Compact or DSLR Camera~ Your Choice?
This article has appeared on Mon, Jun 09, 2008 in AsiaOne Digital
For compact or for worse...Compact or DSLR camera?by Chan Teng Heng
This is an interesting topic which has been mulled over by many camera purchasers. When I was asked to write on this subject, it coincided with a trip I had planned to take with my wife to the U.S. to attend my son’s graduation in California. Should I bring a compact camera or a DSLR camera? I told the editor that my experience from my overseas trip will add insights to this article. The following descriptions in this article will not delve into technical details (such as what is megapixel, vignetting, chromatic aberration) as this would be better covered in camera review web pages on the internet.
Compact Camera
This category of camera is designed for easy portability, and usually is small enough to put into your pocket or handbag (for ladies). Canon, Casio, Fuji, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Ricoh, Samsung, or Sony have a good range of such cameras. The most popular compact cameras would be those with 8 to 12 megapixels, about 150-200 grams, have limited zoom (x3), easy to use and able to take pictures under good light conditions or bad light conditions (with the assistance of an inbuilt flash light). Convenient and handy. However, there are limitations. Speed is slower than desired. If you wish to take the picture of a racing grand prix car, more often than not, you will get a blur object. Even with settings for higher activity capture, you would not be able to get a good picture. In my case, I was not able to get good pictures at my son’s graduation. Looking at the pictures, you can see why. As the graduates parade out or move on stage, the compact camera is not fast enough to capture the graduands, and the result is pictures with blurred motion. I was using a Canon G9 which allowed me more controls than most compact cameras, yet it was slow for the graduation ceremony.
DSLRDSLR cameras are larger, and heavier at 535 grams. With the zoom lens, the total weight came up to nearly 1 kilogram. You need a big camera pouch to carry this around. However, the advantages offered by this camera were sharper pictures, and more rapid capture of the graduates as they filed past us. At a later ceremony, when they threw their caps, it became apparent that DSLR cameras had an advantage. The ability to capture rapidly the movements froze the historic actions which would not be repeated ever. There was another person whom I befriended during the ceremony. He was a Thai national who had a 70-200mm canon lens. This is a reasonably expensive lens, but is fast. He says that he takes pictures of his son playing basket ball, which is quite a rapid and energetic game. The speed and the sharpness of the lens could capture movements what ordinary lens could not.
Performance CamerasSome camera companies, such as Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic classify these as a cross between a compact and a DSLR. It offers the compactness of the compact camera, and the zoom capability and better picture quality and speed of the DSLR. The size is however too big to put into your shirt pocket or handbag, but small enough to hand around your neck or shoulder without giving you the weight or the pain of the DSLR when you trudge along in your travels. I have used the Olympus 510uz, then a 550uz and a Panasonic FZ18, which are deemed to be better performance compact cameras. All these weigh between 325 grams to 365 grams. I could zoom between 28mm to 504mm, giving me both wide angle view and a very far away zoom view. These cameras are good enough for prints, but when I viewed on my 32 inch LCD, it was not sharp enough. The speed was also not fast enough for me to capture good images of flying eagles in Langkawi. Pictures were however better than a small compact could give me. Both the performance cameras and the compact allowed me to take video cameras, which were not available on the DSLR. I used a Canon G9, which allowed me to zoom 24x (optical), and 5x (digital). However, the digital zoom image was quite noisy with large visible dots.
Decision Factors
Here are a few factors to help you decide as I did after traveling for about three weeks in the US.
» Weight: I visited Yosemite, San Francisco, and the Silicon Valley, by carrying either the DSLR, the G9 or both. We started our journey by taking both. It became apparent that after 3 days, the weight of the DSLR was too much and it was hurting my shoulders. So after a few events, I took only the G9 as it was more compact. I thought this would serve all my needs.
» Quality of image: My son Westley had to attend two graduation ceremonies. We could zoom with the G9 to take pictures of the stage during the first ceremony (for only engineering students), but as we were sitting quite far away, the digital zoom images were not good enough…too much blurring of pictures, too slow (when the graduates marched out and when my son went on stage to receive his scroll). For the second ceremony (for international students only) which took place the next day in a smaller auditorium, I decided to bring along the DSLR with the 18mm-200mm lens. I was able to get better quality images, picture taking was much faster and we were able to capture the most exciting moments of the day, including the cap throwing ceremony. This is a tradition in US universities, which we do not see in NTU or NUS.
» Video: my son’s friend, Lee Lonitz, was quite a humorous and entertaining guy. He went around with the G9, interviewing the professors and my son’s friends, asking them for advice and words of wisdom for Westley, etc. It was fun to view the video afterwards, which you cannot have with the DSLR. There were many comical moments for my son, as most of the interviewees gave a similar advice, “Get a Job..Now!” (No more “play, play”!)
» Ease of use: most compacts are easy to use, as the G9 had a 3inch LCD screen. Look at the screen, point and shoot! (press the shutter button), and the picture is taken. Unless you have very shaky hands, most pictures taken with compact cameras are good enough for printing. With the DSLR, you must know where to look…at the “peephole” called the viewfinder. Unless you have set the DSLR camera settings, you will end up with bad pictures.
» Feature scene modes: Usually compact cameras have many scene modes, which allow pictures to be taken under several light conditions, like night, sunset, high activity (running athlete). Some compacts may have up to 22 scene modes. DSLR may have as many scene modes, but the upper range DSLR usually drops the scene modes as the “professional users” are deemed to be proficient to adjust the camera settings for the best exposure.
» Pricing: compacts may cost as little as $199 up to over $1000 for the performance cameras. However, this is all you need, as the compacts are self contained without any additional accessories. DSLR cameras pricing may costs as little as $700 but the lenses and accessories (filters, tripods, remote controllers, flash systems) may set you back by a few hundred dollars up to a few thousand dollars, especially if you are going for the good quality, high speed lenses.
I bought the DSLR to give me speed and good quality images. The compact G9 was bought for convenience and as a back up just in case the DSLR failed. Once I was in China when my Nikon film camera dropped! I could not record pictures for the rest of the trip. With two cameras, however, it contributed to more weight and bulk (two chargers, batteries for the two cameras, and memory cards). I will now summarise the advantages and disadvantages of possessing each type of camera:
Here are some questions you may wish to ask yourself before you splurge out thousands of dollars and find out that serious photography is not for you or that the camera does not suit your need. Remember that cameras cost money and their value depreciate very fast, so you will lose a quite a bit of money if you wish to sell it after you found out that the camera is not for you (which I found out not too long ago, when I decided to be serious about photography).
Questions:
What do I need my camera for? (leisure, convenience, serious hobby?)
Have I done my research? (internet, or from friends and relatives, on camera type, brand, features and performance)
What is my budget? (price range in total, including lens, and accessories)
When do I get it? (after launch at trade fair? Sales promotion? There is no such thing as waiting for the best price, as camera prices drop all the time).
After reviewing the habits of serious photographer hobbyist on forum pages in Singapore and overseas, I have come to the conclusion that the leisure purchasers buy but one to two cameras, but the hobbyists have at least 3 or more cameras, and even more lenses. Why? Because, there is no such thing as an ideal camera. Each camera has its good and bad characteristics and limitations. That is why serious hobbyists differentiate themselves from others by buying so many cameras! For further information, you may wish to check with dpreview (UK) or one of your local forum (Clubsnap, Singapore; Photomalaysia or Photokaki (Malaysia).
The slower speed of the compact camera adds blurring of the image, the quality of which is not as good as that of the DSLR, although the compact is of higher mpixels than the DSLR, which indicates that pixels do not make better pictures.
The advantage of the compact is the ability to zoom in to the front of the stage, which is about 300 feet from where we were sitting.
The image sharpness of the DSLR allows the picture capture using a zoom lens of 200mm of this international group of graduands waiting for their scroll.
The advantage of a DSLR is the ability to take rapid multi-shots of an event, such as this hat throwing ceremony, because of its speed of image capture.
Dr Chan Teng Heng is a biz prof who likes anything techie, imagery and digital.
For compact or for worse...Compact or DSLR camera?by Chan Teng Heng
This is an interesting topic which has been mulled over by many camera purchasers. When I was asked to write on this subject, it coincided with a trip I had planned to take with my wife to the U.S. to attend my son’s graduation in California. Should I bring a compact camera or a DSLR camera? I told the editor that my experience from my overseas trip will add insights to this article. The following descriptions in this article will not delve into technical details (such as what is megapixel, vignetting, chromatic aberration) as this would be better covered in camera review web pages on the internet.
Compact Camera
This category of camera is designed for easy portability, and usually is small enough to put into your pocket or handbag (for ladies). Canon, Casio, Fuji, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Ricoh, Samsung, or Sony have a good range of such cameras. The most popular compact cameras would be those with 8 to 12 megapixels, about 150-200 grams, have limited zoom (x3), easy to use and able to take pictures under good light conditions or bad light conditions (with the assistance of an inbuilt flash light). Convenient and handy. However, there are limitations. Speed is slower than desired. If you wish to take the picture of a racing grand prix car, more often than not, you will get a blur object. Even with settings for higher activity capture, you would not be able to get a good picture. In my case, I was not able to get good pictures at my son’s graduation. Looking at the pictures, you can see why. As the graduates parade out or move on stage, the compact camera is not fast enough to capture the graduands, and the result is pictures with blurred motion. I was using a Canon G9 which allowed me more controls than most compact cameras, yet it was slow for the graduation ceremony.
DSLRDSLR cameras are larger, and heavier at 535 grams. With the zoom lens, the total weight came up to nearly 1 kilogram. You need a big camera pouch to carry this around. However, the advantages offered by this camera were sharper pictures, and more rapid capture of the graduates as they filed past us. At a later ceremony, when they threw their caps, it became apparent that DSLR cameras had an advantage. The ability to capture rapidly the movements froze the historic actions which would not be repeated ever. There was another person whom I befriended during the ceremony. He was a Thai national who had a 70-200mm canon lens. This is a reasonably expensive lens, but is fast. He says that he takes pictures of his son playing basket ball, which is quite a rapid and energetic game. The speed and the sharpness of the lens could capture movements what ordinary lens could not.
Performance CamerasSome camera companies, such as Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic classify these as a cross between a compact and a DSLR. It offers the compactness of the compact camera, and the zoom capability and better picture quality and speed of the DSLR. The size is however too big to put into your shirt pocket or handbag, but small enough to hand around your neck or shoulder without giving you the weight or the pain of the DSLR when you trudge along in your travels. I have used the Olympus 510uz, then a 550uz and a Panasonic FZ18, which are deemed to be better performance compact cameras. All these weigh between 325 grams to 365 grams. I could zoom between 28mm to 504mm, giving me both wide angle view and a very far away zoom view. These cameras are good enough for prints, but when I viewed on my 32 inch LCD, it was not sharp enough. The speed was also not fast enough for me to capture good images of flying eagles in Langkawi. Pictures were however better than a small compact could give me. Both the performance cameras and the compact allowed me to take video cameras, which were not available on the DSLR. I used a Canon G9, which allowed me to zoom 24x (optical), and 5x (digital). However, the digital zoom image was quite noisy with large visible dots.
Decision Factors
Here are a few factors to help you decide as I did after traveling for about three weeks in the US.
» Weight: I visited Yosemite, San Francisco, and the Silicon Valley, by carrying either the DSLR, the G9 or both. We started our journey by taking both. It became apparent that after 3 days, the weight of the DSLR was too much and it was hurting my shoulders. So after a few events, I took only the G9 as it was more compact. I thought this would serve all my needs.
» Quality of image: My son Westley had to attend two graduation ceremonies. We could zoom with the G9 to take pictures of the stage during the first ceremony (for only engineering students), but as we were sitting quite far away, the digital zoom images were not good enough…too much blurring of pictures, too slow (when the graduates marched out and when my son went on stage to receive his scroll). For the second ceremony (for international students only) which took place the next day in a smaller auditorium, I decided to bring along the DSLR with the 18mm-200mm lens. I was able to get better quality images, picture taking was much faster and we were able to capture the most exciting moments of the day, including the cap throwing ceremony. This is a tradition in US universities, which we do not see in NTU or NUS.
» Video: my son’s friend, Lee Lonitz, was quite a humorous and entertaining guy. He went around with the G9, interviewing the professors and my son’s friends, asking them for advice and words of wisdom for Westley, etc. It was fun to view the video afterwards, which you cannot have with the DSLR. There were many comical moments for my son, as most of the interviewees gave a similar advice, “Get a Job..Now!” (No more “play, play”!)
» Ease of use: most compacts are easy to use, as the G9 had a 3inch LCD screen. Look at the screen, point and shoot! (press the shutter button), and the picture is taken. Unless you have very shaky hands, most pictures taken with compact cameras are good enough for printing. With the DSLR, you must know where to look…at the “peephole” called the viewfinder. Unless you have set the DSLR camera settings, you will end up with bad pictures.
» Feature scene modes: Usually compact cameras have many scene modes, which allow pictures to be taken under several light conditions, like night, sunset, high activity (running athlete). Some compacts may have up to 22 scene modes. DSLR may have as many scene modes, but the upper range DSLR usually drops the scene modes as the “professional users” are deemed to be proficient to adjust the camera settings for the best exposure.
» Pricing: compacts may cost as little as $199 up to over $1000 for the performance cameras. However, this is all you need, as the compacts are self contained without any additional accessories. DSLR cameras pricing may costs as little as $700 but the lenses and accessories (filters, tripods, remote controllers, flash systems) may set you back by a few hundred dollars up to a few thousand dollars, especially if you are going for the good quality, high speed lenses.
I bought the DSLR to give me speed and good quality images. The compact G9 was bought for convenience and as a back up just in case the DSLR failed. Once I was in China when my Nikon film camera dropped! I could not record pictures for the rest of the trip. With two cameras, however, it contributed to more weight and bulk (two chargers, batteries for the two cameras, and memory cards). I will now summarise the advantages and disadvantages of possessing each type of camera:
Here are some questions you may wish to ask yourself before you splurge out thousands of dollars and find out that serious photography is not for you or that the camera does not suit your need. Remember that cameras cost money and their value depreciate very fast, so you will lose a quite a bit of money if you wish to sell it after you found out that the camera is not for you (which I found out not too long ago, when I decided to be serious about photography).
Questions:
What do I need my camera for? (leisure, convenience, serious hobby?)
Have I done my research? (internet, or from friends and relatives, on camera type, brand, features and performance)
What is my budget? (price range in total, including lens, and accessories)
When do I get it? (after launch at trade fair? Sales promotion? There is no such thing as waiting for the best price, as camera prices drop all the time).
After reviewing the habits of serious photographer hobbyist on forum pages in Singapore and overseas, I have come to the conclusion that the leisure purchasers buy but one to two cameras, but the hobbyists have at least 3 or more cameras, and even more lenses. Why? Because, there is no such thing as an ideal camera. Each camera has its good and bad characteristics and limitations. That is why serious hobbyists differentiate themselves from others by buying so many cameras! For further information, you may wish to check with dpreview (UK) or one of your local forum (Clubsnap, Singapore; Photomalaysia or Photokaki (Malaysia).
The slower speed of the compact camera adds blurring of the image, the quality of which is not as good as that of the DSLR, although the compact is of higher mpixels than the DSLR, which indicates that pixels do not make better pictures.
The advantage of the compact is the ability to zoom in to the front of the stage, which is about 300 feet from where we were sitting.
The image sharpness of the DSLR allows the picture capture using a zoom lens of 200mm of this international group of graduands waiting for their scroll.
The advantage of a DSLR is the ability to take rapid multi-shots of an event, such as this hat throwing ceremony, because of its speed of image capture.
Dr Chan Teng Heng is a biz prof who likes anything techie, imagery and digital.
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