Digital Camera Basics: DIgital Compact or DSLR?

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28 February 2010

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The basics of digital photography are pretty much the same whether you’re using a digital compact or DSLR (also referred to simply as an SLR), but there are a few important differences.

Digital Compacts

One of the biggest advantages to digital compacts is the cost. Another thing to consider when buying a DSLR is that you will need to purchase at least one lens for your camera especially if you want to take distant photographs. Digital compacts come with a built in lens and often a zoom.

If you do have an optical zoom on your digital compact then you’ll also be able to take some good quality telephoto pictures. An Optical zoom is always better than digital zoom because a digital zoom works like cropping and takes away pixels. The more you zoom with digital zoom, the lower the quality of your photograph. Unlike regular zooms, an optical zoom maintains the quality of your picture.

Some compacts will take such high quality images that many a pro will use one when they don’t want to carry all of their DSLR gear. The quality of the photograph is largely dependent upon the photographer’s skill.

Even though digital compacts don’t have as many megapixels as DSLRs, they can still produce a good 8×10 print (perfect for an 8×10 picture frame) even if they just have 5 megapixels.

Finally, learning the digital photography basics of a compact is far easier then learning how to use a DSLR to its full advantage.

Digital Single Lens Reflexes (DSLRs)

A Digital SLR is the digital version of a single lens reflex camera or SLR. DSLR’s are also called SLRs but never the other way around. With the release of cameras like the Canon Rebel and other moderately priced DSLRs, more photography enthusiasts are enjoying the benefits of using a DSLR.

The big advantage of the DSLR is its creativity and versatility.

For example, by adding a long telephoto lenses, you can capture a close up of an osprey at the top of a towering pine tree or a child at the soccer goal post when you’re at the other end of the field. With a DSLR, you can find a lens or filter to suit almost any photographic need.

Another benefit of DSLRs is their ability to take sharp pictures of sports or action photos in low light situations where a flash won’t work. The larger sensor on a DSLR allows you to adjust the ISO and get a good picture, whereas with a compact it usually creates an image with a lot of grain called digital noise. If you are taking still photos, it’s not a problem. The problem with Sports mode in a low light setting is that the shutter must close so fast that in spite of a larger aperture setting, there’s just not enough light hitting the image sensor. The only way this can be compensated for is with a flash or a higher ISO setting.

However, there are software programs that once learned can often can work wonders in eliminating digital noise created with compacts in these settings.

Another DSLR advantage is that you can use an external flash which can make a huge difference.

Another benefit of DSLRs is that they have more megapixels than even the best digital compacts so you can take and print high quality big pictures for framing in large photo frames like 11×14 picture frames. Finally, digital cameras are slower to take the picture, but DSLRs are far faster than compacts.

Remember, digital photography basics start with choosing a camera, but the quality of the photographs largely depend on the skill of the photographer. Regardless of what type of camera you have or will be buying, you have to be willing to practice and enjoy taking lots of pictures with your camera.