I originally provided the comments below to the Rhee Tae Kwon-Do Perth Region Photography Group in 2008, and it might be of some help to publish it here (slightly edited).
Equipment
Photography is something in which equipment does play an important role, even if the most important part of taking a good photograph is the photographer. For serious RTKD photography, I recommend a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera body with an appropriate prime lens (non-zoom lens).
Which lens?
Zoom lenses are more complicated than prime lenses, so they are more difficult to make and it is harder to make them with the same optical quality. It is also harder to make large-aperture zoom lenses than large-aperture prime lenses (indeed, every prime lens I have ever heard of had a large maximum aperture anyway). Not surprisingly, high quality zoom lenses are much more expensive than high quality prime lenses. The main advantage of having a zoom lens rather than a prime lens is flexibility—you can near-instantly change perspective without having to physically run forwards or backwards. With prime lenses, you would need to either move (which might not be feasible, depending on the situation) or change lenses (which takes time, introduces the risk of getting dust into your camera, and means that you have to carry extra lenses around). You might be tempted to think that zoom lenses are clearly preferable to prime lenses—for most people, they are. For the kind of shooting we do, however, in low light situations, we really value the large aperture at relatively low financial cost that we get with prime lenses.
For most new RTKD photographers, a 50 mm prime lens will be the cheapest lens in a camera manufacturer’s product line. These might cost anywhere between $150–$200. While this might seem like a lot of money for someone new to DSLR photography, this is actually very cheap for a high quality lens. For comparison, professional zoom lenses typically start at around $3,000 each, and can run well over $10,000 at the high end. The ‘kit lenses’ that most DSLR camera bodies come with (i.e., the lens that comes in the box with the camera body, or the camera kit) have, historically, had a poor reputation with regard to optical quality and construction quality. In recent times, however, optical quality appears to have improved to the point where these lenses are more than good enough for general photography.
In most camera manufacturers’ DSLR product lines, a 50 mm prime lens will effectively be a short telephoto lens; it will give you a field of view that is ‘zoomed in’ a bit. For greater flexibility, a 35 mm lens would be better, but is also typically more expensive than a 50 mm lens. In the Olympus system, you would need a 25 mm lens to get around the same field of view as a 35 mm lens in most other systems (Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Pentax, Sony), which would be around the same field of view as a ‘normal’ 50 mm lens on 35 mm film.
Which brand?
Your skill as a photographer is going to make more of a difference to the quality of your pictures than what equipment you use, assuming that the equipment is of a technically appropriate standard. From one point of view, it does not matter too much which system (manufacturer) you choose. From another point of view, your initial decision will have effects further down the track (e.g., some systems have poorer availability in Australia).
One of the most important things you can do is to go to a shop and physically handle and shoot with demonstration models of the DSLRs you are considering. Does the DSLR feel comfortable to hold and shoot with? Is the viewfinder sufficiently large and bright for your eyes? Do the controls (ergonomic design) work in a way that feels relatively comfortable to you, after a few minutes of experimentation? When I was buying a DSLR, handling and price were the two factors that my purchasing decision eventually came down to, once I had done some background research and discarded from consideration all the models that were technically inadequate or too expensive.
If I were starting RTKD photography anew today, it would be a tie between Canon and Nikon for the most preferred system, and everyone else would be far behind. Let me emphasise that no manufacturers today make ‘poor’ equipment—if they did, they would be out of business very quickly. Canon and Nikon are the two best-established 35 mm film SLR and DSLR manufacturers and thus have the broadest systems, best availability, and often the best value for money. They both have a reputation for excellent optics, which is why they have become the two best-established manufacturers.
The main advantage most of the other manufacturers have over Canon and Nikon is in-body image stabilisation. With Canon and Nikon, image stabilisation occurs in the lens (and not all of their lenses feature this). If you want this feature, you need to look for IS (Image Stabilization) on Canon lenses and VR (Vibration Reduction) on Nikon lenses. To have image stabilisation built in to the DSLR body means that every lens used on that body becomes image-stabilised. For general photography, this is extremely useful and excellent value for money. For the type of photography we concentrate on (fast action in low light), image stabilisation is of little or no use because we are shooting with short exposure durations (1/250–1/500 s) at which virtually all camera shake will have no effect.
I do not recommend buying DSLR bodies secondhand because you cannot reliably tell how heavily they have been used. My DSLR looks in good condition because I take care of it, but I shot more than 50,000 frames with it in two years and it is possible that the shutter will need replacement soon. You would not be able to tell just by looking at it. Lenses should normally last much longer than bodies, but I would recommend buying new if possible. If there is a problem with your lens, you will have far less trouble getting a reputable shop to replace it than a private seller.
Specific Recommendations
You will get the best value for money by buying a low- or mid-range DSLR body, its kit lens (the lens that typically comes bundled with the body), and a prime lens. Nowadays, the kit lens will usually have image stabilisation or the body itself will have this feature. Bodies without image stabilisation will usually come with image stabilisation in the kit lens. Twin-lens kits, with a normal zoom and a telephoto zoom, have become very popular over the past few years. It is also worth noting that the quality of kit lenses has improved significantly, to the point where they should not be dismissed out of hand.
- Canon. Over the past few years, Canon has kept its DSLR product range refreshed frequently. While each new model does have some improvements over the previous model, these are not always significant. You will probably get the best value for money from a model that is nearing the end of production (or that has just gone out of production). If you are on a tight budget, the Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 ($150) is the cheapest prime lens I would recommend, but you will probably get more flexibility out of the Canon EF 35 mm f/2 ($400).
- Nikon. In recent times, Nikon has tended to have a stable DSLR product range. Newer models are significantly better than the previous models they replace, but they also cost more. Nikon has made radical advances in image quality since it introduced the D3 and D700, to the point where I now consider its DSLRs slightly superior to Canon’s. If you buy a Nikon DSLR that supports autofocus through a screw in the lens mount, you will be able to use the Nikkor AF 50 mm f/1.8 ($200). If you can afford it, or if you buy one of the lower-end bodies without screw-driven autofocus, get the Nikkor AF-S DX 35 mm f/1.8 ($400).
- Olympus. The only real choice of prime lens in this range is the Olympus Zuiko 25 mm f/2.8. With a maximum aperture of f/2.8, this is optically slower than the prime lenses in the other manufacturers’ ranges.
- Pentax. The best choice of prime lens in this range is probably the Pentax SMC FA 35 mm f/2 AL.
- Sony. The best choice of new prime lens in this range is probably the Sony 50 mm f/1.8. Since Sony bought Konica-Minolta’s DSLR division, and uses the same lens mount, the best value for money here might be a secondhand Konica-Minolta 50 mm prime lens.