Budget Digital SLR camera v Pro Digital SLR camera - Which is best?
http://www.dailyfix.co.uk/articles/1610/1/Budget-Digital-SLR-camera-v-Pro-Digital-SLR-camera---Which-is-best/Page1.html
By Chief Editor
Published on 14 Sep 2007
If you are in the market for a digital SLR camera, you may be finding it difficult which model to purchase.
If you are new to digital photography, or you are upgrading from a digital compact camera then you may be shocked at the range of prices you see in your local digital camera shop or on the internet. Read on for more information that may help your buying decision.
If you are new to digital photography, or you are upgrading from a digital compact camera then you may be shocked at the range of prices you see in your local digital camera shop or on the internet. Read on for more information that may help your buying decision.
Budget digital SLR v Pro digital SLR - Which is best?
If you are in the market for a digital SLR camera, you may be finding it difficult which model to purchase.
If you are new to digital photography, or you are upgrading from a digital compact camera then you may be shocked at the range of prices you see in your local digital camera shop or on the internet.
Budget digital SLR cameras from Nikon and Canon can be had for as little as £300, while those with deep pockets can spend £6000 on a top of the range Canon Digital SLR.
A quick look at the digital cameras will reveal that some digital SLR cameras can be purchased for less than a digital compact camera. Does this mean they are not as good?
Wouldn't is be cheaper just to purchase a digital compact camera?
A digital compact camera tries to be all things to all men (and women!). They are light and portable, they have a built in flash and they often have a very wide lens which will zoom in a long way too. Compare this to a digital SLR camera. Digital SLRs are often purchaed "body only", i.e. without a lens. Budget digital SLR models often have a small flash but many purchasers would go for an external flashgun too. And the Pro digital SLRs require the user to have muscles like Popeye to carry them around.
So why purchase a digital SLR rather than a digital compact camera?
Well a digital SLR camera is often much more flexible than a compact camera. Extra lenses can easily be purchased for a digital SLR. Dedicated wide angle lenses, macro lenses, prime lenses and zoom lenses can be added as and when required (and as and when budget allows). Lenses for digital SLR cameras can be bought for less than £50 for simple prime or small zoom lenses right up to thousands of Pounds for long zooms (100mm to 400mm for example) and long primes (600mm for example). So you can see that purchasin glass for your digital SLR can EASILY cost a great deal more than the purchase of the body itself. It is very easy to "collect glass" when you purchase a digital SLR. By that I mean it is easy to get carried away and buy a number of different lenses. This is an easy way to parting with thousands of Pounds.
And what about extras?
When purchasing a digital SLR, it often doesn't stop at the purchase of the camera body itself. As you have just read, you can easily spend thousands on extra lenses. And then there's an external flash which can cost around £300. An extra battery pack so that you don't get caught out in the middle of nowhere with a flat battery. This can cost up to £100 (sometimes more for the top of the range pro models). Then you may wish to purchase some lens filters (anything from a "skylight" filter to protect the lens from scratches to coloured filters for when you want to get arty!). These extra expenses probably won't come into the equation if you purchased a digital compact camera.
So should I purchase a Nikon D40 for a few hundred pounds or a Canon 1D MKIII for thousands of Pounds?
This is a very difficult question to answer. A camera can help to make a mediocre photographer produce better photos but it's often the photographer who makes the photo. Put it another way, give a Canon 450 to a professional photographer and they will probably take a better picture that an amateur who is lucky enough to have a Nikon D3.
That's not to say you should buy the best camera you can afford. Something like a Nikon D3 or a Canon 1D MKIII will be built like a bomb shelter (something a pro photographer will appreciate when he (or she) is fighting through a pack of "paps" to get a photo to sell.
A high spec digital SLR will also have a higher frame rate (important for taking photos of sport or action shots) and possible better low light performance (but this can often be achieved by a budget SLR with the addition of a quality "fast lens" - something like an f1.2 or f1.8).
So your choice of digital SLR is a very personal decision. If you are new to photography then a cheaper SLR may be a wise choice. You can always upgrade to a higher spec model as your skills improve. However, if you have more money to play with or you use your camera to generate income then why not spash out on one of the top of the range Canon or Nikon digital SLRs; I'm sure you won't be disappointed!
If you are new to digital photography, or you are upgrading from a digital compact camera then you may be shocked at the range of prices you see in your local digital camera shop or on the internet.
Budget digital SLR cameras from Nikon and Canon can be had for as little as £300, while those with deep pockets can spend £6000 on a top of the range Canon Digital SLR.
A quick look at the digital cameras will reveal that some digital SLR cameras can be purchased for less than a digital compact camera. Does this mean they are not as good?
Wouldn't is be cheaper just to purchase a digital compact camera?
A digital compact camera tries to be all things to all men (and women!). They are light and portable, they have a built in flash and they often have a very wide lens which will zoom in a long way too. Compare this to a digital SLR camera. Digital SLRs are often purchaed "body only", i.e. without a lens. Budget digital SLR models often have a small flash but many purchasers would go for an external flashgun too. And the Pro digital SLRs require the user to have muscles like Popeye to carry them around.
So why purchase a digital SLR rather than a digital compact camera?
Well a digital SLR camera is often much more flexible than a compact camera. Extra lenses can easily be purchased for a digital SLR. Dedicated wide angle lenses, macro lenses, prime lenses and zoom lenses can be added as and when required (and as and when budget allows). Lenses for digital SLR cameras can be bought for less than £50 for simple prime or small zoom lenses right up to thousands of Pounds for long zooms (100mm to 400mm for example) and long primes (600mm for example). So you can see that purchasin glass for your digital SLR can EASILY cost a great deal more than the purchase of the body itself. It is very easy to "collect glass" when you purchase a digital SLR. By that I mean it is easy to get carried away and buy a number of different lenses. This is an easy way to parting with thousands of Pounds.
And what about extras?
When purchasing a digital SLR, it often doesn't stop at the purchase of the camera body itself. As you have just read, you can easily spend thousands on extra lenses. And then there's an external flash which can cost around £300. An extra battery pack so that you don't get caught out in the middle of nowhere with a flat battery. This can cost up to £100 (sometimes more for the top of the range pro models). Then you may wish to purchase some lens filters (anything from a "skylight" filter to protect the lens from scratches to coloured filters for when you want to get arty!). These extra expenses probably won't come into the equation if you purchased a digital compact camera.
So should I purchase a Nikon D40 for a few hundred pounds or a Canon 1D MKIII for thousands of Pounds?
This is a very difficult question to answer. A camera can help to make a mediocre photographer produce better photos but it's often the photographer who makes the photo. Put it another way, give a Canon 450 to a professional photographer and they will probably take a better picture that an amateur who is lucky enough to have a Nikon D3.
That's not to say you should buy the best camera you can afford. Something like a Nikon D3 or a Canon 1D MKIII will be built like a bomb shelter (something a pro photographer will appreciate when he (or she) is fighting through a pack of "paps" to get a photo to sell.
A high spec digital SLR will also have a higher frame rate (important for taking photos of sport or action shots) and possible better low light performance (but this can often be achieved by a budget SLR with the addition of a quality "fast lens" - something like an f1.2 or f1.8).
So your choice of digital SLR is a very personal decision. If you are new to photography then a cheaper SLR may be a wise choice. You can always upgrade to a higher spec model as your skills improve. However, if you have more money to play with or you use your camera to generate income then why not spash out on one of the top of the range Canon or Nikon digital SLRs; I'm sure you won't be disappointed!