Mastering
Digital SLR Photography

Why dSLR?

Perhaps you’re not convinced that a dSLR is for you. Don’t feel guilty. Many serious shooters are in the same position.
You’ve been getting good results with your non-dSLR camera and wonder if you’ll see any improvement with a single lens reflex camera.
Perhaps the 28-200mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens on an SLR-like camera with electronic viewfinder has the range you need for 95 percent of your photographs.
Why purchase a dSLR if you won’t need interchangeable lenses, or can’t afford them?
The truth is that there is a lot more to a digital SLR than the Single Lens Reflex part of the equation.
Here’s a quick summary of the pros and cons of dSLRs, and why you might get much better results from a dSLR with 6 megapixels when compared with a non-dSLR model with the same nominal resolution.
Note that the first bunch of the advantages I’m touting are only incidentally related to the fact that the camera is a single lens reflex.

Four dSLR Advantages Unrelated to Single-Lens Reflexiveness

Some of the strengths that accrue to dSLRs have nothing to do with the fact that they are single lens reflex cameras.
■ Higher sensitivity and reduced noise
The images from most non-dSLRs begin to break down when sensitivity is increased to ISO 400 or more, primarily because of excessive noise.
Few of these cameras have an ISO setting that’s usable. In contrast, many dSLRs generate relatively low noise at ISO 800, and produce acceptable images at ISO 1600, ISO 3200, and beyond.
The improved quality offered by digital SLRs is due to the larger sensors available in these cameras.
As vendors pack more and more pixels into the tiny CCD sensors found in non-SLR cameras, the pixels become smaller and more prone to noise.
The larger pixels in the CMOS and CCD sensors of dSLRs have much less of a tendency to produce the random grain we see as noise, and are more sensitive, to boot, producing higher effective ISO speeds.
■ Control over depth-of-field
The larger sensors require lenses with longer focal lengths, so the dSLR use regains the control over depth-of-field that is such an important creative tool.
Ignore those “35mm equivalent” specs you see posted for non-dSLR cameras. That “38mm” zoom setting on your point-and-shoot digital may provide the same field-of-view as the moderate wide angle you’ve used on your film SLR, but the depth-of-field is more akin to what is native to the 6mm actual focal length of that lens.
You’d think the “380mm” setting would give you roughly the same narrow depth-of-field you’d expect from a 400mm lens on your film camera, but what you end up with is the same field of sharpness offered by a 60mm lens.
Anyone who’s used a consumer digital camera knows that at non-macro shooting distances, virtually everything in the picture is sharp, at any zoom setting and at any f-stop.
If you plan to use depth-of-field creatively, as in the photo shown in Figure 1.4, in which the background was thrown out of focus to emphasize the flower, you’ll need a dSLR with a larger sensor.
■ Digital SLRs work like a camera, not a VCR
Virtually all of point-and-shoot cameras operate more like VCRs rather than like cameras.
When you zoom in and out, do you want to press a couple of buttons and wait while a teeny motor adjusts the lens elements for you, or would you rather twirl a zoom ring on the lens itself and be done with it? To switch to manual focus, wouldn’t you prefer to flip an AF/MF button and then twist the focus ring on the lens, instead of pressing a Menu key, finding the Focus setting, switching to Manual focus, and then pressing a pair of left-right cursor buttons?
Photo enthusiasts won’t put up with that nonsense when they’re trying to take pictures.
The dSLR has separate buttons for burst mode, ISO settings, white balance, EV adjustments, metering mode, and resolution.
That might seem like a lot of buttons to master, but, trust me, you’ll learn to use them much more quickly than you’ll memorize the menu system of the typical point-and-shoot.
■ Faster operation
You’ll find that dSLRs work much faster than point-and-shoot digital cameras. One of the metrics used to measure point-and-shoot performance is “time to
first shot.” That is, once you decide to take a picture and switch the camera on, how long must you wait until the camera is actually ready to shoot? Generally, you’ll have to wait 3 to 5 seconds or more; then wait another second while the camera autofocuses and calculates exposure after you’ve pressed the shutter release. Switch a dSLR on, and it’s ready to go.
Sometimes I’ve spotted an unexpected opportunity, switched my digital SLR on as I brought the camera to my eye, and then took a picture, all within less than one second.

Four Major Advantages Unique to dSLRs

Some of the advantages of dSLRs are more closely related to the digital single lens reflex design.
■ Better lenses
You might argue that a non-dSLR eliminates the need for interchangeable lenses.
If your 12X zoom EVF camera offers all the focal length equivalents between 28mm and 336mm, who in their right mind (other than architectural photographers at the wide end, and pro sports photographers at the tele end) would need more?
However, I maintain that even if you super glue your lens to a dSLR (transforming it into a noninterchangeable lens camera), the dSLR’s zoom lens will provide better, sharper pictures than what you can expect from a non-dSLR’s optics.
■ Easier upgrading
You can enhance the capabilities of a dSLR quite easily, just by purchasing the add-on you need.
Conversely, you don’t have to load down your camera with features you don’t need.
As an example, if you want image stabilization features that feature in a non-dSLR, you have to specifically purchase a camera that offers it.
Yet, most Nikon or Canon dSLRs of recent vintage can be outfitted with vibration reduction lenses, which you can purchase when and if you need one.
A more powerful external flash is an easy addition, too, compared with point-and-shoot digital cameras, many of which allow no external flash at all (other than slaved units).
■ Better use of power
You’ll find that your dSLR camera’s battery will last much longer than you expect.
That’s partly because a dSLR may have larger batteries, but, in any case, they make much better use of the power that’s available.
One thing you’ll notice right away is that there’s generally no need to turn off a dSLR to save juice.
Most digital SLRs switch off their autofocus and autoexposure systems automatically if you haven’t used them for a few seconds, and the power-hungry LCD is on only during picture review or menu navigation.
You can leave a dSLR switched on for days on end without depleting your batteries.
■ True “what you see is what you get” composition
A non-dSLR with an optical viewfinder is guaranteed to chop off heads, or worse, as you compose your pictures.
The LCD on the back of the camera provides a reasonable facsimile of what the sensor sees, except you can’t see it in bright light, and the details on an LCD that can be as small as 1.5 inches are too small anyway.
EVF cameras are a little better, especially in bright light, but most of them provide grainy images that can be hard to view or noisy in dim illumination, and that are not optimal for accurate focusing under the best of conditions.
Most LCD viewfinders introduce a delay factor: What you’re looking at actually happened a large fraction of a second ago.
A digital SLR’s viewfinder shows you exactly what you will get (although some provide less than 100 percent of the full field-of-view), and you can even preview your depth-of-field.

Five dSLR Downsides

All is not perfect in digital SLR land. There are a few select things that are difficult to do with a dSLR, and some problems that only digital single lens reflex owners have to contend with.
■ Lack of superwide lenses
Unless you own a full-frame dSLR, your digital’s focal length multiplication factor must be figured in to calculate the true coverage of the lens.
It’s nice to have a 200mm lens magically transformed into a 300mm telephoto, but it’s not so great when you discover that your 20mm wide angle is now an ordinary 30mm lens that barely qualifies for the wide-angle designation.
To get true wide-angle coverage, you’ll need a prime (non-zoom) or zoom lens that starts at 17–18mm. Superwide lenses are more expensive and harder to find.
When I added a digital camera body to my film camera kit, my widest existing compatible lens was a favored 16mm semi-fish-eye lens that was the equivalent of a 24mm optic on my new digital SLR. Many digital camera owners have success using similar fish-eye lenses, and then “defishing” the finished pictures to correct for the distortion and produce a conventional wide-angle view.
I ended up going a different route and buying a 12mm–24mm zoom (for $1,000—about the same as my dSLR body) to get an 18mm to 36mm (equivalent) viewpoint.
If you do like fish-eye views, you can also purchase prime lenses in the 10mm range, but they are even more expensive. Anyone who likes the wideangle viewpoint can expect to buy extra lenses. Of course, few non-dSLRs, other than one new model from Nikon with a 24–85mm zoom, have zooms that go wider than 28mm, either.
■ No LCD preview or composing
The LCD on a dSLR can be used only for reviewing photos or working with menus.
Not a problem with through-the-lens viewing, you think? Try taking a few pictures using an infra-red filter that blocks visible light. Your SLR view is totally black, yet some non-dSLR camera’s LCDs show a dim, serviceable image under such conditions.
Moreover, some point-and-shoots have swiveling LCDs or swiveling bodies, so you can hold the camera over your head or down below your waist and still view the image.
Want to take a self-portrait? Some non-dSLRs with swiveling lenses automatically invert the image on the LCD so you can point the camera at yourself and still preview the image you’re about to take.
■ Dirt and dust
Make no mistake, if you change lenses at all your digital SLR will eventually accumulate dust specks on the sensor that you’ll have to remove.
This dust is generally not difficult to remove and may not even show up except in photos taken with a small f-stop, but the mere threat is enough to drive you crazy.
Oddly, this drawback of the digital SLR is rarely discussed by vendors, yet it’s the most common problem a dSLR owner is likely to encounter.
Look for more vendors to include widgets like Olympus’s Supersonic Wave Filter to shake the dust off before it causes a problem.
■ Size, weight, and general clunkiness
Your dSLR is going to be much larger and weigh more than whatever point-and-shoot digital camera you may be used to.
If you’re switching over from a film SLR, you may not notice the difference.
Still, a dSLR will generally be clunkier and noisier than a point-and-shoot digital, even with the fake noise turned off.