Digital cameras and DSLR

[k3nnis]

Hi there.

Sorry i am a newbie and was wondering what are the major differences of normal digital cameras and DSLR's? Why are DSLR's so much better in quality? Sorry i don't understand the differences in technology of the 2.

Regards.
Kenn.

 

[agentzero9]

DSLRs have better image quality because the sensors are larger.

As for operational differences, the main ones are that DSLRs are faster, and the lens' are interchangeable.

 

[k3nnis]

Thanks for the info. DSLR's looks great but no $$$$

 

[nirkillerangel]

and because the lenses are interchangeable, you can use better lenses that come with most point and shoots.

 

[mdude85]

the main difference is that with a P&S, you look at an LCD screen on the back of your camera to set up your shot. The sensor remains open at all times to let light filter in. However on a DSLR, which stands for digital single lens reflex, a mirror sits inside the camera which projects the image directly from the lens into the VIEWFINDER instead of onto an LCD screen. Therefore, you see in the viewfinder exactly what the lens sees. So that means you can interchange lenses, add filters, and the quality of the photos tends to be better because the sensor is of higher quality. Digital SLRs, since they are SLR, also have very many more settings than point and shoot cameras, which give you a much greater -- at this point almost infinite -- degree of control over what your photos look like right out of the camera. (Also another small difference is that SLR cams can shoot at their maximum setting in a image format called RAW which preserves ALL the image quality, where as most P&S cameras shoot in JPEG which loses quality right off the bat.) With SLRs, you can have control over your auto focus or manual focus settings, to put certain elements of your shot in focus and others blurred. Most P&S cameras can't do this because they have their focus set at infinity.

As for the $$$$$ issue, I can sympathize....however, there are several varities of DSLR that you can get for less than $1000, which is the price of a high-end point and shoot camera. You can get a used Canon D30 dSLR for around $500 without a lens, and add a lens (for instance a 50-1.8 mk1) for about $70 new. With that camera I believe you'll have every tool necessary to take great pictures with a quality SLR, even if the camera is a tad old and/or used. Also Canon came out recently with the 300D, which is a successor to the D30 but with a sub-1000 dollar price. You can get a 300D and a lens which comes with it for $750-$900 depending on where you look. These are great prices considering a new D30 was about $3500 when it came out, and the average price for a new dSLR body only (no lens) tends to hover at about $2000, and can go as high as $4500 and sometimes around $8000. So I can see what you're saying with regards to P&S cameras averaging about $300. But IMO if you buy used and buy smart you can get a good SLR package for under $700.

 

[1337m0dd3r]

DSLR's are much better in my point of view, as already stated lenses are interchangable, free to focus how you like, more iso settings, pretty much just a normal slr... but digital.. so yea.. thats my point of view on dslr

btw I have a nikon d70.. so yea.

 

[Stereodude]

Thanks for the info. DSLR's looks great but no $$$$

Buy a film SLR like a Canon EOS Elan 7Ne instead to get started?

 

[Quiglag]

I have a question about lenses. My dad has an old minolta XG7; will the lenses for that fit a new digital minolta?

 

[mdude85]

I have a question about lenses. My dad has an old minolta XG7; will the lenses for that fit a new digital minolta?

You'd probably find your answer on some Minolta web forums or by contacting Minolta customer support. Canon fits many of its lenses so that they work with digital and film, but I'm not sure about Minolta/Konica Minolta. Consider asking your question here: http://www.photo.net/bboard/forum?topic_id=1781

The problem is that right now in the States, Minolta does not have a digital SLR model, but it is slated to come out sometime this year. So sit tight and see what happens. As for now, all of Minoltas digital models are advanced point and shoots.

 

[Deleted member 3081]

I have a question about lenses. My dad has an old minolta XG7; will the lenses for that fit a new digital minolta?

Like mdude85 said, Minolta currently does not have a true D-SLR available with interchangeable lenses. I read in a (european photography) magazine that Minolta (... at least I think it was them) are coming out with a whole new D-SLR, but it's using specially designed lenses, made SPECIFICALLY for digital SLR's.

Anyways the short answer is NO. The long answer is MAYBE.

The reason I say that the short answer is NO is that, from the details I can find about the XG7, it focus and aperature controls are all manual. If you look at the lens, you set the f/ stop directly on the lens. A DSLR wouldn't be able to control the f/ stop of the lens since the lens is 100% manually controlled. The camera wouldn't be able to control the focus on the lens either since it's manual only.

The reason I say that the long answer is MAYBE is because just today I saw something in a camera mag that I never thought I'd see. A Japanese company has come out with adapter rings to let you mount old manual only lenses to newers SLR's and DSLR's. The catch? No auto focus or aperature control and the older lenses weren't really up to taking fast action shots (the review was based on the Canon version of the adapter ring, attached to a Digital Rebel). Their findings were that for stills/portrait type pictures, it's worth the hassle especially if you have some really nice glass.

I'll post more info about it once I find the article again.