Friday 26 April 2013

Essential Features of DSLR Cameras

By Paul Smith


Low Light Functionality/ISO Speed

If you're going to want to grab photos in low light, whether it's sunset scenery or simply indoors, good low light performance is essential. Most DSLRs can shoot at ISO 3200 and some go to ISO 6400.

More Speed

So why are many small cameras so slow and digital SLRs so fast? It's entirely electronics against mechanics. There is also no shutter lag. This is the amount of time taken between pressing the button and the camera in fact taking the shot.

Image Stabilization

Also recognized as anti-shake or vibration management, this is either built into the lenses (Nikon, Canon, Panasonic) or into the camera itself (sensor-based, e.g. Sony, Pentax, Olympus). It's known that lens-based stabilization is relatively better, but it ties you into buying costly lenses to get the advantage, sensor-based stabilization works with any lens.

Burst Mode/Frame Rate

Especially important factor for someone who shoots movement and wildlife, it is the feature to fire off a number of pictures in quick sequence. Just the most regular DSLRs now possess a frame rate of 3 per second but some are much faster. An optimal buffer memory is needed, it's where pictures are kept prior to being saved. The bigger the buffer is, the more pictures you can take before it fills and the camera falls to a momentary stop. Raw files, are larger and can load up the buffer faster than JPEGs.

Anti-dust

Each time you swap the lens on the DSLR, small dust debris can break into the revealed lens mount and fall on the sensor, showing nasty spots on the photos. Dust is also produced by use of moving parts in the camera. Most camera makers have a dust removal and cleaning technique for the sensor of some kind, except Nikon, saying dust isn't a real worry anyway.

HD video

The growing acceptance of taking home videos or quite possibly professional movies with DSLR suggests that the occurrence of a high-definition video mode is growing to be more valuable. Many DSLR cameras now feature this functionality, from the starter Nikon D5000 up to the more pricey pro level versions.

Customization

Among the advantages of DSLRs is the level of customization they provide. Decide on which dials handle which features, or choose if you want to capture JPEG, Raw or both simultaneously. There are tons of options you can tweak to your hearts desire. And the massive variety of lenses and accessories to choose from.




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