if you have already bought your shiny new camera you will want to learn how to put that to good use! The Learning Journey has two courses specific to foundation skills, including mastering your camera’s focus and exposure settings, as well as composition, light, and editing (plus literally hundreds of other lessons to take magical photos!)
Features
These are the features I personally look for in a camera. They are:
- Size & Weight
- Low Light Capabilities
- Dynamic Range
- Autofocus Speed
- Frame Rate
Size & Weight
The first important feature I pay attention to is size and the connected weight. I have small hands and some cameras are just too big and bulky for me to be comfortable. I also mostly take photos outside, in the woods, on a hike, etc. which means I have to carry all my gear in a backpack that gets very heavy, very fast. A DSLR needs to fit a mirror inside the camera body, so it will usually be larger and bulkier than a mirrorless, but that isn’t a hard and fast rule.
Having a camera that’s nice, small and light is perfect for me. I tried a DSLR and found it doesn’t really fit my hands, so my small Sony mirrorless is perfect.
If you were someone who only wants to do studio portraits or if you always use a tripod, you might feel differently and could choose a bigger, bulkier camera if you wanted.
But if you are going to buy a camera today I strongly recommend that you invest in a mirrorless as DSLRs are being phased out.
Low Light Capabilities
Another important feature of cameras that I pay a lot of attention to are its low light capabilities.
Because I normally work with natural light and mostly outside in the woods, I need to know that my camera can handle any dusk and dawn photos I throw at it. Backlight is one of my favourite conditions to shoot in and I underexpose my backlight photos quite often maintain detail in the highlights, which means my camera needs to be able to retain a lot of detail in very dark shadows, so I can then bring it back in editing.
To find the information about low light capabilities for any camera you’d want to do a bit of googling, looking at the reviews and comparing them. Some cameras are clearly better at it than others, though. The so-called beginner cameras usually don’t perform that great in low light and at high ISO which makes them particularly unsuitable for my style of photography.
My Sony can pretty comfortably handle ISO 4000 as long as I don’t have to brighten the photo too much in editing. At the same time, it can also handle details when I intentionally underexpose, which I do quite often.
I have recommended some cameras below that are really good in low-light conditions. They have a high native ISO range and at the ISO 2000 – 4000 range produce relatively good clean images you can work with.
Dynamic Range
Somewhat closely tied to the last point, is what’s known as the “dynamic range” of the camera. This is how much data can be seen and stored by the camera at the very brightest end of the light spectrum, down to the darkest darks. What this means for us, is whether we can take a photo quite underexposed, and how much detail can be brought out of the bright or dark parts of the image.
For example, in the below image, you can see an example of under-exposing (want to know why I under-expose? Click here!) But you can see, because of the great dynamic range of my camera, that even though the photo on the left looks very dark, there is a HEAP of detail still in those dark areas, which I brought back through editing. A camera with less dynamic range may not have kept as much detail, and/or there may have been a lot more noise or grain when I tried to lighten up those dark areas.
I’ve heard that Sony & Nikon have good data retention in the dark side of the range, where Canon may be better with highlights. However, this might not be important to you if you don’t need to under-expose your images.
Autofocus Speed
Pets are living, breathing, moving beings. Because of that, even if you get them to stay very still, they might move ever so slightly with breathing, they will shuffle, they will get distracted.
If your camera has a fast, good autofocus system, it will be able to capture and focus on any small movements your subjects might make.
Autofocus is a feature most cameras have today and most of them now use a hybrid autofocus technology of contrast and phase detection autofocus. There used to be a gap between DSLR and mirrorless cameras when it came to autofocus, but as I said, most new-ish cameras today use a hybrid system that will hopefully make sure your photos are nice and in focus.
Action Photography
A fast AF system will be especially important to you if you know you want to shoot action photos. In that case, look into cameras meant for sports photography, but keep in mind that the ‘classic’ action shot of a dog running towards you is just about the hardest thing you could ever ask your camera to do, so don’t get discouraged too fast.
Some cameras that are known to have very capable AF systems include the Sony A9II, A1 and A7III/IV, Nikon Z6 II, Z7 II and Z9, Canon EOS R3 and R5, as well as the EOS-1D X Mark.
Frame Rate
The frame rate describes how many frames a camera can capture in one second. For DSLR cameras that means flipping the mirror up and back down as many times per second as indicated by the number. In comparison, mirrorless cameras don’t have a mirror, which makes it easier for them to reach higher frame rate speeds.
The number of frames per second is especially important in action photography, where shooting more images can mean a higher chance of capturing the one perfect moment.
Other Camera Features
- Sensor Size: We could discuss the differences between a full frame or a cropped sensor at length, especially now, when cropped sensor cameras have essentially caught up with the image quality of full frame. If you’re a professional, or want to become one, it may be worth investing into full frame, otherwise, just get a camera that’s in your price range and don’t worry too much about it. It’s fine. Really.
- Weather Sealing: Being a pet photographer and working mostly outdoors, weather sealing is a nice feature to have, so I don’t have to worry about every single rain droplet or grain of sand or dust getting into my camera. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but just something that’s nice to have.
- Animal Eye Autofocus: Nice advanced feature to have, but it won’t single-handedly make your photos in focus. Absolutely not a dealbreaker.
- Articulating/Flip or Tilt Screen: Extremely convenient feature to have, especially as a pet photographer, so you don’t have to lie on the ground nearly as often as you’d have to without one. My camera has one and I love it.
- WiFi/NFC and other connectivity capabilities: A nice feature to have for self-portraits, although I usually use my remote now.
- Touch Screen:
Some people love touch screens. Probably a good feature for beginners, as you an set the focus point by tapping the screen. I don’t use mine.
- Colour Profiles: There’s some debate around different colour profiles amongst brands. A lot of Canon people hate Sony’s colour. Some of those very people say Nikon colours are very true straight-out-of-camera (SooC). I figure I can fix any colour with white balance adjustment so I’m not sure what the big deal is. But some people swear black and blue that Sony’s colour is awful. I say as long as you shoot in RAW and develop your images in Lightroom/Photoshop or any other photo editing software you are okay to shoot with any colour profile. It’s just a marketing mumbo-jum
Camera Recommendations
I rarely recommend specific camera bodies because I’m not a camera expert and I haven’t tried every single camera in the world. The list includes models from all major camera brands which I’ve compared according to the features I’ve listed above.
The prices stated are for camera body ONLY and are based on the prices on the website of the German camera shop calumetphoto.de and the German branch of mpb.com. They will vary according to where in the world you are, so take them with a grain of salt.
Crop or Full Frame??
You’ll see a lot of talk about this around the place, but honestly I’m not sure if there should be so much talk. I went for 3 years with a crop-sensor Sony a6000 and it was perfectly fine. The focal lengths of lenses will be different, but I really didn’t know any other way until I moved to a full frame camera. If you’re new or just beginning, a crop sensor is perfectly acceptable. Seriously.
Under 1000€
If you’d like to stay under a thousand, you’ll probably be looking at some second hand cameras and cameras with a crop sensor. If you’d like to buy used, check out my guide to buying used photography equipment here. Depending on the used market in your part of the world, the difference between new and used prices could be bigger or smaller.
Some new cameras I can recommend that you can find for under a thousand Euros are:
Sony a6400
I have always felt Sony’s low-light capabilities are second to none. Having used Sony cameras extensively over the years (I use a Sony a7iii for all my shots) I know their sensor capabilities and handling. Plus, a majority of the Sony offerings are mirrorless cameras which means they are lighter and more convenient when I am traveling or hiking in the woods. Slap on a 24-70mm f/2.8 or a 70-200mm f/2.8 and I can shoot all day without fuss.
Having said that, the a6400 isn’t the same as the a7iii. These are two different beasts altogether. Despite the fact they both offer the same resolution. The a6400 is an APS-C camera and therefore offers a larger Depth of Field (DoF) compared to the a7iii when shooting with the same settings and the same lens. Plus, with the a6400, you get a cropped view of the scene (crop factor of 1.5x) which means you can get tighter compositions even when shooting with a relatively “wide” lens. The 24-70mm that works as a decent wide to medium zoom on the a7iii becomes a 36-105mm standard zoom.
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV
Micro-four-thirds camera systems are widely underestimated and underrated. There are some really good cameras in this segment if you are willing to look beyond the top three brands (Canon, Sony and Nikon).
A lot of aspiring pet photographers I speak to prefer the full-frame and the APS-C formats because they have larger sensor sizes. Another factor that they point out is that smaller sensors have a lower signal-to-noise ratio. In other words, in low-light situations, small sensors underperform compared to large sensors. But I feel there are more factors to consider than just the size of the sensor. The underlying sensor technology is also an important factor.
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is powered by a 20.3-MP MOS sensor. The resolution is quite good. I don’t think you need too many megapixels. Unless you are printing billboards at 300 DPI. The ISO range of the sensor is 200-25600 and it produces clean images at high ISO. That is important if you are into moody, dark, and ethereal compositions like I do.
Not to mention the five-axis image stabilisation that works flawlessly and comes in handy when you are shooting hand-held in low light using slow shutter speed. This eliminates the need to use a tripod.
Nikon Z50
The Z50 is a mirrorless camera from the Nikon Z-series. It offers an impressive frame rate, excellent low-light performance, and a host of other features. But let me just highlight a few of the features I like and for which I picked it in this segment.
The feature I like the most is the hybrid autofocusing system with Eye detection. This reliably detects the eyes of cats and dogs and comes in handy when you are shooting photos of your furry companions.
The other important feature of this camera is the impressive 11 fps continuous shooting speed. For a camera that is under a thousand Euros, I feel this is impressive for a budget camera. Being a mirrorless camera does help because there is no flapping mirror inside and that translates into a higher achievable frame rate per second.
Between 1000€ and 2500€
Cameras I can recommend in the price range between 1000€ and 2500€:
Sony A7 III
The Sony A7 III is the camera I use for a majority of the pictures that you see on my website. The a7 III is a lightweight full-frame mirrorless camera that spits out 24.2-MP images. The camera has a fantastic dynamic range (defined by the amount of detail in the photograph from the whitest white to the darkest black), evident from some of the extreme low-light images that I have captured over the years.
Low-light performance is excellent. Even when I have pushed the exposures in post-processing I have had to deal with very little noise, if any. This has helped me to easily handle one of my favourite subjects – backlit portraits of pets. I find little issues during post-processing and can easily produce clean, high-quality images.
Nikon Z7 II
The Nikon Z7 II is a great all-round camera. This is a mirrorless full-frame unit sporting a 45.7-MP sensor. The BSI sensor architecture ensures that the camera produces excellent images in low-light conditions.
The camera sports a 10 fps continuous shooting speed that allows you to capture a lot of frames. This comes in handy when shooting fast-action photos, such as when your pet is running across a field, catching a frisbee, or jumping.
The dual EXPEED 6 image processors ensure faster image processing and less buffer lag. The native ISO range of the camera is 64-25600 which is a stop less than the Z6 II (51200) on the higher side. But I don’t think that is a big issue. If you can shoot clean images at up to ISO 8000 you are good to go.
Canon EOS R6 Mark II
This is also a great all-round camera and one that makes a great choice for low light and fast action photography. In terms of resolution, the camera shoots at 24.2 MP and captures a lot of detail. You can use either the silent electronic shutter that offers up to 40 fps or the mechanical shutter that shoots at 12 fps.
With the EOS R6 Mark II you get a much higher native ISO range of 100-102400. But honestly, that is an overkill in my opinion.
The autofocusing system system on this camera is powered by Canon’s Dual-pixel CMOS AF II technology. There are 1053 AF points that cover almost the entire sensor area giving you an unparalleled advantage when it comes to tracking and locking focus on pets even at the corners of the frame.
Many a time when your pet is moving across the frame or erratically the lack of AF sensors at the corners and sides of the frame means they go out of focus. Not with this camera.
Above 2500€
This is quite a broad category, where I could recommend everything from camera bodies that cost around 2500€ and 3000€, or I could recommend cameras that are too much of a camera even for me. I’m sure if you went and bought a Sony A1, Nikon Z9 or any of these extremely expensive cameras, they would do everything you wanted them to and more. The question here is, do you really need them?
Here are some camera bodies you could look for:
There are some excellent camera systems above the 2501-dollar marker. Let’s look at a few options –
Sony A9 II
If you dream of capturing your dog catching a frisbee mid-air and in low light, you need the Sony A9 II. This is an upgrade of an already superb camera the original A9. I keep talking about Sony’s low light capability and the fact that they offer superb noise suppression straight out of the camera. Sony has taken the game to a completely different level with the A9 II.
You get a proven 24.2-MP sensor that comes paired with Sony’s BIONZ X image processor. Plus, you get a fantastic frame rate of 20 fps which would get you those impossible action shots that some of the budget cameras can only dream of.
Plus the A9 II offers excellent dynamic range which is what sports and wildlife photographers (two avenues where this camera has been widely used) treasure.
Nikon Z9
The Z9 would be my other top choice when it comes to the higher end of the budget spectrum. Of course, I will not recommend you go all-out and splurge some obscene amount of money on a camera that you may never need or truly be able to utilize. The Z9 and the A9 II I mentioned before are the more practical top-end choices I recommend.
The Z9 offers an impressive combination of speed, autofocus, low-light performance, and resolution that’s hard to ignore. At 45.7-MP it offers a ton of resolution. But mind you, I never recommend that you shoot wide and then crop tight. That is bad practice. I always shoot my compositions in camera.
The Z9 offers a frame rate of 20 fps, the same as the Sony A9 II. Plus, the stacked BSI CMOS sensor ensures that the information is read faster. Low light performance is excellent too.
Another thing that comes in handy is that Nikon has introduced 3D tracking in this camera. This helps to accurately track and lock focus on erratically moving subjects. Hmm, I wonder what could be a good user-case scenario for this! Just kidding. This technology was always there in their DSLR bodies. But this is the first time that this technology is being put into their mirrorless bodies.
Canon EOS R5
When the EOS R5 came out this was the first ever EOS camera that had five-axis sensor-shift image stabilisation. I have always admired this technology ever since I have been using mirrorless cameras. This allows me to stabilize my shots in extremely low light conditions without the need to use a tripod or push the ISO too high.
The camera offers an impressive frame rate of 12 fps. Autofocusing is powered by Dual Pixel CMOS AF II. You can learn more about it here –
If you are a person trying to choose a new camera, I hope this blog post has been useful to you. Keep an eye out on for a similar, updated post about lenses, or check out the one already on the website, it has heaps of really useful information.
Happy hunting for a new camera and happy photographing!
P.S. Did you know I go over my favourite camera settings in my free webinar recording? If you’re not ready to jump into the Learning Journey just yet, this is a GREAT place to start learning!
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