Digital cameras forum: If I move on to a dSLR camera, what am I getting myself into?

DSLR cameras are primarily professional grade cameras however that doesn't mean that only professional can own them. I have a Nikon D90 DSLR and I love it. The primary benefit with a DSLR is the interchangeable lenses, however the lenses can be quite expensive. In some cases some lenses cost more than the camera. There's a lot of information about DSLRs so the best advice I can give you is to check out this website: http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/ That site will take you step-by-step through finding the best DSLR for your needs as well as providing you with a wealth of information about the different models. You can also always look on youtube for tutorials about how to use a DSLR. DSLR cameras are quite advanced and offer a plethora of features and functions which in some cases is great and it other cases can be overwhelming. The only con to DSLRs (besides the price) is the bulky size - they are not compact by any means. Anyway, check out that website: http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/ - I hope that helps.

As wonderful as dSLRs are, they can be cumbersome, expensive and also completely unnecessary. You really need to consider what you are goin to be using the camera for. Xyslus mentioned the interchangeable lenses, and in fact your camera will only ever be as good as the the glass in front of it and the photographer behind it.

The interchangeable lenses may be a luxury that you may not need. A good bridge cameras can do many of the things that a dSLR can do and is far more portable, and has many features that are included in a dSLR. You may find that if you actually took the Point and Shoot out of automatic mode, you can become far more creative.

Think first about becoming a more creative photographer, before investing heavily in equipment that you might not want or need. Learn primarily about your ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed triangle, and how it applies, learn to use (and ignore) the rule of thirds. Find new perspectives. Everyone can take a picture at eye level, so look at your image from above or below.

Whatever your choice, even if you are planning on going pro, just enjoy your photography

A basic camera body can cost as little as $350, but lenses can cost thousands apiece, and you may need a fair few. Start of with some basics equipment even for your P&S, such as a tripod, or even a bean bag, to support your camera, learn to use the GIMP, especially if you can't afford photoshop, and ask people to critique your pictures

I would not recommend going with an entry-level dSLR, if you feel that there is any chance that you'll take up the hobby.

The low price of entry-level dSLRs can be a real temptation and there are some good ones out there, however, what you lose in terms of convenience is really worth the price difference later on when you start taking charge of your camera.

By this I mean that there are settings that with some experience you will want to change frequently and if they are buried in layers of menus, you'll feel like your creativity is being strangled.

This does not mean that you should go out and by a Nikon D3s or equivalent camera. Buy a camera meant for advanced hobbiests, because that's what you'll be after several months, if you really get bitten by the bug.

This will mean that you will probably spend $1000 or thereabouts. Buy a body only, if you can and spend what you would have spent on a kit lens on a lens that will fit your needs.

An 18-200mm lens that some companies sell is a good all-round lens, but after some research you may decide that a good prime lens with a fixed focal-length is best for you. Some of the best and most popular are very affordable.

The summarize, if you try to go to dSLR on the cheap, ultimately you will probably be disappointed and will spend more on a more versatile camera body.

Don't be intimidated by the versatility of a dSLR, because it can be used just like a point and shoot until you learn the ropes, plus it'll be ready for your advanced knowledge when you are.

Do a lot of research on your own. If some things in this post leave you scratching your head, you can find answers on the internet quickly and easily.

I cite these topics because I've been there and done that.

I had/still have a Canon AE-1 SLR camera. I went all out in college with all these fantastic lenses and filters. I would wish to use them on a Canon Rebel but i cant seem to find an adaptor that will let me use these FD lenses on EOS technology. I can live with using them in manual form. Those lenses cost me a small fortune and do not wish to go this route again. So now my old camera(its in excelelnt shape still) after so many years of use remains in storage because Ive been spoiled by digital cameras and want to use my awesome lens on digital. Please enlighten me as to what you meant by painless?
thanks

Steven, I just bought my first camera in 25 years. It is amazing what these fancy digital single-lens reflex cameras can do without any help from the pilot! It is money well spent even if you choose not to become a techie.

I believe the only reason a "point-and-shoot" person should move up to the next level is to get a camera that has interchangeable lenses. Yeah, you can go crazy buying all the gizmos, too. But the real advantage over beginner SLRs or rangefinder (not through-the-lens) cameras are the lenses.

For me, having been a very serious amateur photographer, this was both a rude awakening and a trip to the candy store. My last camera was a professional model Nikon F2, a film camera that was purely manual. No bells and whistles on that camera! In its day (early 1980s) it was a $750 top-of-the-line camera (no lens). That same $750 barely covers the cost of a typical new lens for my brand new D7000 Nikon. What my savings account is suffering from is called sticker shock.

Both Canon and Nikon offer wonderful cameras for a serious amateur and they start around $800. You can hit autopilot and let the equipment do all the work and it will take great photos. Or you can switch to one of about 5000 different modes and take several hours to figure out what buttons to push! These high-end SLRs even take movies

If you're not a serious techno lover then I'd suggest a mid-level DSLR camera and buy one of the new-fangled zoom lenses that go from close up to infinity. As a suggestion, read some camera and lens reviews by Ken Rockwell. He's a down-to-earth guy and isn't factory sponsored so you get unbiased reviews of equipment.

Try to buy a lens with the stabilization assist built in. Each manufacturer has their own name for it: Nikon calls their's Vibration Reduction (VR). It's really valuable and beneficial. As a note, the reason lenses are so expensive now is because the optical quality is higher but they also have fancy focusing motors and the stabilization is typically built into the lens, not the camera body.

In the old days the camera body was not the important thing - it basically just fed the film. The lens was the important part. That's not true anymore. Get as much camera as you can afford and still get good quality lenses.

One last thing: Don't forget to get a flash unit. Most built-ins are convenient for a snapshot, but you're going to need something better and stronger for shots like your wife's friend.

I did the same thing last year. For decades I used a pentax 35mm (since 1966). even won a few ribbons for some
pics. picked up a Pentax KX dslr. it has live view like your point and shoot, and like the cheapy p&s I had.
the transition is considerable. Yes, it has automatic mode which does a very good job of getting you some
awsome pics. But, when you want to do some off the trail different things, it takes a lot of learning.
the language changes a bit so it sets you back a touch, but just something to get used to. the menu on mine
is easy to get around - just need to remember how you got ther the next time LOL.. like mose things these
days.. LOL
I picked up a second zoom lens, fairly good flash, and a 500 - 1000mm lens. Plus I can use the lenses
from my film pentax also. thats a nice thing about pentax. Plus its a lot less $$ than the cannon and nikon.
Oh, almost forgot another little thing that has saved me a few times - a wireless remote. it can be hard
sometimes to steady the camera on some things so a tripod is needed. My hands shake more these days,
but if you are young you wont have that problem. you have the capability to shoot in different output
formats and change the MP's.. I drop mine down to 7 to get a smaller file better for emails. but some things
that I want the precision - RAW.
Then, there is the fiddling around AFTER,, LOL need to get a photo shop program so you can play with
the pics to get different effects to enhance your pics. shop around and maybe start with the less expensive
and play with that first then you will know what you want to upgrade to,, if at all.
cant think of anything else at this point - good luck.

First, most DSLR cameras are as easy to use as your old "point and shoot" camera, they'll just give you more flexibility.

Here's how my wife and I chose our current Canon EOS DSR: We went to a camera store, and actually handled all of the major cameras: Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax. Each felt different to our hands, each has different features. You can easily become caught up in arguing about which one is "better", but. . . My feeling is that you will take the best pictures when you have a camera that feels most comfortable in your hands.

Once you find that one, then you can decide what additional accessories you need. If you like landscape pictures, you might want a wide-angle lens. If you like close-up pictures, a macro is handy. If you like wildlife, a telephoto is what you want. That's why you get a DSLR, so you can change lenses...

I too own a Canon dSLR with 3 lenses.
dSLR is definitely better in all situations whether it's day or night when compared to point and shoot with similar settings. Of course a well taken day picture from a point and shoot can look great compared to a badly taken one from dSLR.
If size is a concern, look at Sony Nex series.
They pack the same size sensor and have very compact body.
With a 18-55 lens, when detached, Nex body can fit in one pocket and the lens in other...

Just to be clear...
Nex has APS-C size sensor ( 23.4 x 15.6 mm Exmor APS HD CMOS Sensor) with 1.5 crop size which is slightly larger than Canon entry DSLRs.
Canon EOS Rebel series such as T2i or 7D have 22.314.9mm (APS-C) size sensors.

Full frame sensor size as in Canon 5D is 36mm x 24mm.

that even the APS-H is not full sized either, but just under the standard. Very interesting!

Compared to point-and-shoot (POS) cameras, dSLRs have a few drawbacks and LOTS of benefits. A dSLR won't guarantee you better pictures, but it will give you a lot more options and more control if you're willing to put the time into it.

First the drawbacks (of dSLRs):
1) dSLRs are usually more expensive.
2) dSLRs are usually bigger and heavier. This is certainly a drawback when your arm gets tired, but it may sometimes be a benefit since it may be easier to hold a heavier camera steady in some circumstances.

Now the benefits (of dSLRs):
1) Changeable lenses. This is certainly the most obvious benefit, but it tends to obscure the fact that there are other benefits - even if you never buy another lens.
2) Optical viewfinder. Most dSLRs have one while most POS cameras do not. Personally I don't use it anyway, but some people can't live without them.
3) Manual focus override. Many (but not all) dSLR lenses will let you focus manually if you want to - which is very useful when the autofocus gets it wrong. This happens especially often in low light. Some even let you manually adjust the focus AFTER the autofocus has it's turn (both the camera and the specific lens must offer this option - many do). POS cameras never seem to offer this option.
4) Better autofocus in low light. Most dSLRs use a different focus mechanism than POS cameras. The result is that most dSLRs focus faster and much more reliably in low light.
5) Better sensor. Most dSLRs have a much larger sensor than most POS cameras. (We're not talking megapixels but the actual physical size of the sensor). The result is that, in low light, a dSLR will usually take a better picture with less visible noise than a POS camera at similar settings. This tends to not be noticeable in bright light and to be VERY obvious at higher ISO settings (400 and above). The difference is very obvious, especially if you take lots of indoor shots without a flash. So, AT THE SAME SETTINGS, a dSLR will give you a much better picture.
6) Better lenses. Of course, a dSLR lets you buy better lenses than the one that came with your POS camera, but even the "cheap kit lens" that came with it is probably very good when compared to most POS cameras.
7) Manual controls. Some POS cameras give you some manual control, others give you virtually none, while most dSLRs give you a LOT of manual control. Today, most of them also do as much automatic stuff as a POS, but it's nice to have the options for manual control when you're ready to try them.
8) Battery life. Some dSLRs give you very good battery life. My Nikon d90 will let you take 700-800 (or even more) non flash pictures on a single charge. Most POS cameras don't give you nearly that many shots.
9) Start up. This is the time from when you hit the ON switch to when you get the first picture. Most dSLRs are much faster than most POS cameras in this regard.
10) Burst rate. This is how fast you can take several pictures in a row by holding the shutter down (like a paparazzo). This really matters for sports shots and animal shots (among other things). Cameras vary, but most POS cameras are VERY slow to take multiple sequential pictures, while dSLRs usually range from pretty fast to downright scary.
11) External flash. Almost all dSLRs have a hot shoe on top for an external flash. Almost all POS cameras do NOT. This is definitely something you might want to move up to later.

As a new photographer, I would suggest buying a low-range dSLR to start with ($500-$700), with a single "kit zoom lens". Quite frankly, once you get used to the features and flexibility, you're probably going to know enough to have an opinion about what features you care about, and which one you REALLY want. Therefore, you should consider your camera to be a "starter", and not spend too much money on it or accessories until you've practiced for a while and know more about your specific needs and wants. I would recommend a lower model from a major vendor like Nikon or Canon (since there is a learning curve, you'll save time and learning effort by moving "upline" with the same vendor, and be able to keep at least some of the accessories and lenses you buy for your current one). It will also make a good spare once you buy your "good" camera, or you can pass it on to the family Note than lenses are generally NOT interchangeable between vendors, and neither are the new "smart" flash units, so assume they are not unless you know otherwise.

At its core, photography is about capturing light.

So, my advice is to learn about lighting, first. Not paying attention to where the light is coming from, shadows and highlights, glare falling on the lens, framing your subject, etc is what usually results in a mediocre picture. A fancy camera will not solve those issues. All the lighting and light-awareness techniques that you can learn and practice using a pocket camera will carry over if and when you decide that you need a higher-end camera.

The computing power available in today's sub-$150 pocket cameras really is astonishing. For the vast majority of photographs, you can get a picture from a pocket camera that is indistinguishable from a $1500 Nikon with multiple several-hundred-dollar Nikkor lens. Especially when viewing at screen resolutions.

The main context where a good camera with a large lens can really make a noticeable difference is when the photograph ends up on a large print. There, the extra resolving power of the lens will produce a cleaner image on the sensor, and thus on the final print.

But when you take that high-resolution image and shrink it down to fit on a monitor, you're throwing away all of that extra resolution.

Also, keep in mind, that you can only take pictures using the camera that you have with you. Large dSLR cameras and the lenses that you carry with them are generally only with you when you set out with the plan to take pictures. There are many situations where being spontaneous with a pocket camera that you've practiced with will produce some great pictures that you otherwise would have missed.

One other thing to learn and practice before dropping a lot of money on a camera is touching up photos after they're on your computer. Cropping out distracting objects and playing with the gamma and contrast can take a blah image and punch it up into something really eye-catching. Again, this step is the same no matter the price of the camera taking the picture.

I use Irfanview for 99% of my cropping and gamma needs. It's free, very fast, and dirt-simple to use for manipulations such as this.

Having said all that in favor of sticking with an inexpensive camera, there are advantages to the higher end cameras.

They tend to have more computing power, so they often have less shutter lag. When taking pictures of children or animals that can be the difference in capturing that magic moment. They also have many useful controls arranged for quick access while your eye is at the eyepiece. On a pocket camera you may have to go into a menu to make the same changes, which, again, can lose you The Shot. And, with a dSLR, you can choose a lens that matches your shooting situation. Which usually means one lens each for close, medium and far subjects. And, the dSLR lenses gather a great deal more light, so they'll be able to capture a picture in lower-light situations at a faster shutter speed than the teeny lens in a pocket camera.

So, my advice is: Go forth and practice with a reasonably modern (within the last two or three years) inexpensive camera. When you can routinely produce nice images with that, *then* you'll able to figure out the features on an expensive camera that you need to take more of the types of pictures you like to take.

Without learning those techniques you'll just end up with a very large and expensive Point & Shoot camera.

Drake Christensen

Loved your response, very well articulated and explained. Excellent job!

Ram Shah

While most of the other posts make good points, I'd assert you'll benefit most by these things:

1. Learn about composition, the framing of the photo, the positioning of elements, the angle of view, the difference in result from a wide-angle versus telephoto, etc. A skilled photographer can take better photos with a 1945 Speedgraphic than most people can with the best whizbang dSLR - because the skilled photographer creates good compositions.

2. Learn more about lighting. Photography is light-writing, after all. Sometimes you can affect the light on your composition. Other times, you have to seek the time of day and position to get the best lighting. It's good to know how lighting affects your photos.

3. Whether you have a dSLR or a good point and shoot pocket camera, having a GOOD VIEWFINDER goes a long way to letting you compose your photo. The screen-on-the-back-only cameras may be tolerable indoors but they stink outdoors. I've not yet seen one that gives an image that's clear and bright enough to compete with daylight. Thus, as another responder commented, you just have to shoot extra wide and hope you got what you want. A camera with a good viewfinder - that you look though, seeing the same scene as will be photographed, will allow you to get MUCH better composition and better photos. Watch people with the screen-on-the-back-only cameras - they HAVE TO hold the camera way away from their faces to see the display to compose the photo. This greatly reduces the stability of their hold on the camera resulting in camera motion blur. A camera with a good viewfinder is normally held against your face (whether it's a little pocket camera or dSLR). This allows your head to be part of the camera stabilization, allowing stable lower-light and telephoto pictures. See #5, below.

4. A long zoom range lens that is EASY and FAST to zoom. It's a lot cheaper to make an extended zoom range lens for a camera with a small sensor. But, the larger sensors of the dSLR do have some advantage in image quality and you DO need a good quality lens to go with that. I've found that an 18-200 zoom lens on my Nikon DX camera gives me instant access to almost every focal length I need. (The Nikon DX cameras have a sensor 2/3rds the size of 35mm film - thus the 18-200 lens gives the same views as a 24-300mm zoom would on a 35mm [or Nikon FX sensor] camera. That's an 11:1 ratio.) It's CONVENIENT to have the focal length you want on the camera all the time and it greatly aids in composition.

5. Vibration reduction is a nice, new feature of modern cameras. If you can afford it, I'd recommend that you get something with good vibration reduction. I've spent a lot of study and effort learning to take photos in dim light or with long telephotos without camera shake blur. Even so, I've found that VR lenses are a great benefit.

Summary: A good photographer can take great photos with almost any camera. Learning about composition and light will benefit you most. Good equipment makes it easier.

The short version: are you going to carry around the big DSLR to all of the events and places you go? If not then the point and shoot is the better choice. A top quality point and shoot, such as the Canon s95, will take better photos than the majority of lower end DSLRs and the low light capabilities are incredible. Built in flash, terrific manual controls and modes for when you want them, superb sensor quality and all in a smooth shape that will survive living in your pocket (if there is not a cell phone there too.) The DSLR set up will include a couple lenses, flash, tripod, lens filters, and a camera bag to keep it protected and together. A decent flash will cost a couple hundred up. Good filters cost $100+, the best $150+ each! The best entry level DSLRs are the Canon Rebel series but you are talking about getting towards $1000 all done. But the best cameras are not going to take the best shots. You are. Experience will guide you as you experiment and learn. You will not get "THE SHOT" except by accident unless the circumstances are highly controlled. So get the camera you will use. The camera in your pocket at a birthday or the ball game or a party will get used. The DSLR takes commitment. You carry it and protect it at all times. You become identified by the camera that is always with you. If that is what you have in mind buy a reasonable used camera and try it. If you like it you can sell it for what you have in it and step up the quality. But in all truth. I have seen some of the most incredible photos taken by point and shoot cameras that people have mastered. The likelihood you will blow them up to billboards or even print them is very low so don't buy capabilities you are never going to use. When you learn to love shooting photos and want to go further, then step up to doing something you love to do before spending a bundle on a whim.