What to look for in a SLR Digital Camera

Hello lilaclady.... SLR's (or Single Lens Reflex) are about the best way to go digital, especially if you want total control over your shots. What I've always looked for, is not so much the optics, but rather funtional features. Lenses are lenses...and all SLR's have pretty good ones, no matter what the brand name. (Nikon is famous for its lenses, but lacks on functionality.) You want a camera with fast shutter speed, for one thing. This is great for taking stop-action shots and brightly lit subjets (like snow). The other thing to watch for is, how "fast" your lens is. This is not shutter speed, but refers to the len's "f-stop" numbers. Look for something that has an f2-f4 slow setting to an f16-f22 at its fastest setting. The 300x zoom is O.K. That gets you pretty close-up indeed! Another thing you might want, is a continuous-mode shutter button, used for taking instant 1-2-3-shots etc. And lastly, if you intend to buy a camera with a built-in flash, you'll want one with a fast re-cycle. (3-5 second at best) I speak to you as an SLR professional photographer, and the best that I've found for the money, has always been anything of Pentax or Cannon brands. Good luck with whichever you choose to go with. The world is an amazing subjet, and it forever needs photographers to share in its bounty. Cheers; commanderxo

I just brought my first digital SLR camera today and am rather excited about it... I have wantedone for so long.... I am a reall begginer, it's exciting to learn how to use it but I am very lucky that I brought one with auto fuctions to help begginers sterting out... It's a Petax KM... I am wraped with it the Pic qaulity is Awsome... I got an extra lense with it as well... I've been trying to do my research on SLR's for over a year now and opted for this one as a begginer and later down the track I can upgrade and keep all my lenses etc to use with the New one....

there are alot of good ones on the market, but the choice should really be going around what your specific needs are. have you decided what specific features you want in a camera? start with what you will be primarily using it for - sporting events, low light situations (night shots, etc), indoor or outdoor shooting, etc. also, what would you need the zoom lens for. make sure you take note of speeds and apertures so that you can come up with quality photos for what you were intending to use it for. remember, too that in this age of digital photography, pixelization is one thing you should consider as it will dictate how granular photos can come out. an SLR is for a more experienced user, but i believe photography really requires a lot of hands-on learning in order to better understand features and quality that you can derive from a particular model. reading and researching reviews can help you make good choices and decisions and can perhaps help you decide what you really need based on your intended usage. consumer reports can help you determine quality of different product lines, too. i am currently looking for a good SLR, too. prior to going digital, i used a minolta (too long ago - i cannot remember the model, plus it was mroe my brother's camera), and i had purchased a nikon N2000 for myself. i use both extensively as i was really passionate about the hobyy and even learned to process my own film and photos. i am now studying the different features of the new SLRs on the market and trying to find what i really want. no decisions yet for me at this point. when i was in high school and college, i focused (excuse the pun) more on events and a few action shots as these where mostly for student publications. i joined a camera club and used my camera to take stills and get more into more artistic forms - structures, patterns, etc. my needs now have changed, since i've gotten married and had kids, so i have to look at what the new cameras now have to offer. happy hunting and i'd really be curious to find out what you decide on getting.

I have the Nikon D80. I love it, but now a lot of cameras have come out that have a live-view screen. I love the screen on point and shoot digital cameras, and wish that I had waited until I could have a screen on the SLR. Although, I still love my camera and it takes great photos. I don't have a zoom lens for it yet, but it is compatible with a zoom lens. I just need to save up more first.

First, you should go with a reputable brand. Most professionals use either Nikon or Canon. And most photographers will tell you to go with one of those brands. Second, look at the different models. Chances are for your first DSLR, you'll want an entry-level model. These are the easiest to use for someone who's never used a DSLR before, and they're the most affordable. As far as lenses go, many photographers recommend having one main "walkaround" lens. This is the lens you keep on your camera most of the time. It should be a very versatile lens. I have a 28-300mm lens as my walkaround lens. I think that 28-300 is the best range you can get! For years this lens was the only lens I had for my camera, and the only one I needed! For your first camera, to save money you might want to consider buying used. I bought my first DSLR from a photographer I know on a forum who was upgrading to a fancier model. I got a good deal on it. Check Craigslist and eBay for any deals! If you have any questions about cameras or lenses, feel free to ask me! I'd be more than happy to help you!

glad you have started this discussion coz a few days back, i've been thinking of buying one after i went through of the photos i got a year ago and when i showed them to friends, i got good feedbacks from them. considering that i only use my cannon s400. i've been going through some reviews already and comparisons in some sites on the net and i had found very good feedback for the cannon brands. i am considering that as my number one options as of this point then ask my brother somehow alter next month for advise since he's some kinda expert in this matter. so i'll drop by if i could get any from him or when i decide which to take. thank you once again for bringing this up..!!!

Hi, My friend bought a Sony Alpha300 few days ago and the Alpha300 is with me now. I am using it for few days and I found that the best parts of DSLR are that we can adjust the shutter speed, change the lenses, manual zooming and the grip. I think most DLSR in the market now is having almost the same features. So, I think getting budget DSLR is more than enough. When we have extra money, then we can buy more lenses. Lenses are more important than the body itself because we can capture good photos using good lenses. The Sony Alpha300 comes with integrated super steady shot. So, no matter what lenses you use, your shots are still steady. You can switch off the super steady shot because there is a switch for it. Sony Alpha300 comes with live view. This means you can view using the LCD and capture photos you like. You can switch between live view and optical view finder (OVF). If you prefer OVF, you can swicth to OVF mode. So, I think you should buy DSLR with OVF and live view because it will be more user friendly.

Hi lilaclady, Sorry I haven't got one but I hope someone form Mylt can help you. Good luck with your new camera yo'r looking for. Tamara

hi , will look at the pixel ratio and the out door shooting clarity. Also be sure about the flash brightness . Now all digital camera comes with lot of option so going through a photography site will help you to chose a right one.First be sure that what you are looking for and what is your requirements and how professionally you need it.

You certainly have been given something to think about, including some rather odd advice from self-proclaimed "professionals" who can't spell the names of the major marques and seems to have confused focal length with zoom range, lens speed with flash, amongst other things. First some terminology to help keep things clear. Zoom lenses cover a range of focal lengths in a single lens. Lenses which have a fixed focal length are referred to as "prime" lenses. If you order a 300mm lens you will not get a zoom. If you buy a 28-300mm zoom lens, it will cover the focal length from 28mm (wide angle) to 300mm (telephoto, but only on a camera that has the same size sensor as a 35mm film frame. Only Canon and Sony make these; they are top of the range cameras starting at more than $US5000 without a lens. Nikon also make a full-frame camera (perhaps the best one ever made) but it's sensor is fractionally smaller, which results in the 28-300mm lens acting as if it were a tiny bit longer, but hardly enough to matter. Other SLRs on the other hand significantly increase the apparent focal length, so your 28mm-300mm on a non-full frame Nikon acts like a 42-450 and on a Canon as if it were 45-480mm. That's great for sports and wildlife, but tough for landscape shooters. I carry 2 Canon SLRs, one fitted with a 28-300, the other with an 18-270mm lens, which is equivalent to 27-432mm. Fast lenses are desirable, but expensive. The longer the lens, the more extra stops cost. a prime 50mm f2.8 lens can be had for about $100; a similar f1.9 about $200, and a f1.4 about $300. In the popular 55-200mm range, f5.6 or f6.3 is a common maximum aperture and the cost is about $300 dollars. A similar f2.8 will set you back $1000. Try for a 1.8 and you will want to have $3,000-$5000 laying around. Don't worry too much about megapixels. Any SLR on the market has enough...in practice, unless your camera has a CMOS type sensor or a Foveon sensor, loading too many pixels onto a small area just degrades the picture due to noise. This only really matters at high ISO (read poor lighting conditions) but you are soon going to find bad light is a lot more common than you noticed before you got into this level of photography. The most recent Nikons, all Canons and Sonys have CMOS sensors, Sigma has a Foveon and the Leica/Panasonic SLRs use a 4/3 sensor which is reputed to have good noise profiles (4/3 cameras would turn that 28-300mm lens into a 56-600mm zoom). Look for a bright viewfinder (Pentaprism is superior to pentamiror) and if the camera has live-view, try it out; some are so awkward to use they are not worth the extra cost. Check out the menu system, make sure the controls are easy for you to access (in gloves, in poor light, in the cold... not just in the store with a salesman showing you how clever he is with the camera). Always use the camera yourself. Memory is getting faster and cards are storing more data. But not all cameras can ACCESS the bigger faster cards. Make sure. Think about the kind of photography you want to do and look for more features than you need - if the camera is any good, it will push you to achieve more. Make sure it can grow with you... for instance, I shoot birds (photographically speaking); At first I was content to just get a clear image; now I expect to catch swallows in flight. A camera that can't focus fast enough is a handicap, and less than 5 fps is too slow (mine manages 6.5 frames per second; my wife's hits 13 frames per second). I don't need that when I am taking landscapes, but nor does it hamper my scenic shots. Look for good weather seals and a metal body if you can afford it (Titanium is better than alumiunium, either is better than plastic...but there is good plastic and bad). My last piece of advice is: forget about brands. Look at what you want to do, narrow your search to a short list via reviews and magazine articles, then find a dealer or 2 who will let you try out the cameras on your short list. Good luck.

Update! This year, Nikon's SLR sales pipped Canon's. By 1% worldwide (Canon has about 40%, Nikon 41% and the rest share what's left. Sony is the fastest growing brand).

Hye..for me, the best to choice SLR Digital camera are between Nikon or Canon. they have the best performance of SLR digital camera.. right choice is Nikon