- They're big and heavy - yes, but we have kids and are already carying around several extra pounds of accessories anyway, so what's a few more.
- They're expensive - yes, but they're not as expensive as they used to be, and if you can cut out a couple of trips to a professional studio by taking your own pictures, it'll pay for itself quickly.
- They're too confusing to operate - this is actually a myth. While DSLR's have the ability to manually override just about any setting you can think of, they almost all come with "point-and-shoot" modes that are pretty fool-proof.
Now for the reasons why DSLR's are so nice.
- Speed - Shutter lag is the delay from the time you press the button to the picture actually being taken. For most compact point & shoot digital cameras this can be quite a long time, and can be quite a problem when you're trying to take pictures of kids (your kids). Another factor is the delay after picture is taken but before the camera is ready to take another picture. Combining these two delays mean that most point & shoots can only take one picture every several seconds. Most DSLR's have almost no shutter lag, and can take multiple pictures per second. This really helps when shooting fast-moving subjects like kids.
- Image Sensor Size - Below you can see the difference in the sizes of the image sensors from a Nikon D40 SLR and an Olympus Stylus 1200 compact. As you can see, there's a huge difference in size.
Why does this matter? - Image Quality - Point & shoot digital cameras often boast seemingly amazing numbers like 10 or 12 megapixels, but in reality that doesn't mean a whole lot (and don't let the salesman at the store try to tell you otherwise). For an in depth technical explanation of why megapixels don't matter that much, read "The Megapixel Myth" by Ken Rockwell (a professional photographer). Much more important is the actual size of the image sensor. Notice that while the Olympus has twice as many megapixels, the Nikon's sensor has almost 9 times the surface area. I guarantee that the D40 takes much clearer pictures than the $250 compact.
- Depth of Field (DOF) - Volumes could be (and have been) written on this subject, but I'll keep it short & sweet, so stay with me here. Depth of field refers to the part of the photograph that is in focus. In many cases (such as portraits) it is actually preferable to have part of the picture be out of focus, so that your attention is drawn to the subject (example - notice the out-of-focus christmas tree & lights in the background). There are many factors that affect DOF, but one of them is the sensor size. Larger sensors provide a narrower DOF and produce images that just look more professional.
- Lenses
- Quality - The quality of the lenses on SLR's are almost always superior to the lenses on compacts. They are much larger and have more glass (and usually higher quality glass) than compacts. Lenses are arguably the most import element of your camera. If the incoming light is distorted at all by a low quality lens, it doesn't matter how nice the sensor is or anything else, it will simply be capturing a blurry, distorted image. Because of this truth, most professional photographers spend much more on their lenses than they do on their cameras.
- Variety - One of the nicest features of DSLR's is the ability to change lenses. Wide angle, telephoto, macro, prime, etc. While this can get expensive it's nice to have the flexibility, and you can add to your collection of lenses slowly as your budget allows.
- Accessories - In addition to additional lenses, SLR's are typically compatible with a larger range of accessories including remote controls, filters, external flashes and many others.
Continue to Part 2
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6 comments:
This is terrific, Eric! Thank you.
I'm particularly interested in the Depth of Field that you wrote about. I really enjoy playing with the focus (which I am only able to do in a limited capacity right now), so I would love more room to move in that area.
Also .. could you explain some of the differences in lenses. Like .. what would you use certain lenses for and why are they superior?
I would like to improve my pictures in a couple of different areas (just for starters): Colors and taking a decent photo with flash. I know you say that my pictures have good color for the quality of camera I have, but I would really love to take pictures with more intense color without enhancing them. And as much as I mess with settings and different things on my camera, I just cannot get a natural, decent looking picture using flash. Would the SLR help with these things?
As for the Photoshop class .. I don't know. I suppose I was thinking of just an intro-type thing where you have some basics ready to talk about for people who have Photoshopaphobia. I wouldn't even know what questions to ask about it. I don't know what it can do for me. I am not sure I want to mess with altering my photographs much because I like the idea of remembering it as it was. But I am certainly curious.
Thanks! Tomorrow is the in-depth section on the specific camera I recommend and why, but you'll have to wait until Wednesday for Part 3: Lenses and Thursday for Part 4: Accessories (including some stuff about flashes) for the answers to these questions and more.
For the Photoshop class, perhaps I should spend most of the time going over the interface and tools, and at the end take questions about how to do specific things (like surrounding a baby's head with flowers). As far as keeping it real, a lot of time pictures don't turn out the way you remember the scene, so you actually have to edit the picture to look like how you remember it.
Hi - I have a quick question. If I was going to get a Nikon D40 body only as a gift - which lens should I purchase? The kit lens non VR 18-55 or the VR 18-55? I think there are other differences other than it just being VR - but I know nothing about cameras or photography and would love an opinion. Thanks so much.
Erin, I think this depends on who's going to be using the camera. If they're a novice and aren't interested in learning a whole lot about the technical side of photography, then I'd get the 18-55mm (VR or not, more on that later). If they're more skilled or are interested in becoming more skilled, I'd consider the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens. I got this one a couple of months ago and absolutely love it. It's a fixed focal length lens (you can't zoom with it) but it's incredibility sharp, and the f/1.8 means you can take pictures in much lower light than the 18-55mm even with the VR. It's a great for portraits, low light and artsy shots, however it does take more work to get good results with it. A lot of professional photographers will say that if they could only use one lens it would be this type of lens.
The only difference between the kit 18-55mm lens and the 18-55mmVR lens that I'm aware of is the Vibration Reduction. When you take pictures in low light, you get blur both from the camera moving and sometimes from your subject moving (usually people). VR reduces the blurring caused by the camera moving, but does nothing about the subject moving. In my opinion, VR is more important in lenses like the 55-200mm zoom since camera movement is amplified at greater focal lengths. The VR lens is about $60-$70 more expensive than the non-VR, so you just have to decide if that's worth it to you. FWIW I do not have the VR.
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions.
Hi Eric - OK new question. I got my D40 a few days ago and I have been playing with it and love it. I am having a problem with the flash though. It worked fine at first but yesterday it started only popping up half way - like it is jammed or something. I can use my finger to push it the rest of the way up and then it works fine, but that is no fun. I was wondering if you know some where or some one that could fix it for me. Or if that ever happened to you with your D40. I bought it used from e-bay. - so there is no store I can go back to. (I bought it from a photographer who decided they didn't use it enough as a back up camera and only had it for 6 months and rarely used it.)
Any ideas for me. I thought I might go to Best Buy - but they aren't always the most helpful.
Erin, bummer about the flash. I'd try to see if the seller will do anything about it - kind of a long shot but it could work. Also see if it's still under warranty, if it's really only 6 months old it might still be.
I've never had that happen with my flash, but I also never use the on-board flash any more. I try to shoot without a flash as much as possible, and when I do need one I use the Nikon SB-400 (my review) which gives MUCH better results.
If you want to get it fixed I'd probably try someplace like CORD Camera before I went to Best Buy. I'd also ask for an estimate before you have them do anything, because I'd be surprised if they charged you less than $80 to fix it, and at that point you might as well spend a few extra bucks and get an SB-400.
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