What do you give up with an SLR instead of ZLR?

I recently picked up a Canon S2IS. I'm not thrilled. I am disappointed
with its focusing in indoor light (even when I painstakingly put the subject
in the yellow box and half depress the shutter). The continuous shooting is
nice, but I wouldn't mind bumping up the FPS.

So, with my yearnings being for higher FPS, more control over focusing with
indoor light, and faster shutter speeds/quality for indoor action (without
flash), I'm considering returning it and trying the Rebel XT. I understand
that I'll need a decent zoom lens, too, to make up for giving up the 12x on
the S2.

I know I'll be giving up the wonderful movie mode (though in many ways the
S2's movie mode is negated by the enormous space it takes up on the SD
card -- even my 1 gig SD card fills up to the max in minutes). I also know
I'd be giving up compactness.

Can anyone tell me what else I'd give up? Would I be giving up Macro mode
(something I use a lot)?

C

Cordovero wrote:
[]
Can anyone tell me what else I'd give up? Would I be giving up Macro
mode (something I use a lot)?

DSLR cons: size, weight, cost, dust sensitivity, no electronic swivel
viewfinder (how does that affect macro?), no movies.

Pros: image quality, low-light operation, DoF preview, can keep lenses
when changing body.

The capabilities are largely determined by the depth of your pocket and
the lenses you buy. Something like a DSLR of the S2 IS costs 4 times as
much and is a lot heavier.

Your money, your needs, your choice.

BTW: the Nikon 8400 has fast focussing - try it out!

David

This link helped me:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/2dig.htm

Still, any extra insights into P&S features I'd lose, such as Macro, would
be interesting to me.

C

"Cordovero" wrote in message
.net...
I recently picked up a Canon S2IS. I'm not thrilled. I am disappointed
with its focusing in indoor light (even when I painstakingly put the
subject in the yellow box and half depress the shutter). The continuous
shooting is nice, but I wouldn't mind bumping up the FPS.

So, with my yearnings being for higher FPS, more control over focusing
with indoor light, and faster shutter speeds/quality for indoor action
(without flash), I'm considering returning it and trying the Rebel XT. I
understand that I'll need a decent zoom lens, too, to make up for giving
up the 12x on the S2.

I know I'll be giving up the wonderful movie mode (though in many ways the
S2's movie mode is negated by the enormous space it takes up on the SD
card -- even my 1 gig SD card fills up to the max in minutes). I also
know I'd be giving up compactness.

Can anyone tell me what else I'd give up? Would I be giving up Macro mode
(something I use a lot)?

C

If you are happy with your "zlr" there is no reason to get rid of it. I use
both kinds of cameras, "zlr" and dSLR, Sony 828 and Nikon D70.
They are very different animals entirely. Apart from no movie mode:
A dSLR is bigger, heavier (well, the 828 is a hog butt of a camera), more
expensive, more prone to dust problems.
If you do not understand why you would want to interchange lenses then you
may have no need to do so.
Most non dSLRs have electronic viewfinders which can be slow, difficult to
use in sunlight and to track moving objects. The dSLR is true wysiwyg and
handles like a film camera. Depending on the way you shoot this may or may
not make much difference.
While in general dSLRs handle faster this is really an individual judgment.
The larger image sensor of the dSLR generally, but not overwhelmingly, has
less noise at high isos.
The larger image sensor of the dSLR requires longer focal length lenses:
this allows for smaller apertures without worrying about diffraction and
makes use of selective focus at larger apertures more practical.
If you are willing to spend the money and can appreciate them the optical
quality of many lenses available for interchangeable lens cameras is
superior to what is permanently mated to a "zlr." However the quality of
many ZLR lenses is excellent and as good as most users will ever appreciate.
Finally, and to me this has become the reason I mostly use my D70 for nearly
everything, most dSLRs have more sophisticated menu options, particularly
allowing use of RAW formats with AdobeRGB color space. If you understand
what that means and have used a D70 in this fashion it is difficult to go
back to using anything else short of scanned film.

On 2005-08-22 15:48:42 -0400, "Cordovero"
said:

This link helped me:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/2dig.htm

Still, any extra insights into P&S features I'd lose, such as Macro,
would be interesting to me.

C

So when does Macro mode not exist on DSLR's or SLR's? I have three
macro lenses for my Nikon DSLR/SLR system.

You will loose the 12x zoom capability unless you are independently
wealthy. If you want to take movies, buy a video camera, you will be
much happier. Others have stated the gains with a DSLR.. all
positive. Personally, i find ZLR's annoying.. they dont' work well in
poor light, most have a delay which is at best inconvenient and most of
the time unworkable. I have a personal aversion to electronic
viewfinders or the small screens (much prefering the bright clear SLR
optical viewfinder).






"Cordovero" wrote in message
.net...
I recently picked up a Canon S2IS. I'm not thrilled. I am
disappointed with its focusing in indoor light (even when I
painstakingly put the subject in the yellow box and half depress the
shutter). The continuous shooting is nice, but I wouldn't mind bumping
up the FPS.

So, with my yearnings being for higher FPS, more control over focusing
with indoor light, and faster shutter speeds/quality for indoor action
(without flash), I'm considering returning it and trying the Rebel XT.
I understand that I'll need a decent zoom lens, too, to make up for
giving up the 12x on the S2.

I know I'll be giving up the wonderful movie mode (though in many ways
the S2's movie mode is negated by the enormous space it takes up on the
SD card -- even my 1 gig SD card fills up to the max in minutes). I
also know I'd be giving up compactness.

Can anyone tell me what else I'd give up? Would I be giving up Macro
mode (something I use a lot)?

C


--
Jim

Jim wrote:
On 2005-08-22 15:48:42 -0400, "Cordovero"
said:

This link helped me:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/2dig.htm

Still, any extra insights into P&S features I'd lose, such as Macro,
would be interesting to me.

C

So when does Macro mode not exist on DSLR's or SLR's? I have three
macro lenses for my Nikon DSLR/SLR system.

You will loose the 12x zoom capability unless you are independently
wealthy. If you want to take movies, buy a video camera, you will
be much happier. Others have stated the gains with a DSLR.. all
positive. Personally, i find ZLR's annoying.. they dont' work well in
poor light, most have a delay which is at best inconvenient and most
of the time unworkable. I have a personal aversion to electronic
viewfinders or the small screens (much prefering the bright clear SLR
optical viewfinder).

Of course you can macro on an SLR - but at the price of an extra lens.

Have you tried the EVF on the Minolta A2? It was VGA resolution and a
delight to use, but sadly they dropped it from newer models.

You will know of the ways to shorten the taking delay - the half shutter
press, pre-focus etc. The modern ZLR cameras are much better in this
respect than those of a couple of years back.

David

You will loose the 12x zoom---

I don't think the 12x zoom is loose, can you loosen it somehow? Every example
I've used has been tight. Did you drop yours?