 03/01/2009
reflex digital camera dslr vs compact digital camera - a brief overview
posted on PHOTOGRAPHY
advantage of having a reflex dslr versus a compact digital camera or bridge camera
what now ? better have a Point-and-shoot camera or a dslr reflex ?
i know that many out here like to make photos for their site or blog, so i make a brief comparison between compact digital camera and reflex digital camera, knowing that most actually has a compact digital camera for their work.
This article is to push people undecided between reflex dslr and compact digital camera or bridge camera to find a motivation for quality work above all.
my photography passion start back in the late nineties with kodak firsts digital camera (1 mpixel and 1.3 mpixel) then after a while i moved to canon ixus (various models) all of them were compact digital camera, all were more or less very satisfactory for hobbie work.
I was thinking that compact digital camera was in some ways similar to reflex camera, i belief that compact was better because requires less space and was much more lightweight, to make ideal partner for work session, in land and underwater.
Sure, if i check some of my old pictures made with latest canon ixus compact digital camera, then i see of course nice quality and overally a pleasant final picture.
Soon after a day in the 2007 after having seen some very beautiful photos of beloved Gurudeva and his new sony a100 plus zeiss lenses, i was pushed (kicked my ass) by him to buy a similar reflex and to produce more wallpaper increasing the quality of work! of course i bought the same alpha 100 plus zeiss lens and macro lens just to start a my new adventure with reflex digital camera.
sometimes in our life we need to be pushed to make some action, because our mind is static on some ideas, maybe totally wrong or not quality oriented, that's why is better to always have best tools for working, the best available on the market for assurance of highest quality output.
Soon after having in my hand the sony alpha 100, and experimenting it in auto mode, i realize after some shots that was ncessary to really know some basic photography principle for getting the maximum quality out of the camera... then i started to document myself in forums and website learning more and more about photography and how dslr (digital single lens reflex) camera works...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera
and after initial stage of learning while doing, i can say from the bottom of my heart that dslr camera are a huge step up from normal and advanced compact camera.
but why ? you ask ...
dslr camera has of course many PROS respect compact camera, i will summarize here the important ones that affect quality of picture
- better and larger sensor (apsc and full frame 35mm in newest models)
- interchangeble lens, from economy optics to high qualiy optics for great results
- fast accuracy and speed of focus system (phase detection)
- optical viewfinder made with pentaprism, much more accurate and fast than lcd of digital camera
- better high iso due to larger sensor (low noise, very good for night shot)
- better depth of field control and bokeh effect
- price of the basic dslr model aligned with top digital camera
If you are serious about web publishing and photography then the point is to have maximum quality for facing increasing global competition on www.
Here some data for you :
Sensor size comparison of actual digital camera, dslr reflex, and medium format
if work and quality is of utmost importance for you, than try to use a dslr with nice optics, you will see a lot of difference from a top digital camera or bridge camera.
i can advice sony and zeiss optics but of course even canon, nikon, pentax... quality of the final pictures will be much different, and much more tridimensional due to better depth of field control and optics quality.
I post here some sample of similar photo made with top quality digital camera and dslr camera with a top quality lens from zeiss.
Sony a100 vs Canon Ixus 800 is
Made with dslr sony a100
Made with compact camera ixus 800 is
I continue with some comparison pictures just for your reference, both camera are very good but of course there is a winner :)
let's check for example the depth of field of sony alpha 100 and carl zeiss 16-80, compared to canon ixus 800is at 35 mm
canon ixus 800is
Sony alpha 100
Other image comparison follow
Actually the one reason i have a compact digital camera is because it's actually cheap to have an underwater housing for scuba diving photography, at about 150$ you can buy underwater housing for most compact digital cameras sony, canon, ecc. , while for dslr camera an ikelite case can be in the range of 1500$.
Well, i know for many of you dslr reflex will be the next choice for your increasing quality work, and i'm sure you will enjoy as much i enjoy the passage from compact camera to semi pro and pro dslr camera.
Enjoy your work, if you love the result of your work and if others love as well then you are in the right direction to improove your quality for maximum satisfaction of all...
love |