Digital SLR's

tobywuk

tobywuk

New Member
I am a beginner when it comes to photography and at the moment I only have a pocket digital camera See Here

I want to get in to some ammature phatography in my spare time as a hobby and I have been looking at Digital SLR camera's (DSLR I believe)

I have a few questions about them:

-What are the main advantages to having an SLR over a normal pocket camera?
-Apart from the size are there any downfalls?
-With SLR's, are the lense's changable or do you have to buy the lense aswell as the camera?
-Does the Camera's zoom just depend on what lense you have attatched to it?
-On avarage how fast are SLR's at taking photo's, can you take rapid photos one after another like you see photographers do on films with DSLR's?
-Do they take normal memory cards to store the pics like all Digi cams?
-Generaly what is battery life like compeared to normal pocket cameras?
 
all i know a single lens reflex, u can change how much light and exposure u want it to be at and the speed as well
 
Main advantages: Interchangeable lenses, picture quality, full manual settings, feel better to hold and as buttons are not so cramped a lot faster to use. Build quality is a lot better than compacts, and on newer models there are weather seals (rubber seals to stop moisture getting in). I have always found that battery life is better. You will be able to use filters as well which is a great advantage.

Disadvantages: Well apart from size (which is also an advantage as there is more to grab hold of), the only two things I can think of is price, well, some lenses are expensive. If you have a few different lenses that you use quite a bit there is a possibility of getting some specs of dust on the sensor, and that’s the only downsides that there were for me.

Lenses: Some cameras come as a kit, Nikon D40x etc. A kit would be the camera and a lens. There is a great selection of lenses out there, if you choose a Nikon or Canon camera there are loads + you can also use 3rd party lenses, Sigma etc.

Yes, the zoom does depend on which lens you are using.

The FPS (frames/ pictures per second) rate will depend on which camera you choose. This will range from 2.5 per second all the way up to 10 per second but that would only be on a pro standard camera.

Most DSLR's take compact flash memory cards as these tend to have the fastest write times and are very durable.

And as I mentioned earlier, I have always found battery life to be better on DSLR's than compacts, will depend on manufacturer though.

Hope this helps.
 
tobywuk said:
I am a beginner when it comes to photography and at the moment I only have a pocket digital camera See Here

I want to get in to some ammature phatography in my spare time as a hobby and I have been looking at Digital SLR camera's (DSLR I believe)

I have a few questions about them:

-What are the main advantages to having an SLR over a normal pocket camera?
-Apart from the size are there any downfalls?
-With SLR's, are the lense's changable or do you have to buy the lense aswell as the camera?
-Does the Camera's zoom just depend on what lense you have attatched to it?
-On avarage how fast are SLR's at taking photo's, can you take rapid photos one after another like you see photographers do on films with DSLR's?
-Do they take normal memory cards to store the pics like all Digi cams?
-Generaly what is battery life like compeared to normal pocket cameras?
Click to expand...


what kind of pictures do you want to take if you want to use it sports you need a camera that can do 6-10 frames a second and some fast lens witch are not cheep I got into this about a year ago I just shoot my sons baseball games and go karting and motor x I bought a Canon 1D MK ll and a 70-200 2.8 is lens about 3500 for this set up also there are about 5 places on the net now that rent gear all the high dollar lenses so you can try different ones out

hear is some good info hear as well a great buy and sell forum
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/

and hear what a DLSR can do
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcpilot_971pictures/sets/72157602417062286/detail/
 
Kind of a hijack but i think the author would also post this question:

Recomendations for entry level cameras.
I guess theres a lot and its based a lot on feel (thats been talked about before).
Does anyone have a good site with reviews?
 
tidyboy21 said:
Main advantages: Interchangeable lenses, picture quality, full manual settings, feel better to hold and as buttons are not so cramped a lot faster to use. Build quality is a lot better than compacts, and on newer models there are weather seals (rubber seals to stop moisture getting in). I have always found that battery life is better. You will be able to use filters as well which is a great advantage.

Disadvantages: Well apart from size (which is also an advantage as there is more to grab hold of), the only two things I can think of is price, well, some lenses are expensive. If you have a few different lenses that you use quite a bit there is a possibility of getting some specs of dust on the sensor, and that’s the only downsides that there were for me.

Lenses: Some cameras come as a kit, Nikon D40x etc. A kit would be the camera and a lens. There is a great selection of lenses out there, if you choose a Nikon or Canon camera there are loads + you can also use 3rd party lenses, Sigma etc.

Yes, the zoom does depend on which lens you are using.

The FPS (frames/ pictures per second) rate will depend on which camera you choose. This will range from 2.5 per second all the way up to 10 per second but that would only be on a pro standard camera.

Most DSLR's take compact flash memory cards as these tend to have the fastest write times and are very durable.

And as I mentioned earlier, I have always found battery life to be better on DSLR's than compacts, will depend on manufacturer though.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


well that sums it up...

i would like to add. that yes the battery life IS WAY BETTER!!!! we have charged ours 3 times and have had it for almost a year. and we take a few pictures... maybe 1000. the reason is no lcd display. also we love ours. they are so nice. pict quality is the best... imagine being 6 feet away and take a pict of a golf ball. you are able to zoom in some much b/c of thoughs extra pixels and actually read the text clearly what is on the golf ball...
 
can I have some recommendations for nice Beginner level DSLR camera's that will be easy enough for me to start off with but I will also find usefull when I get better. Im not after anything two expensive but I would like to be able to take quick shots one after another and have a nice amount of zoom (i currently have 3x on my pocket cam). Im not after anything two big, i want somthing i can carry around with me with out to much trouble.
 
One more thing that no ones mentioned yet is the amazing depth of field you can get for singular objects. SLR's are very good at only focusing on a single object and giving you the ability to blur as much of the background as you want.

On the flip side, point and shoots with fixed lenses take some amazing storytelling shots that to make with a SLR would have to be shot with very high aperture value.


To give you some ideas on a good camera it would be helpful for you to post you expected and max budgets. Zoom on a DSLR is all dependent on the lens you use. I am currently shooting a canon 20d using 4 lenses a 50mm 1.8, 28mm 1.8, 28-105mm 3.5-4.5, and a nikon 135mm 2.5

Heres an example of what im talking about bluring the background.
Barlowsitting.jpg
 
-What are the main advantages to having an SLR over a normal pocket camera?

It takes much clearer pics that is just not possible with a point n shoot. You can take a wider range of pictures, have more control over your settings, and choose your own lens.

-Apart from the size are there any downfalls?

You would have to spend a lot on lens, but thats hardly a downfall, i love all my lens :)

-With SLR's, are the lense's changable or do you have to buy the lense aswell as the camera?

Some cameras come with the kit lens, but I would just buy the body (camera only) and choose your own lens depending on what kind of pictures you are taking.

-Does the Camera's zoom just depend on what lense you have attatched to it?

Yes, zoom depends on what lens you have on the camera. Some lens are fixed (50mm) and some are zoom lens (70-200mm)

-On avarage how fast are SLR's at taking photo's, can you take rapid photos one after another like you see photographers do on films with DSLR's?

That would depend on what camera you get. I have a Canon 50D and it shoots at 6.3fps. The 40D shoots at 6.5fps. The more expensive sports cameras like the 1D mark II & III can shoot at 10fps.

-Do they take normal memory cards to store the pics like all Digi cams?

Some cameras take SD cards like the Canon Rebel XSi and such.
Some cameras, like the one I have, take CF cards.

-Generaly what is battery life like compeared to normal pocket cameras?

Battery life is great, I do not charge it for up to weeks. Also, you can get a battery grip and that holds 2 batteries. 2 batteries = double battery life :D

Example of HDR (High Dynamic Range) picture, not possible on point n shoot ;)

HDR is pretty much taking a lighter pic, normal pic, and a dark pic of the same thing and putting them together so the dark and light parts look just as good as the normally exposed parts.


Untitled by CoconutShrimp, on Flickr
 
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