What can a digital SLR do a compact camera can’t? And vice versa.

Digital SLR cameras are really affordable now. When you’re buying a camera it is again like the days when 35mm cameras were sold. You would buy a camera based on your needs. When I had my store a customer would come in looking to buy a camera and ask me to make a suggestion. One of the questions I’d ask them was what was more important to them, portability or versatility.


What you're committing to

An SLR is a bigger camera that can be easily adapted to be what you need for your particular interest. It can take lenses that can be extremely wide angle all the way through to powerful telephotos. An SLR can use accessory flashes that can give a better quality of light and can be powerful enough to light up a large room. An SLR can be built up into a system that you can put together to do the kind of photography you want to do. The SLR is a larger camera and a system can fill up a camera bag. It can be a lot to carry but as I said in my last article, for me having my camera with me is my way of enjoying what I’m doing. I don’t consider it a burden at all.

What's better about an SLR?

One thing all the manufacturers craft their SLRs to do is be very responsive to a photographer’s commands. They typically do not ‘lag’ when you take a picture as many compact digital cameras do. They allow their user to take control of how they work. Where most compacts are used completely automatically, SLRs are at their best when you control them to work with the parameters set for what your taking pictures of. An example I’ll give you is that usually a compact taking a portrait will take a picture that’s sharp throughout, both the subject and the background. With an SLR you can more easily make sure the subject is sharp and the background is thrown out of focus so it’s not distracting. Photography is a technical art. There are techniques you can learn to make your photos look really professional but you need a camera you can apply these techniques to. An SLR is such a camera.

Another benefit to an SLR is since it has the architecture to house more technology, the sensor that captures the image can be larger and therefore grab more light, which means more detail in the photo. The lenses can be designed for performance as opposed to being designed to be as small as possible.

Does price matter?

Every SLR can enhance your photography. There is nothing an inexpensive SLR can’t do as far as taking a picture goes. As they get more expensive they merely get more performance and are built for more use. As an example using the Nikon line. The under $500.00 Nikon D40 takes as good a photo as a $5000.00 D3. What the D3 gives for the price is it captures the image in a bigger file and on a larger sensor. Its also built like a tank because a D3 could find itself in a war zone or traveling with its owner around the world every day. The resulting picture will be no better though because that’s still the result of the photographer’s eye.

Now…what about the compact digital?

I have to admit, if I take 100 photos, 80-90 of them I take with a compact camera. My little Canon Powershot Elph has taken THOUSANDS of photos in the two years I’ve had it. They’re mostly snapshots of my family but these are the pictures that mean the most to me. That little camera goes almost everywhere with me. It even has its place in my SLR camera bag so when I travel and there’s a day when I don’t want to haul the bag, I have the ability to still take great photos.

The same rule applies to a compact digital as it does to a low price SLR. The photographer makes a photo great. The only thing you have to deal with is to understand the limitations of the camera. The more you know what it can do, the greater the chance you can take a picture you’ll include with your best work.