During the humongous photoalbums age when we cannot see our poses before we have the so-called film developed, we used to take pictures only during birthdays, weddings, vacation trips, christmas and other special occasions.
But in this era where we can practically carry our family album or self-portrait albums in our pockets everyday, people take pictures with or without a special occasion. Or should I say, everyday is a special occasion, and take pictures, we must. This is especially the case today in the Philippines where almost anyone has a camera. Cameras in cellphones, or digital cameras, or even digital SLR cameras have become an ordinary everyday phenomenon.
The internet has made it a "necessity" for people to document their daily lives by providing for them venues to publish their photographs such as social networking sites and blogs where anybody can be his or her own publisher.
Thus the need for a decent camera...
A modern day camera prospective buyer is usually confronted with this first decision to make: a point-and-shoot digital camera or a digital SLR camera?
In Photofocus' discussion of Why DSLR over Point-and-Shoot? in "What Camera Should I Buy Part II?", Scotte Bourne mentioned these areas to consider:
Shutter lag is the interminable span of time between the moment you trigger the shutter and the moment the camera actually captures the image. You won’t face this problem on a high-end SLR but point-and-shoot cameras are commonly slow. Click here to read more...
TTL or through the lens is the term used to describe what happens when you look through the viewfinder of an SLR. You’ll see the actual composition recorded on the sensor. With point-and-shoot film cameras (most digitals have an LCD view screen), you’re usually looking through a viewfinder and not through the lens itself. Click here to read more...
Lenses – With SLR cameras, you have a wider range of lenses available. Whether you need a macro lens for close- ups or long telephoto lens to pull in wildlife, you’ll be able to attach one to your SLR body. This is something you can’t do with a point-and-shoot camera. Yes, there are macro attachments and digital zoom available on point-and-shoot cameras, but they are almost always for appearance sake and are quality compromises due to low- quality optics.
F/stops – By using a variety of interchangeable lenses, you’ll have a wider range of available f/stops to work with, giving you greater creative control with depth of field.
Shutter Speeds – SLR bodies also offer a wider range of shutter speeds, often from 30 seconds to 1/8000 of a second, as well as bulb setting. A wide range of shutter speed settings is a requirement for good general photography. Most point-and-shoots have a very limited shutter speed.
Metering – SLR bodies have more sophisticated metering systems. They also give you the choice between different metering patterns such as matrix metering, spot metering, and center-weighted metering. Many even permit you to shift the point of focus.
Auto focus – SLR bodies will give you faster auto focus. This is especially useful if you want to include fast-moving subjects in your photography. Most point-and-shoot cameras won’t permit manual focusing, something that is essential for landscape and close-up photography.
Filters – Lenses on many P/S cameras don’t allow for the use of filters. At a minimum, you’ll need to be able to attach a polarizing filter.
Flash – A modern SLR camera body gives you much greater creative control when using flash. You’ll be able to use more than one flash, and you’ll have other creative controls, such as rear-curtain sync and repeating flash.
Depth of Field Preview Button – A main reason I recommend the SLR camera over a point-and-shoot camera is the depth-of-field preview button. The DOF preview button shows the effect of your chosen f/stop on your image. You see what the film or sensor will see. This way you can fine-tune your image before pressing the shutter and avoid unpleasant surprises in the final image. I don’t know of any point-and-shoot camera that features a depth-of-field preview button, but most midrange to pro-level SLRs offer one. If you’re serious about any sort of outdoor or nature photography, I don’t recommend buying a camera without this feature.
In my plain photography beginner's point of view, a dSLR camera is suited for the pro photographers and serious photography beginners while the point-and-shoot digital camera is for those who want to conveniently carry their camera with them wherever they go and for those who do not want to dip their fingers into the more technical operations of the dSLR camera. Although somebody mentioned that pro photographers usually also own a point-and-shoot digital camera because it is handy wherever they go unlike the heavy dSLR's.
Similarly, this is what Scrapjazz's advise in choosing a camera.
Find a camera that fits your lifestyle. Your level of photography interest and your lifestyle will ultimately make this decision for you. Size, ease-of-use, and price will all play a major role in whether a digital SLR, high performance point-and-shoot, or compact point-and-shoot is right for you.
In conclusion to the prospective camera buyer's dilemma, taking in consideration what the experts suggest, my advice is: know thyself, then know thy camera.
In our case, even if we are not really pro photographers, we decided to buy a photography beginner's digital SLR camera. We will tinker with it in our next post. Until then...
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