Digital-SLRs

WHICH? REVIEWS: Digital SLRs

If you're serious about photography, a DSLR is a must. Find out why they're the professional's choice.

Digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLRs) are the choice of professionals and keen amateurs. Sales are climbing, thanks to falling prices and an increased choice.

A key difference between a DSLR and a standard digital camera is that on a DSLR you can change the lens. You can buy lenses to give you different zoom ranges, and higher levels of picture quality than standard cameras. Some lenses are very expensive, but the image quality they can produce is stunning.

Good picture quality and ease of use are 2 of the things we look for in a Best Buy DSLR.

You can find out our Best Buy recommendations by taking out a £1 30-day trial to www.which.co.uk Below, we explain more about the features of DSLRs.

Megapixels

Just like standard digital cameras, DSLRs have sensors that capture the image, before the image then gets passed onto and recorded onto memory card.

DSLR sensors are physically bigger than the sensors in standard digital cameras, a reason why DSLRs can give better image quality.

The average DSLR sensor also has more megapixels than the average standard digital camera which helps if you want to create very large prints.

Image quality

If you attach a high quality lens to a DSLR, you can really maximise the image quality of a DSLR to easily surpass what you can achieve with a standard camera - colours, detail and sharpness will be better.

On some DSLRs, the quality from the usual supplied 'kit' lens is nothing to write home about. Sometimes, DSLRs are sold body only, sometimes you get a kit lens included. We test all our DSLRs with the kit lens supplied.

More on the kit lens

Another limitation of the kit lens is that most of them don't allow zooming in very far. Even most small standard digital cameras can zoom in further.

These DSLR kit lenses have a good wide angle of view, however, meaning that you can zoom out quite a lot - good for wide landscapes or indoor shots in cramped conditions. You can buy lenses for more distant shots, separately.

Focussing, shutter delay and image quality are all lens dependent. Fit a good quality lens, and you should achieve better overall performance than we achieved in our testing with the kit lens.

Size and weight

All DSLRs, with kit lenses included, are much bigger and heavier than small standard digital cameras, but they're not necessarily heavy in their own right. Some are even lighter than the heaviest standard digital cameras.

However, as you might be carrying more than one lens around with you, or you might be using a bigger lens than the kit one supplied, things can get quite heavy. DSLRs tend to have good handgrips, so holding them is usually comfortable.

Shutter delay and speed

Shutter delay is an issue on DSLRs too, but less so. DSLR shutter delay is usually pretty quick (often well under 0.3 of a second). Start-up time and shot-to-shot time are also quicker with a DSLR.

Viewfinder and LCD Screen

DSLRs have viewfinders which are accurate and clear. Unlike standard digital cameras, most DSLRs do not allow you to compose your pictures on the LCD screen. Usually, the LCD screen is used to review your pictures, and to display shooting and setting information.

Control

DSLRs are a bit easier to control than standard digital cameras. There's a ring on the lens for manual focussing, and many buttons on the back so it's quicker to choose settings, rather than having to go into lots of electronic menus as is the case with many standard cameras.

Easy to read displays give shooting and setting information. In auto mode, they're as easy to use as standard digital cameras.

DSLRs have more controls and settings than standard digitals helping you to be more creative and take the good shot that you want to take.

Dust

A risk of swapping lenses on DSLRs is that dust can get in, leaving visible dots on photos. If this happens, it's safest to hand it in to a camera shop or manufacturer for cleaning. You can clean it yourself using the manufacturer's instructions but this can be risky.

A less satisfactory alternative is to remove any dots using editing software. Olympus was the first to cotton onto the problem and do something about it and other manufacturers are now following with their in-built own dust cleaning systems.

So what's the best DSLR for you? By taking out a £1 30-day trial to www.which.co.uk you can discover all you need to know about DSLRs and find out our Best Buy brands.

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