Wyndham Wisdom
You Know You Need A DSLR When. . .
By Bob Krist
You used to be so happy with your little point-and-shoot. Those fancy digital single-lens-reflex (DSLR) cameras are for pros, you thought. But you know you need a DSLR when...
Low Light Means Lousy Pictures
Wouldn't you love to shoot in low light without a flash, get indoor candids and avoid ugly red-eye? With a digital single-lens-reflex, you can switch the lens for one with a greater capacity for light-gathering, which lets you shoot in available light without having the picture look grainy. And if you do want to use a flash, you'll get less red-eye because the flash unit on a DSLR is set farther from the axis of the lens.
You Want It All in the Frame
It's a dirty secret that most compact cameras have zero wide-angle capability. They start from what's considered a "normal" lens perspective and only zoom out to telephoto, making it all but impossible to get nice group shots or sweeping landscapes. But with a DSLR, you can easily change to a wide-angle lens and get it all in the frame.
You Keep Missing the Moment
Let's say you're waiting ringside at the famous Palio horse race in Siena, Italy. The horses thunder by, you press the shutter . . . and by the time the picture is taken, the racers are gone and all you've got is a dusty track. That's due to shutter lag, which in some pocket cameras can be two or three seconds. The response time of a DSLR, on the other hand, is measured in milliseconds, so you'll always be able to catch that fast-moving action.
You Can't See the Darn Screen
Fewer and fewer point-and-shoots have eyepiece viewfinders, making it tough to take outdoor pictures on sunny days. The DSLR viewfinder is a joy to use: You see exactly what the lens sees, even in the brightest light. That means more control over composition and less eye and arm fatigue, because you can hold the camera closer to your eye.
OK, Ready to Step Up?
What you surrender to gain all these benefits is portability and dollars. But the good news is that there are now some well-sized, reasonably priced DSLRs with zoom lenses that fit easily into a purse or large pocket, such as the Nikon D60 or D5000, the Canon Rebel XS or the Pentax K2000. Whatever your choice, the extra ounces will seem like a small load to carry when you discover how much more of your world you can capture, instead of merely watching it go by.
