SLR or not?
From ReefPedia
Ah, the ultimate toy for photography- the digital SLR. For the experienced photographer, or the one who is extremely interested in grasping the finer points of photography, there is no substitute for the control and quality offered by these cameras. Of course, there’s a price to be paid. And when you slam down the several hundred to a few thousand dollars for that sexy digital SLR body, you’re just beginning to pay.
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What is an SLR camera?
SLR stands for single-lens reflex. It means that when you look through the viewfinder, you’re looking through the lens itself. SLRs are those nice professional-looking cameras that make the cool whine-and-snap sound when you take a picture. It certainly is a beautiful sound. But what else does an SLR do?
- Possibly most important for our subject matter is the depth-of-field preview. As you look through the viewfinder, you can push a button and see exactly what will be in focus and what won’t. You won’t find that on any camera but an SLR, and it’s a very big deal indeed.
- Lens Quality and flexibility. If you’ve ever wanted to take a photo with a $6000 pro lens featuring unmatched optical quality and stunning color reproduction, SLR is the camera for you. If you think you’re going to want to take a macro shot of a nearly-microscopic subject some day, SLR is for you. The best lenses, and the best way to have control over your lens choices in the future, come with SLR ownership.
- Options, options, options. Stuff you don’t even know about, and may not ever need to come on most SLR bodies. Mirror lock-up, second-curtain sync, bulb exposures, spot metering, through-the-lens flash metering, multiple-point and predictive autofocus to name a few. You might not know what these are now, but if you’re really serious about photography, you will some day.
My advice about buying a camera as you would a piece of aquarium equipment goes out the window right here. If you think you’ll be ready for an SLR some day, but that’s a year or more away, go for a good, flexible point-and-shoot camera.
Why not go for it right now?
Because over the last two years, digital SLR bodies have come down in price while making huge gains in quality. In 2002, a cheaper semi-pro DSLR cost about $2,000. In late 2003, Canon released a DSLR body at $899. The trend continues, and probably will for some time.
Meanwhile, if you’re new to photography, you’ve got some learning to do before you dive into your first SLR. Just as a beginning aquarist will quickly become frustrated if their first tank houses the most delicate and difficult-to-keep fishes or corals, the beginning photographer can quickly become overwhelmed with an SLR system in their hands. More than likely, you’ll switch that expensive SLR into “auto” mode, leave it there, and magically turn that beautiful SLR into the world’s most expensive point-and-shoot digicam.
Still think SLR is for you?
Great. It is truly the most powerful way to develop yourself as a photographer. Just remember, you can plan on spending three times as much on lenses as you did on that SLR body. Take it into account before you buy the camera.
Speaking of lenses,
don’t cheap out on those either. Good lenses are expensive. Really expensive. If you cheap out and get that great deal on ebay for a no-name lens, be prepared to take photos of worse quality than your average digicam. The quality of your photos is directly limited by the lens you use on that SLR. There’s nothing worse than seeing a lousy photo from a $1500 camera body with a $40 lens on it. So when you decide to get that SLR, be ready to go ahead and plunk down $500 or so for your FIRST lens. Then come flashes, filters, tripods, all kinds of goodies to spend your money on. It’s an expensive hobby… but you should be used to that.
