7 Reasons to Upgrade to a DSLR

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Want to upgrade your camera

I want to upgrade my point and shoot camera a Traveler DC-5080. I’ve always known that if I decided to upgrade then I wanted to upgrade to a DSLR rather than another point and shoot. But I also want to share why I want to do this, and without further a do here are my reasons:

1. More freedom for image creation

The choice of manual settings on a DSLR are huge and what you can do with them are almost limitless. They just beg to be exerimented with. So this will be a challenge because I have never used manual settings before, which means I will be able to learn and expand my knowledge of cameras.

2. A wide range of lenses

Similar to the first reason, the ability to change lenses is a really big feature of DSLR’s. Some manufacturers have over 40 lenses to choose from. All with specific uses from macro to telephoto zoom lenses. The range of prime and zoom lens are wide ranging but also so are the prices.

3. High quality images especially in low light

Although point and shoot cameras can now rival DSLR’s for high megapixels values, they use smaller image sensors than DSLR’s do, while still trying to fit the same amount of pixels on the sensor. So they consequently have smaller pixels to be able to fit them all on the sensor. So this means that DSLR’s have better image quality because of there larger image sensors and therefore larger pixels.

4. Speed no delay

DSLR’s have no shutter lag due to having a mechanical shutter which opens immediately the image is taken, whereas point and shoot cameras have no shutter. The image sensor is activated electronically whenever an image is taken, this method is not as quick as the mechanical method and therefore there is a slight lag when taking a photograph with a point and shoot.

5. Depth of Field

This is the ability to focus on the foreground of a photograph while the background is blurred, and out of focus. This is an effect that can only be created with a DSLR camera, and gives the opportunity to take more creative photographs.

6. Reflex viewfinder

This means that what you see through the viewfinder is what you get when you take the photograph. Which means there’s no cropping of what you see through the viewfinder, giving a clear view of what you are taking in the image, and how it is composed and focused.

7. Price

This might seem a strange reason as DSLR’s are more expensive than point and shoots, but they have really come down in price recently bringing them in reach of a lot of amateur and hobbyist photographers. Manufacturers have even brought out whole ranges of entry level DSLR’s to make the transition of moving from point and shoots to DSLR’s easier.

These are 7 reasons out of many for upgrading to a DSLR. But choosing to upgrade is not for everyone, point and shoot cameras can produce some fantastic images and because of there size are great for taking on a day out. I know I will still keep mine for that very reason. At the end of the day it’s down to personal taste and where you want to go next on your journey with photography.

Mandy

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Definition: Image Sensor

Image Sensors are the nitty gritty end of the digital camera. Basically the digital version of film. But just as there are lots of different types of film that you can buy, there are also lots of different types (or sizes) of image sensors, and this can be important when choosing a digital camera.

What is an Image Sensor:

An Image Sensor is a device that converts an optical image to an electric signal. It is used mostly in digital cameras and other imaging devices. It is a set of charge-coupled devices (CCD) or CMOS sensors such as active-pixel sensors. (from Wiki)

Why is the Image Sensor important?

Image sensors come in different sizes, and which size you have will affect the image quality of the photographs taken with it. Full frame sensors are the same size as 35mm film, but they are part of very expensive professional DSLR camera’s!

As always lets look at the simple description:

Compact digital cameras generally have a 1/2.5″ sensor (3% of full frame sensor)

Common DSLR digital cameras generally have an APS-C sensor (around 40% of full frame sensor)

Whats the difference?

So DSLR’s have much larger sensors than those in compact digital camera’s, therefore they have greater image quality.

Some digital compact cameras can be 10 megapixel’s, the same as some DSLR’s (or more) so how come they aren’t as good when it come to image quality?

This is where the size of the image sensor comes in. Take two 10 megapixel camera’s - one compact and one DSLR. The manufacturer is trying to fit the same amount of pixels on the smaller compact sensor as they are on the much larger DSLR sensor. And this is the important part, the compact’s pixels have to be smaller to fit on the sensor, and therefore it reduces the amount of sensitivity and light that the pixels can capture and that works out as a loss in image quality.

Obviously this only comes into the buying equation when you are concerned about image quality, which is another reason why I am looking at a DSLR as my next camera.

Image quality becomes a big factor when you want to print images or enlarge them, anything much larger than 6 x 4 or maybe 7 x 5 and you will notice the difference between the compact and the DSLR.

Mandy

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The Pro’s and Con’s of Digital Point and Shoot Camera’s

Last week I looked at DSLR’s, so this week I thought I would look at the other side of the coin and look at digital point and shoot camera’s.

Point and shoots are extremely popular digital cameras, which means there is a huge amount of models available and therefore a lot of choice out there. You can buy everything from an extremely low end model all the way up to high performance models, which means there’s a model for every pocket. So I thought I would look at this type of camera as a whole, and look at the major pro’s and con’s to these cameras.

Pro’s

great for people new to digital photography, or people who prefer simplicity

easily fits in your pocket

great for snapshots of family, holidays etc…

fully automatic and easy to use, hence the name!

You can buy waterproof and shockproof models

Con’s

the image you see in the viewfinder isn’t the one that the lens will see, and capture

you can’t change the lens

they don’t have manual settings eg. the aperture is set

harder to make creative and artistic photographs

the digital sensor that captures the image is small so the quality of the image is restricted

My camera

When I look at my camera, a Traveler DC-5080 I see how far these type of cameras have come, it’s a fairly low end model (nice and cheap). But it has still produced some good photographs and has quite a lot of features like digital zoom, movie mode, white balance and ISO settings for example. The only thing is the more creative and artisitc I want to be, the harder it is to create what I want to do.

At the end of the day it comes down to what type of photography you want to do? Whether you want to take snapshots, or whether you want to be more creative and artistic with your photography. The answer to this question will be the one to help you decide which type of camera you want to buy.

I would like to get more creative with my photography and try new things out. So my decision on what camera I would buy is to look at getting a DSLR and learn as I go. But I am going to keep a point and shoot as a back up camera, because I still want the opportunity to take quick snapshots, and have a easy to carry camera to use. I suppose I’m after the best of both worlds!

Mandy

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What is a DSLR?

There’s lots of fancy abbreviations in photography and they can be confusing, you can sometimes feel like you’re reading another language! So while weighing up the pros and cons of DSLR’s which I am doing at the moment, I thought it may be a good idea to start at the beginning and look at what a DSLR really is. Well for starters it’s a camera…

DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.

It means the camera shows you exactly what the lens is seeing through the viewfinder by using a mirror, and not off set like many point and shoots which can cause heads and arms etc to get chopped off. So what you see is what you get. Take a look at the Wiki definition for more technical information on the mirror system.

DSLR’s are the same as an SLR, but instead of using film to capture the image as the SLR does, the DSLR uses a digital sensor. Some SLR lens will fit their DSLR equivalents.

You have a lot of options with a DSLR:

• you can change lens
• have an external flash
• have manual control over the aperture and shutter settings
• they give high quality photographs (more megapixels).
• you can try different types of photography eg. macro, telephoto
• and many more features and settings

In the past this type of camera was only used by professional photographers, but over time the prices have come down that much, and they have become easier to use. So that the enthusiastic amateur can now own one, and explore photography more.

This is a start of a series on photographic abbreviations and what they mean, in an easy to understand way.

Mandy

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