"Do I need a digital SLR?"

Photo: Flickr/armno

I wish I could give you a concise answer to that question. But I'm afraid it's not that easy.






Some reasons for choosing a digital SLR (dSLR):


Focusing speed and frame-rate are higher.
You probably don't need the fastest camera out there. An amateur photographer will never need 7-10 frames per second.


On the other hand, the compact cameras (aka point-and-shoot camera) are still very slow compared to digital SLR's. If you're going to shoot children (with a camera of course), the compact cameras will probably be to slow, and it's difficult to catch the moment. The time it takes for the camera to focus (make the image sharp) is essential when shooting moving objects. What you need are faster focusing and more than one picture per second. 




Bigger lenses = better lenses
Compact camera (and mobile phones) gives you at least 10 mega pixels. But why does the pictures still look like crap?


Pixels are just one part of what makes a digital picture. While all cameras today have more pixels than you'll ever need, many of them are just not sharp enough. By sharpness I mean the ability to capture details. Without details, the picture will look "muddy", no matter how many mega pixels you have.


Usually, larger lenses means sharper lenses. Hence, a compact camera will be sharper than an iPhone, and a dSLR will be sharper than a compact camera.


Larger sensor = less digital noise

Photo: Wikipedia

You know the colored dots you get in your images when shooting in low-light situations without a flash? That's called digital noise. The camera compensates for the lack of light by using a high ISO (very technical), and that gives you digital noise.


In the last years, camera manufactures stuffs more and more pixels into the small sensors in the cameras. As each pixel becomes smaller, it's ability to capture light diminishes. The people thought they needed 10, 15 or 20 mega pixels, and that's what they got. But, as we know, the customers are usually wrong.


The dSLR's today usually have the same amount of mega pixels as a compact camera, but the sensor is larger and so the pixels are larger. And this gives you cleaner looking images in low-light situations.




Manual settings

Manual what? Isn't the green square om my camera what I'm suppose to use?

If you're new to the whole photography thing, you should use the stupid-mode (yes, that's the green square) on your camera. You'll get decent looking images, but that's all.

Get yourself a book, take a class or just find some information on the internets. It doesn't take much to start using the semi-manual modes of your camera, and your images will come to life. I'll try to put up a list of good sites to learn about photography.



Some reasons for NOT choosing a digital SLR:


Price
dSLR's usually costs more than a compact camera. If you want a dSLR with 20x zoom, you'll need at least two lenses.

Size
It's bigger than a compact camera! There's no point in owning a good dSLR, if it stays at home because you're to lazy to bring it with you.

The best camera is the one that you have with you. 

(quote possibly trademarked by Chase Jarvis)

A bigger camera will also be more intrusive. It's harder to hide, and people will usually pose more when you're shooting  with a dSLR. People sometimes jump when I try to discreetly take their picture with my Nikon D700.