So you want to buy a DSLR?

Okay... got a bit of time here... and is writing this up for all who wanted to buy a DSLR or upgrade from a point and shoot to a DSLR.

First off, we shall take a look at the difference between a point and shoot to a interchangeable lens camera.

The most noticable difference was that a point and shoot cannot change lenses as oppose to interchangeable lens camera and so many would argued that it loses out in flexibility area. However, recent developement had given point and shoot camera quite a big flexibility by giving them wide angle lens that can zoom up to something 20x. And for that type of flexibility when translated to interchangeable lens camera, you will be looking at a massive lens that is also massive in term of price and it would put most of us into the poor house.

Another difference was the size of the sensor in the camera. Point and shoot camera generally have small sized sensor while interchangeable lens cameras had bigger size sensor. And the important thing of sensor was... they are essentially equivalent of film in old film cameras.

The size of the sensor is extremely important, especially when you are looking at cleaner images. The bigger the size of sensor the better the noise control at high ISO.

Essentially there are a couple of size of sensors for your interchangeable lens camera... they are the Full Frame sensor, APS-C, m4/3, 4/3 and recently a few more sensor type that was made by Nikon - nikon 1 and Pentax (Pentax Q).

Alright... up till now I am talking about Interchangeable Lens Camera and not DSLR because not all interchangeable lens camera is a DSLR (in the not too distance past, it would be true that most interchangeable lens camera is DSLR, but not now anymore).

Interchangeable lens camera came in the following format:

1) DSLR - Digital Single Lens Reflex - Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus

2) Rangefinder - Leica

3) DSLT - Sony

4) Mirrorless - Sony, Samsung, Olympus, Panasonic, Nikon, Pentax

5) Medium format - Pentax, Hassabalt, Phase One, etc

So when you want to buy a interchangeable lens camera, be sure to spec what type of interchangeable lens camera you want... anyway, what is the difference, I hear you ask.

DSLR - normally are big size sensor camera that you can change lenses... They came in the following format, Full frame, APS-C and 4/3. Most brands that offer DSLR would offer both FF and APS-C sized sensor... except for Pentax and Olympus. Pentax only offer APS-C size sensor (smaller than FF) and Olympus offer 4/3 sensor which is essentially smaller than APS-C. Actually there is really not too much of a standard to govern the APS-C sensor size too.

(Canon's APS-C sensor is essentially smaller than Nikon, Sony and Pentax's equivalent (for whatever reason). And in place, Canon also had a APS-H size sensor which is introduced in their 1D camera (not the new 1DX, which is a FF sensored camera) - I will not go deeper into this for it will involve crop factors and stuff like that which will be more confusing for newcomers.)

The reason for DSLR to be called DSLR was that it did involve a mirror, which will flap up when taking picture to allow light to fall on the sensor.

Mirrorless - as the name implied... it is a interchangeable lens camera without a mirror. Light from the lens fall directly on the sensor all the time even when not taking a photo. This make the camera much smaller as compared to a DSLR. The problem was that it is abit slower than the DSLR (although Olympus and Panasonic recently claimed that their new line of mirrorless camera had the fastest autofocus system in the world, but until someone actually did some real and scientific test, I would still take it that it is slower).

Another very important thing was the electronic viewfinder that these mirrorless camera featured, unlike the DSLR which reflect light from the lens to the prism and then through the viewfinder and so what you see through your viewfinder is more or less what you get from your lens. The electronic viewfinder doesn't work this way... it is electronic. And some of these viewfinder is slower and while many are actually pretty aweful.

But in time, I believe they will get better and better.

DSLT - well... this is an innovation from Sony. This type of camera had a mirror... it is semi-transparent and so seventy percent of light from the sensor fall on the lens while thirty percent will be channel up to aid focusing. This means that your lens will have some light lost. To some it means a big deal to others it is alright. And so it is still up to you.

Medium format and rangefinder - I will not touch on these... I am not familiar with them either... all I know is that they are very very expensive.

Okay, now we know what is the difference between DSLT, DSLR and Mirrorless, we will look at what camera you want and why.

For DSLT and mirrorless camera, they are generally smaller and lighter, because there is no need to cater for a big prism and flipping of mirror. For mirrorless, the size can even be as small or smaller than some point and shoot camera. But because of the small size of the camera, there are certain button layout and operation that can be quite difficult to use because they are buried in the menu.

For DSLT, it is not as big as the DSLR too... and look and feel like a small DSLR... it essentially had most functions of the DSLR and is very very fast (frame rate wise) - the newest A77 can reach a wooping 12fps... and this can only be match by top of the line FF and APS-H DSLR from major brands like Canon and Nikon.

So it seemed that mirrorless and DSLT is the way to go... wrong! It all depends on what you want. For people who doesn't want the bulk of DSLR, doesn't need the speed and quick manual operation... yep, mirrorless is a good answer. Coupled with a good fast lens, it can be use as a day to day camera with no issue at all. For people who want the speed and DSLR function and don't mind the lost in light and don't want the usual bulk of a semi-pro DSLR - get the sony DSLT now come with quite a few models (A55, A65 and A77).

However if you do not mind the weigh and bulk and wanted speedy operation, excellent AF capability and don't want any light lost... the choice is clear - DSLR it is.

Okay... after deciding what type of format you want, the next thing to look into is the features that you really want in your camera and what you don't care about.

I have came up with a list that you need to look at first,

1) What is it that you wanted to shoot?

a) Wildlife (birding, animals, macro, etc)

b) Street (candid)

c) portrait (indoor and outdoor)

d) Landscape and architecture

e) Food

f) sports and reportage

g) your kids, doggies, kittens, etc

2) What is your budget?

3) What is acceptable as your weigh limit - very light, light, slight heaviness, heavy, very heavy or I am a hulk I don't care for weigh.

Then, you list down the features that you want,

1) Is high ISO noise control really that important (do you shoot alot of photos in dark places where flashes ain't allowed?)

2) Is video mode needed? (if yes, look to point 3 and 4, if it was a no, then look to 5)

3) If video mode is needed, is AF in video mode important?

4) If video mode is needed, is HD video really needed?

5) Do you need anti-shake mechanism in your camera (this is important for people with less stable hands) and anti-shake mechanism normally came in two options... one was a sensor shift mechanism that was featured in the camera itself, another was a stablized mechanism in the lens. Up till now, most inbody stabilization system camera do not have lens stabilizing mechanism and vise versa. It had been debated to death which feature is better... so I will not step into this area. Just know that if you have inbody stabilization, you would save up quite a bit in lenses with stabilizing capability which can be very very expensive.

6) Do you need a live view mode (which mean focusing and taking photo using your LCD instead of your viewfinder). This can be very useful, especially when you can increase and decrease the size accordingly when focusing. I find it very important when taking macro shots.

7) Do you need swivel screen, articulating screen and stuff like that. This innovation (not exactly a new innovation though) is very useful when you need to shoot in difficult angle and location whereby it is not possible to plaster your eye to the viewfinder.

Okay, after answering the abovementioned, you would more or less know which camera brands and models to focus in and so the next thing to do was to read up on this models, then shortlist one or two (take special note of the accessories available, and the lens that are available. Yes, I know, you are not going to buy the entire lot of lenses and accessories, but make sure that what you are interested in shooting... there are supporting lenses and accessories for that particular genre).

The next step would be to go down to the stalls and requested to have a feel of these shortlisted cameras, take special note of the following,

1) General Ergonomic of the camera - button and scroll wheels placement, size of these buttons and scroll wheels.

2) User interface of the menu

3) weigh of the camera (okay, I have been hankering about weigh... and that is for your own good. Why? imagine yourself in a full day photoshoot and carrying a brick... you get what I mean.)

4) Overall feel of the camera...

It is really important to feel good with your camera... no use getting a camera that look like a gift from heaven on paper, but you absolutely hate the feel of it. And no use getting a camera that is so loaded with features that it seemed ready to explode... but did those things only averagely or downright aweful.

One sentence - only get the camera with features you need and nothing more.

Happy hunting :)

(Note: Please also note that not all fix lens camera are point and shoot. Some camera such as the Fujifilm X100 are essentially a fix lens camera... but fall into the class of hybrid rangefinder. Another camera was the Leica X1.)