DSLR Geek

By Patrick Arseneau – Consumers have a big choice to make when it comes to buying a new digital camera. Should they buy a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) or a Point-and-Shoot? Most buyers don’t even know the difference and they sometimes end up buying something that doesn’t quite fit their needs. In this article I’ll explain the difference between DSLR and point-and-shoot. This little piece of information could save you some $$$ and a lot of hassle when it comes to choosing and using your new camera.

DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex)

DSLR cameras are often preferred by professional photographers because they provide an accurate preview of the actual picture frame at the time of the exposure. They also let the user choose from a variety of interchangeable lenses depending on the capture they are looking for. Another feature of DSLR cameras is that most of them allow a preview of the dept-of-field before taking the picture.

How To Recognize DSLR Cameras?

DSLR cameras are rather “bulky” and they have a big lens in the front. An easy way to recognize DSLR cameras is by using the zoom feature. DSLR cameras don’t have an electronic zoom like point-and-shoot cameras. You have to manually zoom in and out by turning the wheel on the lens.

Point-And-Shoot

Point-and-shoot cameras (also known as compact cameras) are the better choice for beginners or even avid amateur photographers. The features are integrated and they don’t allow interchangeable lenses or filters for additional effects. Generally smaller, point-and-shoot cameras are ideal for every day use like family parties, sport events, vacation, etc.

Since these cameras use a separate lens for the view finder, this allows the camera to display the view finder on the LCD display in the back of the camera. Although some DSLR models have a “work around” for this and some do allow preview on the LCD, most DSLR cameras don’t display the preview. You have to look through the view finder which gives you a more accurate preview since you’re looking through the lens.

How to Recognize Point-And-Shoot Cameras?

Point-and-shoot cameras come in different sizes but they are generally much smaller than DSLR cameras. Most of them have a motorized lens that pop out when you turn the camera on. The motorized lens is also what allows the user to zoom in and out. They don’t have a manual zoom wheel on the lens like DSLR’s do.

Which Type Makes Better Pictures?

This question is debatable so I’ll give you my opinion and you can take it or leave it. First of all, people have different opinions on what a quality picture is. Is it one with a great dept-of-field? High dynamics? Color accuracy? In my opinion, all late models (both DSLRs and Point-And-Shoot) offer a good combination of all of the above. The difference is that as a photographer you have more control over these factors if you are using a DSLR. This is why DSLR cameras are not recommended for beginners.

Having said that, I think that a lot of point-and-shoot cameras produce good quality pictures that are up to par with DSLR pictures. One wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a point-and-shoot and DSLR picture. Providing that both cameras have similar quality sensors and that they are in the same range of pixels (mega pixel unit) the finish product is virtually the same. However, there is one major difference between the 2 types; DSLR cameras allow you to capture pictures in RAW and JPEG format. Point-and-shoot cameras only allow the JPEG format.

RAW VS JPEG

RAW and JPEG are the types of compression the camera uses to save the picture file to the memory card. JPEG is the most popular format for digital pictures. They are easy to share and extremely efficient for compression therefore it allows you to fit more pictures on your memory card. The JPEG compression merges similar pixels (tiny little dot of colors grouped together to make the picture you see on the screen) together so less information is needed to save the picture. This makes the file a lot smaller without losing too much quality.

The RAW format has virtually no compression at all. Every pixel captured by the camera sensor remains untouched therefore a lot more information is needed to save the picture on the memory card. How can you benefit from this? This allows a wider range of color manipulation in the digital editing phase. If you plan on editing your pictures in Photoshop, Lightroom or any other digital photo editor, you really want to consider taking your pictures in the RAW format.

Conclusion

There is a lot more to say about this subject but I try to keep it as simple as possible. Basically if you are looking for artistic freedom, the ability to add special effects, have the option to expand your lens flexibility, you should consider a DSLR camera.

If all you need is a good camera to capture birthday parties, bring on a trip, etc, what you need is a good point-and-shoot. Don’t think you are settling for a lesser quality camera. These cameras take amazing pictures (some more than others depending on the price tag). Some are even better than DSLR cameras and offer a greater dynamic range. I could say more about “dynamic range” but that’s another subject. Maybe in a future article.

If you have any comments or anything to add to this article, don’t hesitate to post your comments below.