With rapid development in the technology field, it’s difficult for a forensic photographer to choose the right camera and equipment.

I receive calls daily from forensic photographers in many fields wanting to know which camera can do it all. I often wish there was an answer to that question which was simple and direct, but there is no one camera that can do it all. Instead you should look for the camera that best meets your needs now. As a forensic photography equipment trainer and integrator, I want to find the equipment that will give you the best overall performance.

The first step in purchasing the right camera for your needs is to consider what you will be capturing. Do you need to make images using UV fluorescence? How far away from the subject matter will you be located? What resolution is necessary? How much money do you have to spend? Answering these questions will lead you to the perfect camera.

As we look at the current market and the products available, you have three choices; film, point-and-shoot digital cameras, and digital SLR cameras. Film is widely known and its quality is unsurpassed, but it is becoming increasingly unavailable, and the cost continues to rise with manufacturers producing less of it. Finding 35mm cameras is also becoming difficult unless you buy used. With that said, your choices are digital point-and-shoot or DSLR cameras. Point-and-shoot style cameras have improved over the past five years as far as image resolution and specific options, but they are still very limited. Digital SLR cameras have become stronger, compact, and affordable.

A camera used for forensic imaging should have the ability to be versatile in all possible applications. Additionally, the days of feeling that you can’t get the camera you need due to cost have passed. Pricing has been reduced significantly since digital cameras were introduced into the marketplace. Using a Digital Single Lens Reflect camera (DSLR) will offer you the ability to change lenses based on the situation to allow you to capture the best possible image.

The term digital SLR is short for digital single lens reflex; so named because these types of cameras use a mirror positioned behind the camera lens to direct light toward the viewfinder when you’re composing a photo. When you release the shutter, the mirror swings quickly out of the way, letting light from the lens travel straight to the sensor and momentarily blacking out the viewfinder. The viewfinder in an SLR incorporates a prism—usually a pentaprism—that flips the incoming image around so that you can see it right-side up, and bounces it onto the focusing screen where you see it. When you take the features and resolution of the DSLR camera and put them against the point-and-shoot style camera there is no doubt what camera rises to the occasion. So, let’s take a look at DSLR.