​The following description is of the DSLR components and what they do, and the ones that are best used for HDR photography. As with all camera gear, research the camera's and capabilities and functions, read reviews, and when you decide on a couple of suitable models try to get your hands on them as they have to feel right in your hands, and the controls need to feel ok for you, if its to big or heavy you wont be comfortable using it. 

Don't allow a store to sell you a camera they are pushing for sails targets and have a budget.

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​The Camera body houses the viewfinder, controls, sensor, electronics and the storage card to capture your images to. Do your research stay with big brands and look at your budget.

Cameras use a Sensor or CCD to capture the image, the size and quality of the sensor determine the finished result.

The first thing that you will see is the Megapixel rating of the sensor, this can be misleading as, yes 20 megapixels is better than 10 megapixels but check that the camera is capable of capturing images in the RAW format.

 When you fire up your camera for the first time it will be set to JPEG which is called a lossy file format meaning that it reduces the size of the file so a shot taken with a 20 megapixel sensor may only produce a picture of 7 or 8 megapixels, whereas if you use the RAW format, a 20 megapixel sensor will capture a 20 megapixel image. You want to set you're camera to RAW for HDR photography, or any shot you want to have extra detail in which will allow for better control in editing.

 You will come across the terms full sensor or cropped sensor, a full sensors has the same size sensor as the old 35mm film (36x24mm) which is used as a standard format, and these are used in the high end and Pro series cameras, these produce the highest quality images and your lens's focal length will be the same as stated on the lens. A cropped sensor is any sensor smaller than the 35mm film standard and are used in non Pro (consumer) type DSLR's this is not to say they produce poor quality images, they are simply cheaper to produce which reduces the cost, when you attach a lens to a camera with this type of sensor the stated focal length of your lens will change by the crop factor of the sensor e.g. a crop factor of 1.5 means a 100mm lens becomes the equivalent of a 150mm lens on a 35mm film camera.

Cameras bodies can be purchased with or without a lens, the deals that have lens can be varied, you will find starter packs that will have 1 or 2 zoom lens and the price looks good, but these lens are generally on the lower end of the manufactures quality scale, you will find other camera and lens combinations vary from standard quality lenses to the top of the range lens again, do research and decide what suits you the best for your budget.

 

A DSLR lens is not something you should get the cheapest one "because they are all the same", a poor quality lens on the most expensive body will still give you poor quality shots.

The lenses used to construct a finished lens come in varied qualities and materials, they are arranged in multiple elements (lens's) this can depending on the lens type and function. 

Lenses are treated with special coatings to filter and correct light passing through the lens, when light passes through a lens distortions occur to the focus and colour these coating correct these.

All types of lens's can be used for HDR photography but one of the main lens's used for HDR is the wide angle lens.

Image stabalization (IS) or vibration reduction (VR) comes on many lens's. This function is perfect for hand held shooting in low light, because it gives you up to 2 stops better speed, but when using a tripod its recommended to turn this function off.

All lens's will have a fixed or variable focal length, the higher the number the more magnification of the lens.

Lens can be broken down to 2 main types FIXED (Primary) or ZOOM lens. These 2 types can then be broken down to other groups these are Wide angle, standard, Telephoto and Macro.

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A fixed lens has a set focal length, such as 50mm, which is what was considered to be the equivalent to the view of the human eye using the 35mm format. A good quality fixed lens gives better image quality than a Zoom lens of equivalent quality, as there is no need for the elements to compensate for the varied focal length's of a zoom lens.

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A zoom lens is designed to cover a focal length range such as 70-200mm, a high quality zoom lens will give excellent quality results, most people have zoom lenses in their kit as 1 lens will cover a range of fixed lenses meaning you need to carry less weight.

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A lens with a focal length below 50mm is considered to be a Wide angle lens, the lower the number the wider the veiw from the lens and when you get down around the 8mm range you get to the fish eye effect like looking through the peep hole in a door.Wide angle lenses are used mainly in the area of landscape and architectual photography, and is used widely for HDR photography.

 

A lens with a focal length over 50mm is considered a Telephoto lens, the higher the number the narrower the angle of view, and greater the magnification. These lenses are used to get close to your subject, these are broken down into 2 sub groups the following focal lengths are only guides not rules.

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A portrait or a medium telephoto lens, has a range between the 70mm and 150mm,and is normaly of a fixed focal length. This range allows you to get head shots without having to crowd the subject and make them unconfortable.

 

A telephoto lens,  these are said to start from over 150mm up. These focal lengths allow you to get close to the action, in sports and wildlife photos you are able to get up close, but not put youself in a position of risk.

 

​Macro lenses are of a fixed focal length and allow you to get up close to small objects and magnifing them, subjects such as insects and flowers are the most commonly photographed with these, they can be used normally for taking photos also but they are designed to get up close to the subject.

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ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR CAMERA

 

Tripod:  when you look at getting a tripod dont by a cheap one, they are light, unstable and dont last and may not support your camera and lens weight meaning you may get to watch your camera fall to the ground.

Look at your needs, for HDR photography you need stability this means solid legs, firm joints and a stable head this means weight and size. But the reward for HDR photography is sharper shots as you will have long exposures that you cannot hand hold the camera.

If you like to hike or fly a lot and want a tripod that wont break your back or take all your baggage allowance then you may want to look a carbon fibre tripod 2 downsides to this are the price and due to the light weight they can blow over in strong winds, you can correct this by hanging a bag from the centre of the tripod.  

Monopod: A Monopod is basicly a pole with usualy basic swivel head on the top to mount your camera on this gives increased stability and when using larger heavier lenses a rest for your arms, try holding your DSLR with a large lens on it to your eye for 15 min + and you will soon see the advantage of a monopod.

For HDR photography these can be useful inside buildings or low light situations where your shutter speed is just too long to handhold, and at places where tripods arent allowed or the people traffic is to high to allow a tripod to saftely be used.

The Monopod allows you to move rapidly from one spot to another and retain a more stable platform to shoot from if you watch sports shows you will see the photographers have their cameras on Monopods. 

Shutter release or remote shutter release are devices that connect to the camera by either a cable or wirelessly to open the shutter without having to touch the camera body itself meaning you remove one possible area of vibration from taking a photo, with HDR photography you need to take multiple shots with some at long exposures meaning anything that reduces vibration increases the quality of your finished photo.

These shutter releases devices come from the simple type that you press the shutter button on it and the shutter releases, to models that allow full control of the shutter opening time, the delay and even multiple exposures.

Filters are used to alter the light entering the lens or create effects each filter has its own characteristics and effect on the finished shot. Common filters used are Polarizing filters which will reduce reflections from windows or water and darken the sky to bring out a deeper blue, Neutral density or ND filters these reduce the amount of light entering the lens, these filters are rated by there density the higher the number the darker the filter when used they increases the exposure time with the darkest ND filter even at midday you can get exposures lasting seconds allowing for blurred movement shots, For HDR photography this can create stunning water and cloud movement shots.