Impulse purchase
I made a big mistake last week. Yup. I bought a DSLR. In my defence, it was going for about $700 with 2 kit lens thrown in. And one of the lenses was a whopping (by DSLR standard) 300mm. There is nothing wrong with purchasing a DSLR if you have done your homework. The problem was that I did not even know that I had purchased a DSLR. I had just purchased a discounted camera with a bigger sensor with interchangeable lenses and one of the free zoom lenses had a "respectable" 300mm.
Mistake 1: No Beginner's luck
DSLRs are a beast. I started this year with a Nikon bridge camera. It was still an uncomfortable long learning curve when I went to its successor, the Lumix. More features and more permutations. Then there is a DSLR.
Nope, the mirror inside is not a problem. The problem is the entire photographic experience is turned on its head. Most bridge cameras have an automatic feature where the user can let the camera do the heavy lifting and slowly learn the rest of the camera. The DSLR automatic is a basic feature which means most of the features are turned off. Change exposure? Not available in basic. Want to take a photo without the flash? Not an option. Imagine trying to take a picture of an animal while fighting the camera.
Mistake 2: Unforgiving
A bridge camera has a rather limited exposure range. This means that you are not able to make a super bad overexposed picture. I manage to do it with the DSLR on an overcast day. You will learn to look at the picture after taking it which affects your ability to keep your eye on the target.
In a bridge camera, the EVF is a mini monitor to the camera. Not so in a DSLR. The VF sees the image that the eye sees and not what the camera is going to capture.
Yup. Your mistakes are magnified. But wait, I heard about the faster Autofocus. Surely, it makes it up for some of the problems? Except that it is not going to focus on things that are too small and 300mm means a magnification of about 6 times. And no you can't get closer as the birds are not going to oblige by climbing down the tree.
This leads to some confusion as the superzoom camera when the zoom lens is extended is shorter than the 300mm lens extended. The extra length does not translate into something I can understand at the moment.
Mistake 3: Costly upgrades
Can't stand the puny 300mm lens? The 400mm zoom lens cost more than $700. Want a respectable 600mm lens? Prepare to shell out for 2 new DSLR cameras. Or at least one camera when it is not on sale.
Or else I have to live with a teleconverter that extends the lens. This leads to more depressing trade-offs which I will blog about in future.
Conclusion:
There is a lot of potential for a DSLR camera. But this means taking photography as an art instead of a hobby. And when I mean art, I mean martial art with lots of painful lessons. And hardship. And tears.
Mistake 1: No Beginner's luck
DSLRs are a beast. I started this year with a Nikon bridge camera. It was still an uncomfortable long learning curve when I went to its successor, the Lumix. More features and more permutations. Then there is a DSLR.
Nope, the mirror inside is not a problem. The problem is the entire photographic experience is turned on its head. Most bridge cameras have an automatic feature where the user can let the camera do the heavy lifting and slowly learn the rest of the camera. The DSLR automatic is a basic feature which means most of the features are turned off. Change exposure? Not available in basic. Want to take a photo without the flash? Not an option. Imagine trying to take a picture of an animal while fighting the camera.
Mistake 2: Unforgiving
A bridge camera has a rather limited exposure range. This means that you are not able to make a super bad overexposed picture. I manage to do it with the DSLR on an overcast day. You will learn to look at the picture after taking it which affects your ability to keep your eye on the target.
In a bridge camera, the EVF is a mini monitor to the camera. Not so in a DSLR. The VF sees the image that the eye sees and not what the camera is going to capture.
Yup. Your mistakes are magnified. But wait, I heard about the faster Autofocus. Surely, it makes it up for some of the problems? Except that it is not going to focus on things that are too small and 300mm means a magnification of about 6 times. And no you can't get closer as the birds are not going to oblige by climbing down the tree.
This leads to some confusion as the superzoom camera when the zoom lens is extended is shorter than the 300mm lens extended. The extra length does not translate into something I can understand at the moment.
Mistake 3: Costly upgrades
Can't stand the puny 300mm lens? The 400mm zoom lens cost more than $700. Want a respectable 600mm lens? Prepare to shell out for 2 new DSLR cameras. Or at least one camera when it is not on sale.
Or else I have to live with a teleconverter that extends the lens. This leads to more depressing trade-offs which I will blog about in future.
Conclusion:
There is a lot of potential for a DSLR camera. But this means taking photography as an art instead of a hobby. And when I mean art, I mean martial art with lots of painful lessons. And hardship. And tears.
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