Choosing a Camera - Point and Shoot or Single Lens Reflex

Choosing a Camera - Point and Shoot or Single Lens Reflex

At some point and time, all those who take pictures or are interested in starting to take pictures will need to decide which type camera they should use. There is no clear cut answer because it all depends on what you are planning to do with your camera. There are basically two types of cameras that the average consumer (non- professionals) can choose from. They are the Point and Shoot type, and the Single Lens Reflex type. In this article I am only addressing digital cameras for both types, since for most purposes, film cameras are dead. I will briefly list some characteristics of both type cameras and hopefully you can decide which is best for you.

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First lets look at Point and Shoot cameras. They are the most cost effective. Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras cost a lot more. Point and Shoot cameras are also more convenient to use. Most are small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. Just turn them on and start shooting. They have permanent fixed lenses built into the camera. You wont be able to zoom in and out beyond the capacity of your camera. (but the range on most of them is fine for most casual users). Generally, they come in the JPEG format which compresses the images you take so that you will have more space in your memory card to take and display more pictures. Although the quality is not the same when a photo is compressed, most casual photographers and viewers wont even notice the difference.

Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras. As I mentioned earlier, they are more costly than point and shoot cameras. They can also take pictures in the JPEG format, but the big difference is they can also take pictures in the RAW format which is not compressed. This will give a much better quality image for those who are really particular about it. Single Lens Reflex cameras can also use interchangeable lenses for various purposes. Meaning you can put on a very wide angle lens and then put on an extreme telephoto lens.

In both cases they will outdo what the point and shoot will do. You also have the option of manual focusing, the ability to use filters and also use a flash that is not built into the camera so that you may improvise with lighting. There are a lot of other things it can do, but it would be too technical to list here in a short article.

So, if you just want to take pictures at the kids birthday party or on holidays, a Point and Shoot camera will more than fulfill your needs. But if you are interested in higher quality images, the ability to control lighting and other factors that go into creating an image, a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera might be better for you.

Interchangeable Lens Camera

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Choosing a Camera to Take on Holiday - 7 Tips For Successful Photographs

Choosing a Camera to Take on Holiday - 7 Tips For Successful Photographs

Don't lose those precious travel memories when you go on vacation. Careful camera choice and knowledge of how it works will save a lot of embarrassment when those important times don't look nearly as good in digital form as they did in real life. Or they have vanished altogether. Here are seven things you can do to keep those moments forever fresh.

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Choose your camera before you leave on vacation

It's easy to save some money by getting your camera duty free, but your chances of being able to operate it efficiently in a hurry are fairly slim. Modern cameras are becoming cheaper and have better quality lenses, sensors, specs and overall quality than they did even two years ago. Make the investment and enjoy superior results. Stay with the well known brands. 0 and up will get you a great camera in the point and shoot range.

Get comfortable with your camera

Ask to hold your camera before you buy it. Do the controls fit under your fingers, or are they so tiny you press several at once? Are they placed logically for you? Ask the demonstrator to show you how to hold the camera firmly. Get an explanation of how the menu works. It's hard to shoot quickly if you can't find the right settings.

Is the viewfinder convenient and easy to see?

Some cameras come with an LCD screen only, and some have an electronic viewfinder as well. A screen can be very hard to see in the sun. An electronic viewfinder is really a very small LCD screen. It uses up battery power, and a further disadvantage is that, because electronic viewfinders cannot resolve fine detail, it's hard to see whether the subject's eyes are open or closed, for instance. An optical system viewfinder does not have this problem.

Optical versus digital zoom

These are often confused, but there is a big difference in the quality between them. Digital zoom takes a portion of the picture and enlarges it back to the original size. Individual pixels in the image are removed or magnified causing quality loss and a lower resolution. It's also not true magnification. The picture is manipulated electronically, and the end result is that your image won't look great. Optical zoom is made by the lens and will not affect picture quality, so this should be your first choice always. Some manufacturers will combine the optical and digital magnifications to give a more impressive specification, but ignore this and find the true optical value.

Is the camera small enough to carry?

How much equipment do you really need? Do you want to carry a lot extra as you would with a bigger camera with interchangeable lenses? Or will something that fits into your pocket do? Be realistic about your skill level, and don't pay a lot for extras you will hardly if ever use. Let the professionals pay the big bucks. Just make sure you have a good protection pouch to carry it in.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

There are many memory cards on the market with capacities of 8GB and more, and in February 2010 an SCXD card was released with a 64GB capacity. However while these may sound grand, there is always the possibility of card failure or corruption with any of these devices. This usually means irretrievable loss of your precious images. I feel far more comfortable with two or three cards of 4GB or less, so if one card develops a problem, I haven't lost all my images.

Batteries

With travel, a decent battery system is a major concern. Battery failure at the wrong moment will often cause an irreplaceable loss of a shot. Don't rely on standard AA batteries. Get the best for your camera, and lithium rechargeables are great.

A little thought and careful shopping will go a long way to bring you pleasure after the holiday with successful photographs. Decide what you want your camera to do, make a list of the features you need and then go shopping. Stay with the major brands, keep it simple, learn the automatic features first and then experiment further with the other settings. Happy holidays!

Interchangeable Lens Camera

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