Ten reasons to choose a Digital SLR over a Point and Shoot

Ten reasons to choose a Digital SLR over a Point and Shoot

1. You shoot in low light.

Modern digital SLRs are able to produce low noise images at ISO speeds
up to 1600, depending on the camera. Point and shoot cameras, with their
small sensors, begin to exhibit noise at ISO 200, with some poorer
models being too noisy even at 100 ISO.

2. You want to use flash attachments.

While a few higher end point and shoot digital models have hot shoes for
an external flash, most do not. Some Canon P&S models without hot shoes
can use a wireless flash, but it's not a great flash unit.

3. You need a wide-angle lens.

Digital SLRs have super-wide-angle zoom lenses available with an
effective focal length of as little as 16mm. There are no point and
shoot digital cameras with lenses that wide.

4. You need a long telephoto lens.

Whether it’s doing wildlife photography in Alaska, or shooting at
sporting events, only a digital SLR can use long telephoto lenses. If
you only need a specialty lens for rare occasions, you can even rent one
for a couple of days.

5. You need fast auto-focus.

Most digital SLRs (with the exception of Pentax) use lenses with
internal high-speed focusing motors). Point and shoot digital cameras
cannot focus nearly as fast.

6. You need low shutter lag.

Whether it’s photographing your child on a merry-go-round, or capturing
the crack of the bat against the baseball, you cannot obtain these shots
with a digital point and shoot camera because the time between when you
press the shutter and the image is captured is far too long.

7. You want to produce images that can be printed in large sizes.

Only a high-resolution digital SLR is suitable for poster size prints.

8. You want an optical viewfinder.

While a few point and shoot cameras have retained an optical viewfinder,
it’s been cost-reduced out of most models. Composing a picture on the
LCD screen, in bright sunlight, is very difficult.

9. You want full manual control.

While some high-end point and shoot models have retained some level of
manual control, most have cost-reduced it out. On some Canon models,
there is third-party software that can get some of the manual control back.

10. Expandability and upgradability.

Not only a wide variety of specialty lenses, but flash attachments,
filters, vertical grips, remote shutter releases, etc. If you eventually
want to upgrade to a better D-SLR body, a lot of the lenses and
accessories can be used on the new body if it’s from the same manufacturer.

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:07:03 -0800, SMS ???• ?
wrote:

Ten reasons to choose a Digital SLR over a Point and Shoot

[...]

Plus:

11. It fits in your pocket

Oops... perhaps that should be added to the "Ten reasons to
choose a Point and Shoot over a Digital SLR" thread that
hasn't yet appeared.

What a pointless load of nonsense.


--
John Bean

SMS-san

You forgot to mention the availability of big aperture, sharp, prime lenses.
Also, some DSLR lenses go less than 16mm, although I assume you mean 35mm
equivalent focal length.

I would like to know why all DSLR's don't have 100% optical viewfinders. I
would also like to know why camera manufacturers don't have aperture
bracketing (for DOF), which is nothing more than firmware? Camera
manufactures have used exposure bracketing for a long time, but for some
strange reason don't want to provide aperture bracketing.



"SMS 斯蒂文• �" wrote in message
...
Ten reasons to choose a Digital SLR over a Point and Shoot

1. You shoot in low light.

Modern digital SLRs are able to produce low noise images at ISO speeds up
to 1600, depending on the camera. Point and shoot cameras, with their
small sensors, begin to exhibit noise at ISO 200, with some poorer models
being too noisy even at 100 ISO.

2. You want to use flash attachments.

While a few higher end point and shoot digital models have hot shoes for
an external flash, most do not. Some Canon P&S models without hot shoes
can use a wireless flash, but it's not a great flash unit.

3. You need a wide-angle lens.

Digital SLRs have super-wide-angle zoom lenses available with an effective
focal length of as little as 16mm. There are no point and shoot digital
cameras with lenses that wide.

4. You need a long telephoto lens.

Whether it’s doing wildlife photography in Alaska, or shooting at sporting
events, only a digital SLR can use long telephoto lenses. If you only need
a specialty lens for rare occasions, you can even rent one for a couple of
days.

5. You need fast auto-focus.

Most digital SLRs (with the exception of Pentax) use lenses with internal
high-speed focusing motors). Point and shoot digital cameras cannot focus
nearly as fast.

6. You need low shutter lag.

Whether it’s photographing your child on a merry-go-round, or capturing
the crack of the bat against the baseball, you cannot obtain these shots
with a digital point and shoot camera because the time between when you
press the shutter and the image is captured is far too long.

7. You want to produce images that can be printed in large sizes.

Only a high-resolution digital SLR is suitable for poster size prints.

8. You want an optical viewfinder.

While a few point and shoot cameras have retained an optical viewfinder,
it’s been cost-reduced out of most models. Composing a picture on the LCD
screen, in bright sunlight, is very difficult.

9. You want full manual control.

While some high-end point and shoot models have retained some level of
manual control, most have cost-reduced it out. On some Canon models, there
is third-party software that can get some of the manual control back.

10. Expandability and upgradability.

Not only a wide variety of specialty lenses, but flash attachments,
filters, vertical grips, remote shutter releases, etc. If you eventually
want to upgrade to a better D-SLR body, a lot of the lenses and
accessories can be used on the new body if it’s from the same
manufacturer.

In article , SMS ÊñØËíÇÊñá’Ä¢
夏 wrote:

2. You want to use flash attachments.

While a few higher end point and shoot digital models have hot shoes for
an external flash, most do not. Some Canon P&S models without hot shoes
can use a wireless flash, but it's not a great flash unit.

if there is no hotshoe or flash sync socket, then as little as $10 will
buy a flash slave (and some of the slaves handle pre-flashes).

3. You need a wide-angle lens.

Digital SLRs have super-wide-angle zoom lenses available with an
effective focal length of as little as 16mm. There are no point and
shoot digital cameras with lenses that wide.

there are wide angle attachments and nikon even makes a fisheye
attachment for the coolpix cameras.

http://nikonimaging.com/global/produ...er/fc-e9/index.
htm

4. You need a long telephoto lens.

Whether it’s doing wildlife photography in Alaska, or shooting at
sporting events, only a digital SLR can use long telephoto lenses. If
you only need a specialty lens for rare occasions, you can even rent one
for a couple of days.

there are telephoto attachments and some cameras have fairly long range
zooms without any adapter.

5. You need fast auto-focus.

Most digital SLRs (with the exception of Pentax) use lenses with
internal high-speed focusing motors). Point and shoot digital cameras
cannot focus nearly as fast.

pentax is not anywhere near as slow as you make it out to be, nor is
screw coupling in general.

6. You need low shutter lag.

Whether it’s photographing your child on a merry-go-round, or capturing
the crack of the bat against the baseball, you cannot obtain these shots
with a digital point and shoot camera because the time between when you
press the shutter and the image is captured is far too long.

shutter lag can be minimized with careful pre-focus/preset exposure.
however, that is not ideal in all situations.

7. You want to produce images that can be printed in large sizes.

you mean like the billboard in times square from a 3 megapixel coolpix
990? so much for not being able to make large prints.

Only a high-resolution digital SLR is suitable for poster size prints.

it depends on viewing distance, among other things.

8. You want an optical viewfinder.

While a few point and shoot cameras have retained an optical viewfinder,
it’s been cost-reduced out of most models. Composing a picture on the
LCD screen, in bright sunlight, is very difficult.

not always. and if it is a problem, there are lcd shades that are
quite cheap (plus just using a hand to shadow it works).

9. You want full manual control.

While some high-end point and shoot models have retained some level of
manual control, most have cost-reduced it out. On some Canon models,
there is third-party software that can get some of the manual control back.

a lot of p&s cameras have manual control.

10. Expandability and upgradability.

Not only a wide variety of specialty lenses, but flash attachments,
filters, vertical grips, remote shutter releases, etc. If you eventually
want to upgrade to a better D-SLR body, a lot of the lenses and
accessories can be used on the new body if it’s from the same manufacturer.

what is it with you and vertical grips? someone who buys a p&s camera
is NOT interested in bloating it up with a vertical grip. that
basically defeats the size advantage of a p&s. nevertheless, if you
insist on a vertical grip, nikon (and maybe others) have one for some
of their models, such as the 8700.

http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/Ni...ssories/mb-e57
00.jpg

also, many p&s cameras have filter threads and they can be controlled
by the usb port (or serial port for the older models). nikon even made
a filter kit, remote control with intervalometer and a ring flash for
the coolpix cameras:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonCP8700/page4.asp
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/nikon4500/4500_sl-1.jpg

Sigh... the idiot needs to be corrected again. This is the problem with armchair
photographers who only use the internet for all their photography and
experience. They'll keep posting this crap forever because it's all they ever do
and can do, they don't have a camera.



On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:07:03 -0800, SMS ???• ?
wrote:

Ten reasons to choose a Digital SLR over a Point and Shoot

1. You shoot in low light.

Modern digital SLRs are able to produce low noise images at ISO speeds
up to 1600, depending on the camera. Point and shoot cameras, with their
small sensors, begin to exhibit noise at ISO 200, with some poorer
models being too noisy even at 100 ISO.


Not needed when your long-zoom lenses have apertures large enough to use slower
shutter speeds. dSLR's NEED those high ISOs to make them functional.



2. You want to use flash attachments.

While a few higher end point and shoot digital models have hot shoes for
an external flash, most do not. Some Canon P&S models without hot shoes
can use a wireless flash, but it's not a great flash unit.


Every camera can use a slave flash, or slave-trigger for any existing flash, or
use its built-in hotshoe. Do a little more research to find out just how many
P&S cameras, even some ultra-compacts, have external flash capability.


3. You need a wide-angle lens.

Digital SLRs have super-wide-angle zoom lenses available with an
effective focal length of as little as 16mm. There are no point and
shoot digital cameras with lenses that wide.


While you have a whole bag of lenses to accomplish this, only one accessory lens
is needed for a P&S camera to attain even greater wide-angle ranges than you can
get with your dSLR.


4. You need a long telephoto lens.

Whether it’s doing wildlife photography in Alaska, or shooting at
sporting events, only a digital SLR can use long telephoto lenses. If
you only need a specialty lens for rare occasions, you can even rent one
for a couple of days.


Odd, my P&S camera with the right tele-converter has all the reach I have ever
needed for wildlife photography. That's my primary use for any camera. If you
have to go out of your way to rent a long-zoom lens for your camera isn't that
telling you something? Quite a few things actually. An important one being that
you can't even afford what I can easily carry in my pocket.


5. You need fast auto-focus.

Most digital SLRs (with the exception of Pentax) use lenses with
internal high-speed focusing motors). Point and shoot digital cameras
cannot focus nearly as fast.

If you are a photographer with any REAL experience, this isn't any real issue.
REAL photographers know all about hyperfocal distances and the advantages of
using manual focus presets on their cameras. This is particularly true in
high-speed situations where anyone depending on auto-focus only reveals their
inability to be a photographer, they will miss most of the shots. Because no
matter how fast you think your camera is at focusing, it's still not going to be
fast enough.


6. You need low shutter lag.

Whether it’s photographing your child on a merry-go-round, or capturing
the crack of the bat against the baseball, you cannot obtain these shots
with a digital point and shoot camera because the time between when you
press the shutter and the image is captured is far too long.

You need to get away from your keyboard and at least browse a few camera
stores. Shutter lag is near non-existent on many of the newer ones. My latest
P&S camera has a shutter lag of 0.05 seconds.


7. You want to produce images that can be printed in large sizes.

Only a high-resolution digital SLR is suitable for poster size prints.

Print size is a function of the number of available pixels. Almost all P&S
cameras these days have the same amount of pixels as dSLRs.



8. You want an optical viewfinder.

While a few point and shoot cameras have retained an optical viewfinder,
it’s been cost-reduced out of most models. Composing a picture on the
LCD screen, in bright sunlight, is very difficult.


No, I specifically don't want an optical viewfinder. I've lived with them most
of my life and I'm glad to be rid of them. They are never 100% accurate for
framing, they are dimmer in low-light conditions than using the electronically
amplified scene in an EVF, any stray light entering from the back will ruin any
exposure readings, and they don't show real-time shutter-speed effects as I
change my shutter speed. An EVF also doesn't dim down to unusable conditions
when I need to do a DOF preview. The DOF preview is active all the time. I'm so
glad that dSLRs have to retain the ancient optical viewfinder, it shows just how
poor they are in form and function.

9. You want full manual control.

While some high-end point and shoot models have retained some level of
manual control, most have cost-reduced it out. On some Canon models,
there is third-party software that can get some of the manual control back.


All the better P&S cameras come with full manual controls. Some so advanced that
even $20,000 dSLRs don't have them. One only needs to research what's available
on any CHDK-compatible camera to see this.

10. Expandability and upgradability.

Not only a wide variety of specialty lenses, but flash attachments,
filters, vertical grips, remote shutter releases, etc. If you eventually
want to upgrade to a better D-SLR body, a lot of the lenses and
accessories can be used on the new body if it’s from the same manufacturer.

Yes, you need that, because your one camera can't do it all. My P&S cameras can.

Bear with it. He has made some good comments.

I don't want to p*ss you off, but he has made a much more meaningful post
than yours. Afterall, his post has some meaning, whereas your post has
absolutely nothing. At least try to give a good argument for why he is
wrong, if you feel that way.




"Misinformation Corrector" wrote in message

Sigh... the idiot needs to be corrected again. This is the problem with
armchair
photographers who only use the internet for all their photography and
experience. They'll keep posting this crap forever because it's all they
ever do
and can do, they don't have a camera.

It's horses for courses. A pro sports photographer is going to use a DSLR. I
carry a P&S almost everywhere; it's hard to be inconspicuous using a DSLR.

Yes, of course.

Just out of interest, what are you photographing for the need to be
inconspicuous?


"newshound" wrote in message
...
It's horses for courses. A pro sports photographer is going to use a DSLR.
I carry a P&S almost everywhere; it's hard to be inconspicuous using a
DSLR.

Ali wrote:
SMS-san

You forgot to mention the availability of big aperture, sharp, prime
lenses.

Okay, that's number 11.

Also, some DSLR lenses go less than 16mm, although I assume you
mean 35mm equivalent focal length.

Yes, I was correcting for the crop factor. Even so, you can go less than
16mm, even correcting for the crop factor, with the fish eye lenses that
go done to 8mm (uncorrected for crop factor).

I would like to know why all DSLR's don't have 100% optical
viewfinders. I would also like to know why camera manufacturers don't
have aperture bracketing (for DOF), which is nothing more than
firmware? Camera manufactures have used exposure bracketing for a long
time, but for some strange reason don't want to provide aperture
bracketing.

That's a good question. It would be easy to implement. Maybe they figure
not enough users are interested. Firmware isn't free, there's a
development cost. Still it would be a marketing bullet to be able to
boast about it.

newshound wrote:
It's horses for courses. A pro sports photographer is going to use a DSLR. I
carry a P&S almost everywhere; it's hard to be inconspicuous using a DSLR.

Sometimes you _want_ to be conspicuous.

Two years ago I was really getting upset over how people were driving
near my son's school. I started carrying my D-SLR with me, and taking
photos of them driving through crosswalks without stopping, etc. It got
to the point where just raising the camera to my face and aiming it at
their car would get them to behave, whereas using a small P&S or a
camera phone would have no effect. I got yelled at by some of them that
were upset about being photographed. I had tried using a P&S, but I
needed very low shutter lag. See "http://nordicgroup.us/dtshos/" Before
the dummy corp goes non-linear, note that I was using a long zoom for
many of these shots, and I reduced the resolution for the web site so
they will load faster.