Digital SLRs

Digital cameras have seem many changes over the last 18 months with perhaps one of the biggest being the decrease in price of digital SLR cameras. This has seen them become more affordable and they are now within reach of almost anybody who enjoys photography as a hobby.

Digital SLR cameras can now be found from as little as £350 and it is usually possible to purchase at least one lens as part of the deal. This can be a good way to save some money on a lens. These cameras usually have between eight and twelve megapixels.

Lenses are an extremely important feature but it can be easy to fall into the trap where having bought an expensive camera with a great set of features, that any old lens will do. Lens quality is an important factor if you are looking for impressive quality images. Therefore, budgeting for the best quality lenses you can afford in addition to the cost of the camera body itself.

One of the main advantages of digital SLR cameras is their flexibility. With such an array of lenses to choose from, you can choose the right camera for whatever photograph you wish to take. There is also a wide range of accessories available which can further enhance these cameras capabilities.

Lens choice is continually increasing and there are now a range of lenses that are specifically designed to match smaller sensors that can be found with digital SLR cameras. If you want to take wide angle shots then a wide angle lens made specifically for digital SLRs will probably make a wise investment.

Another big advantage of going down the digital SLR route is that it helps to protect your overall investment. If you buy a number of lenses and then decide to upgrade the camera itself then your lenses should still work with your next camera provided it is made by the same manufacturer.

Super Zoom Digital Cameras

Are you looking for a digital camera that can capture sports or wildlife photography? A Super Zoom model could provide the solution to this problem. Price’s can vary in price between £100 and £250 making the lower end of the range fall into the relatively cheap digital camera bracket. This would be the cheapest option if you are looking for a powerful zoom lens digital camera.

Cameras at the moment generally have zoom capabilities between 10x and 18x. Also, most of the super zoom cameras I have tested have fully manual exposure controls which include aperture and shutter priority. Cameras at the more expensive end of the range have a very wide range of features. This feature makes them suitable for anybody who sees photography as a hobby rather than someone who is looking buy a digital camera just to take a few snapshots with.

Many super zoom digital cameras are designed in the same style as traditional SLR cameras that enable you to get an excellent grip when you take a photograph. The only downside of this is that they can be both weighty and cumbersome. This needs to taken into consideration if you are buying a super zoom digital camera and I would suggest buying a camera bag to transport it from place to place.

If you use a super zoom camera in conjunction with a long lens there is a tendency for camera shake to appear. Some manufacturers have made attempts at combating this to some degree by introducing image stabilisation in some models. Even though every little helps, sometimes the best solution is to make use of a tripod whenever possible. This can often make a clear difference in the sharpness of a photograph.

One big plus point with the models in this digital camera comparison is the fact that the flash unit pops up on the majority of these cameras which helps to take the flash away from the lens of the digital camera. This means that red eye is very rare in portrait shots where the flash is used.

Canon Digital Cameras

There are Canon digital cameras available for a broad range of people. It doesn’t matter whether you just take the occasional photograph or are a professional using photography as your livelihood. The Canon digital camera range is split into three different sections, namely, IXUS, EOS and Powershot.

The easiest and perhaps most straightforward range of Canon digital cameras is the IXUS. These models have metal bodies and are extremely stylish. They are known for being compact and some of them are small enough to slip easily into your pocket. All of the IXUS models are fairly simple and easy to use which makes them really high quality point and shoot digital cameras.

If you are considering buying Canon Digital SLR Cameras, from the EOS range you should remember that you need to keep a fair proportion of your budget to buy additional lenses. Although there is the option of buying a lens in a kit with the camera, it is likely that you will be looking for at least one more lens as well.

The Powershot part of the range offers a broader selection of digital cameras. At one end are some simple and easy cameras aimed at people who may not know a great deal about digital photography or who would rather not spend a fortune on a digital camera. The range then works its way up to one of the most advanced compact digital cameras you can buy. You will also find the super zoom cameras in this range. The Powershot range on the whole has a good selection of more advanced controls than you are likely to find in the IXUS range.

Buying Lenses for an SLR camera - Compatibility

Care needs to be taken when buying a lens to ensure it is compatible with your camera body. There are two factors to look out for.

Each camera body has a specific lens mount. Each lens will fit onto a specific lens mount. For example a lens made by Canon will fit a Canon lens mount, but cannot be fitted onto a Nikon camera and vice versa. This gets slightly confusing as some other camera manufacturers, such as Fuji, use lens mounts from other manufacturers. Therefore you need to know the lens mount your camera has and buy lenses that are compatible with the mount.

Next you need to make sure that the lens is compatible with the type of camera (digital or film) you have. This is because some lenses made for film cameras are not compatible with digital cameras and some lenses are made specifically for digital cameras and will not work with film cameras.

Lenses made recently for film cameras tend to work perfectly well with digital cameras, but some older lenses may not work at all or suffer from certain restrictions. Therefore it is advisable to check with your dealer before buying. If you are still not completely certain then check directly with the manufacturer.

There is one other point to consider when buying lenses made originally for 35mm cameras to use with a digital camera. This is that a conversion factor needs to be applied to the focal length of the lens in most cases. This is because the sensor in most digital SLRs are smaller than those in film cameras. The knock on effect of this is that when you attach a 35mm lens to a digital SLR it increases the zoom capacity of the lens while decreasing the wide angle capability. The exact conversion factor to apply depends on the sensor size of you camera, but normally works in the range of 1.5 to 1.6 times. To illustrate the difference this can make I will use a 200mm lens. If the conversion factor for your camera is 1.5x this increase the focal length of the lens to the equivalent of a 300mm lens.