Picking the right camera can be tricky. Each camera has its own qualities, some in which they share and others they differ.

So, we made it just a tad more manageable for you to find the best camera for fashion photography (and all the camera equipment you need to add with it).

Discover fashion photographer James Nader's pick for the best cameras for fashion photography and everything he has to say on why it's these cameras you should try out.

James Nader's top picks
Best Cameras for Fashion Photography
Sony A7R III
  • Phenomenal quality & speed – lightweight design, IBIS & AF
  • Large buffer – 28 uncompressed RAW files in single burst
  • improved fully-electronic shutter – with low vibration
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$2,069.98
Buy at Wedio
Sony A6500
  • 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor – with 425 phase detection points
  • 236M-dot OLED EVF – 5-axis IBIS
  • 11fps shooting – 1/4000 sec max. shutter speed
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$1,495
Buy at Wedio
Fujifilm X-T3
  • 26 MP BSI X-Trans CMOS 4’sensor – 3.69M-dot EVF
  • 425-point hybrid AF system – Face/Eye Detection AF
  • 20 fps shooting – with AF & 30fps shooting in 1.25x crop
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$1,199
Buy at Wedio
Nikon D850
  • 45.7 million pixels – 1/8000 in steps of 1/3, ½ or 1 EV
  • Colour rendering & great detail – full-frame CMOS sensor
  • Large viewfinder & tilting touchscreen – but without IBIS
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$2,796.95
Buy at Wedio
Nikon F3
  • aperture-prioriy auto-exposure mode – for artistic control
  • Viewfinder with 100% picture coverage – TTL flash control
  • Depth-of-field preview – via button at mirror Lock up lever
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$428
Buy at Wedio
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Camera gear for Fashion Photography: A professional's insider tips

Meet your new instructor James Nader, who will go through the corners of camera equipment for Fashion Photogrpahy in this Masterclass session.

Complete masterclass

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Intro

0

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Cameras

105

Lenses

189

Light meters

435

Lighting

494

Accessories

839

Settings

980

Meet Your Instructor

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What you’ll learn

Why James prefers to use the DSLR's and not so much mirrorless.

Why a 24-70mm lens is good for shots when you are on-location.

How to make the model stand out from the background.

Why everyone should have an LED light in their kit bag.

How to use a flashlight to create theatrical backgrounds.

Why not to be afraid to use your smartphone for your BTS shots.

5 of the Best cameras for fashion photography

1. Sony A7R III

Sony A7R III
  • Phenomenal quality & speed – lightweight design, IBIS & AF
  • Large buffer – 28 uncompressed RAW files in single burst
  • improved fully-electronic shutter – with low vibration
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$2,069.98
Buy at Wedio

The Sony A7R III might just be your new best friend (if you're a fashion photographer, that is).

Well, it's not like it'll be there for you if your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA.

But with 42 MP, 10 fps continuous shooting, 4K recording and hybrid AF system in a compact full-frame mirrorless camera – who cares?

The Sony A7R III also carries an incredible autofocus system, with different modes to choose from, including Flexible Spot, Wide Mode, Expand Flexible Spot, and an impressive Eye AF mode – rest assured whatever subject you're shooting, it will be in focus every time.

Not weird this made it among the list of the best camera for fashion photography.

2. Sony A6500

Sony A6500
  • 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor – with 425 phase detection points
  • 236M-dot OLED EVF – 5-axis IBIS
  • 11fps shooting – 1/4000 sec max. shutter speed
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$1,495
Buy at Wedio

The Sony A6500 offers 24mp stills and a video camera with image stabilization. It carries a tilting touchscreen and a Front End LSI to allow much faster and more complex processing.

The complex processing added to the Sony A6500 means that you'll get a much more responsive camera for your fashion shoots – immediate image review even when shooting bursts of images.

All features help in making this one of the best sony cameras for fashion photography.

3. Fujifilm X-T3

Fujifilm X-T3
  • 26 MP BSI X-Trans CMOS 4’sensor – 3.69M-dot EVF
  • 425-point hybrid AF system – Face/Eye Detection AF
  • 20 fps shooting – with AF & 30fps shooting in 1.25x crop
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$1,199
Buy at Wedio

The X-T3 comes with a brand-new sensor, improved autofocus, and video performance – worthy enough to compete with the Panasonic GH5.

It has gained a touchscreen that can be used as an AF touchpad when you're shooting through the viewfinder.

This best film camera for fashion photography also has nine customizable buttons, and up to four functions can be assigned to directional swipes on the touchscreen.

It also offers three Auto ISO settings, each of which allows you to define a minimum and maximum setting, along with a shutter speed threshold at which the camera should increase ISO.

4. Nikon D850

Nikon D850
  • 45.7 million pixels – 1/8000 in steps of 1/3, ½ or 1 EV
  • Colour rendering & great detail – full-frame CMOS sensor
  • Large viewfinder & tilting touchscreen – but without IBIS
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$2,796.95
Buy at Wedio

This little fashion camera was highly anticipated for its release back in 2017 due to its incredibly high resolution and impressive continuous shooting capabilities at 7 fps.

It offers a high dynamic range, fast autofocus and excellent ISO performance. That also means you'll be able to recover detail from areas of dark shadows – no prob, and use its high ISO range to capture as good as noise-free images, even in low-light settings.

As far as best cameras for fashion photography go… the D850 is a stellar choice.

The Nikon F3 is a classic fashion photography camera

5. Nikon F3

Nikon F3
  • aperture-prioriy auto-exposure mode – for artistic control
  • Viewfinder with 100% picture coverage – TTL flash control
  • Depth-of-field preview – via button at mirror Lock up lever
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$428
Buy at Wedio

No, you're not reading it wrong!

I am talking about the Nikon F3 – definitely not a new camera.

Nevertheless, it does deserve its space among the best film camera for fashion photography.

Nikon combined all of the best features of the best cameras in the world, elevated these to their maximum level of functionality and quality, and combined it all into one sleek package.

Much of its strength comes in its ability not to be in the way of your work when you're doing shoots.

Fashion photography equipment

What more do you need?

Well, a proper fashion photography camera is a good start!

However, if you really want to make it to those billboards, you'll need a little more than that.

To make it easier for you, we've made a complete fashion shoot equipment kit right here that you can use together with any of the cameras mentioned above:

James Nader's top picks
Equipment Kit for Fashion Photography
Hasselblad
  • Medium format cameras – for enthusiasts & professionals
  • True Focus & Position Lock – precision focusing
  • stainless steel – battery grip for camera
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$13,395
Buy at Wedio
Sekonic light meter
  • Advanced meter – flash measurement & high shutter speeds
  • full featured – for photographers and filmmakers on the go
  • advanced colour meter – more colour rendering indexes
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$229
Buy at Wedio
Profoto B1X flash/light
  • a benchmark – for cordless, battery-powered monolights
  • robust design and build – offers both TTL and HSS
  • a reliable workhorse – bring on any on-location job
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$2,739
Buy at Wedio
LED lights w. barn doors (YONGNUO)
  • small, lightweight & portable – 192 LEDs across the panel
  • comes with 2 CT filters – slides into the front of the unit
  • for video or indoor photos – adjustable silver barn doors
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$77
Buy at Wedio
Excelvan LED light
  • high quality fabric – with high temperature resistant material
  • light- & camera stand – stable, lightweight and portable
  • Pure white daylight lamp tone – for portraits, product shots
AVAILABLE AT WEDIO
$175.99
Buy at Wedio

In general, when doing a fashion shoot, you should add equipment such as an excellent lens that's compatible with your chosen camera and lighting equipment.

Lighting is crucial in fashion photography and can alter your photo from Ugly Betty to Cindy Crawford-fantastique real quick.

Lenses

As a fashion photographer, you will need a wide range of different lenses, from 30mm for wide-angle shots all the way to 300mm zoom lenses, for example, if the model is further back on the runway.

Many fashion shooters also use 400mm to 600mm telephoto lenses – these are a rarity, however, as they are pretty heavy and difficult to change settings quickly, not necessarily the best thing for fashion shoots.

So, yes –lenses are essential; you just need to figure out which one will fit your shooting needs.

Lighting equipment

Lighting equipment is essential in fashion photography

Doing fashion photography includes both studio and location shoots.

If you're shooting in a studio, you'll be able to completely control the lighting yourself. So, specific lighting equipment is essential – such as photo floodlights, tungsten-halogen lamps, and incandescent lighting.

You will also typically find yourself using strobe flash rather than continuous lighting. This is because the light from the strobe is much more consistent and strong enough to cover other environmental light.

Since the strobe plays a significant role in the shooting, some fashion photographers will even spend thousands of dollars on the strobe head.

But why buy for thousands when you can rent or subscribe to lighting affordably?

Just saying. Anyway, onwards we go.

When it comes to your fashion photography equipment, you might also need a lightbox to diffuse light, a fill light to remove harsh shadows, and umbrella reflectors to bounce light onto your subject.

If you're a "to-go" type of photographer, a camera-mounted strobe is usually sufficient to capture your image.

Post-production

You've might already have heard of it?

Retouching – it's a thing.

Thinking about which hard drive you can use is just as much part of your fashion photography equipment kit as any other.

This is where you work with colour correction, cropping, special effects and further creative manipulation to produce the desired image. You'll need a computer with a high resolution, calibrated monitor and one that can really store all those large digital files.

Closing thoughts

Needless to say, there are tons of excellent camera options out there.

Choosing the best camera for fashion photography comes down to what advanced features you need.

You might be shooting catalogues one day and catwalk the next – each project will come with its own camera requirements.

Consider renting or subscribing to the best cameras for fashion photography.

Rent Camera Gear: Access Pro Equipment

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Camera Hire: Take Your Production to The Next Level

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Camera Rental: Save Money with Wedio

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About the instructors

James Nader

James Nader

Photographer

London, United Kingdom

James Nader’s photography represents work with many leading brands and campaigns both in the UK and Internationally, working with some of the best in the business such as Dita von Teese, Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova and Lord Bath the Queen's cousin.

Mazdak Luyeh

Mazdak Luyeh

Creative Philosopher

Copenhagen, Denmark

OUTFOX, founded by Mazdak Luyeh, is a bold Danish PR and communication agency that gathers clever ideas and tell amazing stories with visual expressions that focus on quality.

Gustav Sloth

Gustav Sloth

Filmmaker

Aarhus, Denmark

Gustav Idun Sloth is a filmmaker and a co-founder of Movimentum together with Marcus Hasselgaard. They are two creative minds who are passionate about making movies and telling stories.

Kristian Kettner

Kristian Kettner

Film Creator

Risskov, Denmark

Kristian Kettner is a colorist, workflow specialist, and film creator. He started with wedding videography to being the lead colorist on a feature film.

Fashion Photography Gear FAQ

What are the best cameras for fashion photography?

The best cameras for fashion photography in 2021 are:
  • Sony A7 III
  • Sony A6500
  • Fujifilm X-T3
  • Nikon D850
  • Nikon F3

What equipment is necessary for fashion photography?

  • Hasselblad
  • Sekonic light meter
  • Profoto B1X flash/light
  • LED lights w. barn doors
  • Excelvan LED Light

Where can I find equipment for fashion photography?

You can easily rent gear for your fashion photography on sites like Wedio.

Popular listings for rentals