On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 06:13:19PM -0600, Tod Hansmann wrote: > Anyone have any up-to-the-moment opinions on any digital SLR cameras? > Looking to get something that I can do some nice photos and possibly HD > video here and there.
Most of the responses are of the "Canon or Nikon" variety. Not that there's anything wrong with a Canon or a Nikon, but this smacks of the blind loyalty to Microsoft/Cisco that are so common in the world. I would like to give you an answer that may require a bit more thought on your part, but which may help you to get the right equipment for you and for the right reasons. Here goes. Optics are all about tradeoffs involving performance, size, and cost. You need to determine what level of quality you require, what your bugdet is, and what size of camera you are willing to carry with you. These judgments are different for each person. 1) Performance. Two things affect image quality: sensor size and lens quality. Most compact cameras have image sensors about 1/2.5 inches across. However, there are also advanced compacts with image diagonals about 1/1.6 inches. Other sizes to look at are APS-C and Micro Four Thirds. Full frame is better, but no one here would recommend starting with a huge camera. Here's a link that compares a few different sensor sizes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sensor_sizes_overlaid_inside.svg With very few exceptions, the image quality is proportional to the area of the sensor (i.e., the square of the diagonal). 2) Size. Some people are willing to carry around 10-20 pounds of camera equipment everywhere they go, while others aren't. You'll never take pictures with a camera that isn't with you, so this is important to think about unless you're one of those people that always carries around a 17-inch 10 pound laptop. So what camera should you get? Here are three general classes of camera that you should consider: 1) Advanced compact. Michael Torrie referred to these. They have a 1/1.6" sensor (2.5 times the surface area of a normal compact), and they also tend to have higher quality optics. The best in this class are the Olympus XZ-1, the Panasonic LX5, and the Canon S95. They're probably a better option for most people than big, expensive, heavy cameras. These are compared briefly all on the following page: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusXZ1/ 2) "Mirrorless interchangeable lens camera" a.k.a. "compact system camera". These are _much_ smaller than SLRs, but they have comparably sized sensors and interchangeable lenses. Sony makes nice ones if you're into companies that sue and persecute their users, but for the rest of us, you can pick between Panasonic (GF2 or G3), Olympus (E-PL2), and Samsung (NX11, NX100, etc.), all of which do a great job. Compared to an SLR, they tend to be smaller and lighter but slightly lower performance. 3) Digital SLRs. I have less to say about DSLRs because they are less neglected than advanced compacts and CSCs. Look at a site like dpreview.com to learn more about specific cameras. And if a PLUG member or anyone else shares a negative opinion about a camera, make sure that they have a better reason than a fanboy's "it's not Canon or Nikon." So there's my controversial but hopefully helpful response. -- Andrew McNabb http://www.mcnabbs.org/andrew/ PGP Fingerprint: 8A17 B57C 6879 1863 DE55 8012 AB4D 6098 8826 6868 /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
