Digital cameras will be at the top of many holiday wish lists this year. And photo buffs everywhere want the ultimate camera: an SLR. But before you buy, research carefully.
SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras provide advanced controls. Shutter speed and aperture can be adjusted. And that’s just the beginning.
Some digital SLRs have fixed lenses. But I’d put my money into a camera that allows lens changes. And don’t be fooled by SLR-style cameras. You want the real deal. People tend to judge digital cameras by the number of megapixels, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate to picture quality. Megapixels refer to the size of image a camera will capture. The more megapixels, the more you can enlarge your pictures. So for large prints, you need a lot of megapixels.
Many consumer SLRs fall into the 6- to 8-megapixel range. That’s satisfactory. But additional megapixels offer you more flexibility in printing. If you find a camera with more megapixels at a good price, go for it.
Image sensors
There are two types of sensors: CCD (charged-coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor).
CCD sensors generally provide the best image quality, with a greater dynamic range. They also offer faster speeds. CCDs also tend to be more costly and use more power.
Bigger is better when it comes to sensor size. SLRs have larger sensors than point-and-shoot cameras.
Lenses
If your photo buff has a film SLR, try to stick with the same brand. In most cases, the old lenses will work on the digital model.
However, cameras with sensors smaller than a 35mm frame magnify the focal length of the lens. This magnification is beneficial with telescopic lenses.
Image stabilization is a nice feature. It is no substitute for a tripod, but it helps offset some camera shake.
Frame rate and light metering
At the high end, SLRs take photos at eight frames per second. The low end is about 2 fps.
The more types of light metering, the better. Most offer center-weighted and spot metering.
Modes and file formats
Mode settings are common on point-and-shoot cameras. They are pre-programmed settings in the camera for situations involving a variety of lighting and movement. Most photo buffs want to work with settings, but sometimes they just want to take photos without a fuss. So look for a camera with shooting modes.
The camera should be able to capture images in JPEG and TIFF formats.
The ability to capture RAW images is a bonus. RAW images are minimally processed, allowing more changes to them on the computer. They’re smaller than TIFFs, without the data loss of JPEGs. The latter format allows for a high degree of image file compression, which accounts for its small file sizes.
