Best DSLR Cameras for Moms: DSLR Camera Guide For Moms
I can’t tell you how many moms I’ve talked to in the past couple of years asking about what camera and equipment they should buy to document their families. I really appreciate this, because I so highly value documenting every season of life. I’m here to help everyone out there that is looking for the best DSLR camera for moms.
There is for sure a place for beautiful family photos taken by professional photographers (like us! Check us out here if you’re interested in our photography work!!) but there is also something beautiful about the everyday, sometimes messier moments at home or on a family vacation that are worthy of being documented beyond what our iphones offer.
I’ve put together my suggestions for the best DSLR cameras for moms! Having a DSLR camera won’t magically make every photo you take of your kids amazing, but it will drastically increase the quality your photos are capable of attaining. If you’re looking to invest in a good DSLR camera and ready to stop being limited to only shooting in auto mode, I’ve created a DSLR camera guide with both cameras and lenses in multiple price points to help to get you started!
CAMERA RECOMENDATIONS
It can feel incredibly overwhelming when you begin the process of trying to figure out what “nice” camera you should buy. From point and shoot cameras to beginner DSLR to mirrorless cameras and then professional grade camera gear, there is a lot of information out there and many of it is technical and hard to understand.
If you're like me, as you begin your search for which DSLR camera you should buy, you'll see a lot of technical jargon that you may or may not understand. Things like shooting modes, aperture priority, image stabilization and focus points can be overwhelming.
I got my first DSLR camera in college and knew absolutely nothing about cameras at all. I had used a point and shoot for a couple years and decided that I wanted to ask my parents for a camera for Christmas but had no idea where to start.
Naturally, I ended up Googling “best nice camera” and left more confused than I started. I didn’t know what ISO or bokeh or exposure was. Absolutely no idea what the differences in a 50mm lens or an 85 mm lens was.
I honestly got lucky and ended up choosing the camera I saw recommended the most (Canon Rebel, which I recommend below!), but I wish that I could have found a straight-forward and easy to understand guide to help me choose.
Now that I’m a mom and a professional photographer, I have the experience needed to help guide you in your search for the right camera! Moms are busy and we love efficiency, so I went for both in the article below!
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Canon Rebel T7
This camera is such a great starter DSLR camera for moms and the cheapest on our list. Canon’s rebel series make for great starter cameras because they allow you to learn how to adjust settings and manage a DSLR without a huge investment.
I think many people make the mistake of buying the nicest camera as their first investment and then feel overwhelmed by the process of learning to use it well.
My suggestion is to buy a camera a bit below your budget so you have some room left for an upgraded lens, which I will share more about in a bit!
One of the great features about this camera, is the ease of using the wifi-enabled feature. You can upload photos over wifi directly to your iphone, allowing you to share and edit photos immediately after taking them.
This camera is very similar to the T7 but with some upgraded options. The biggest upgrades include:
Significantly more focal points (36) which mean you’re more likely to get in focus shots
4x higher ISO capability, which means a greater ability to shoot in low light situations
Has a flip out screen, which I wouldn’t consider make or break but is convenient
2x better recording quality
If you have a couple hundred dollars more to spend on the T7i, I would say it’s worth the price difference but even the T7 will be a huge upgrade from your iphone and both are budget friendly. This is a great option for an affordable and high quality DSRL camera.
This is one of canon’s more recent releases in their line of beginner cameras. The 90d is a more significant investment but does come with some really compelling features in addition to those on the rebel, like: 4K video, live view focus with eye detection, weather sealed camera body, good battery life and great image quality.
This is the most expensive camera on the list and only makes sense for a mom ready to get more serious about photography but it’s one of my favorite cameras that canon offers. It’s a canon eos full frame camera with updated technology that provides seriously quality images on a still very reasonable budget.
My favorite feature that the 6d mark ii offers is the touch screen, which allows you to view your camera settings real time and touch the screen to focus and snap a photo. I completely underestimated how often I would use this feature.
When you’re learning about focus, this feature is huge. It allows you to nail the focus exactly where you want it every singe time. This camera also offers an impressive ISO capability, allowing you to shoot in low light situations.
The older version of this is the canon 6d, which I used until last year. You can find 6d’s now for under $500 which is a great deal. It’s older technology than all of the above cameras, but is a full frame and able to provide high quality photos. This would be a great starting point for moms looking to try out a great camera in a great budget range.
LENSES
Ok, I promised to touch on lenses and here are my thoughts- lenses make a huge difference in the quality of your images. Most camera bundles come with low quality lenses that will hold you back. I suggest buying the camera by itself and investing in one of the lenses below.
50mm 1.8
This is the most budget friendly (at under $125), practical lens and I can’t recommend it enough. A 50mm is a fixed lens (doesn’t zoom in or out) that is comparable to the view you see with your eye. It will allow you to fit a lot into the frame while still being able to focus on details. I use a 50mm 90% of the time, it hardly ever leaves my camera.
The 1.8 is the cheapest option. Essentially, the lower your f/stop goes (1.8, 1.4, 1.2 etc) the more bokeh (blurry background) the camera has the ability to produce. The cost also goes up as your f stop goes down.
If you have a bit more in the budget, go with this lens. It will be even higher quality than the 1.8 and I promise you’ll be impressed with the images you can produce. This lens works really well under low-light conditions, which as moms we all know we often have little control over our children, much less our lighting, right? This lens will produce that beautiful blurred background with the sharpness you’re looking for!
This is a great lens if you’re wanting to focus on portraits of your kids. It’s more zoomed in than the 50mm, so it’s great for creating beautiful images of your kids.
This lens is zoomed in, meaning you don’t need to be as close to get detailed images. Some of my favorite portraits have come from an 85mm lens!
This is the widest angle zoom, which means it’s the most zoomed out. This is a great lens for capturing landscape, architectural or just being able to fit more into the frame. It’s going to generally be better at capturing an entire environment than solely one person or detail. This is also a great lens for shooting indoors because it gives you a wider angle in a smaller space.
MY OVERALL SUGGESTION
SO, hopefully that wasn’t an overwhelming amount of information. I hope this is helpful and encourages moms to take the jump and invest in a good quality DSLR (or encourages dad’s with a great gift idea ;)
If I was going to make a final recommendation for the best DSLR camera option for moms, taking into consideration quality and budget, I would suggest going with the Rebel t7i and a 50mm 1.4 lens, but I really don’t think you can go wrong with any of the above options!
