MomShots

I had a great comment on my last post from my talented and beautiful sister. 

I have some advice. For those who are in this to learn as well….what’s a DSLR? I have never heard that before and don’t know what it means. I get the general idea of what your saying in that blog but the terms are on your lvl of learning and I am not…
my 2 cents. 

She makes a really good point.  I have been obsessively focusing on learning about photography that I forget the rest of the world isn’t as obsessed with this stuff. I am throwing out terms that don’t mean a whole lot to the average camera user.  This is a term that I explained a WAY long time ago in an earlier post but I need to remember to keep explaining it every time I post about it.  I need to remember that.  Thanks so much for the reminder!  I really do appreciate it.

So here is my answer to your question (warning - Way more than you really wanted to know…  that’s what you get when you ask an obsessed person!):

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. The D stands for Digital - DSLR. Single Lens Reflex mean that when you look through the view finder you are seeing exactly what your lens is seeing. You might wonder how this can be because the view finder is above the lens. There are a series of mirrors that bounce the lenses image up to the view finder.

On a point and shoot camera there are no mirrors to bounce the image up to your view finder. What you see through your view finder and on your LCD screen will be slightly different than what your lens actually sees.  The viewfinder sees an image that is slightly above and to the left of your lens.  This doesn’t really make that much of a difference when you are taking photos of things that are far away but when you are shooting something close up, you have to compensate for that slightly, if it matters to you.  

An other main difference is the absolute manual control you have over the settings you are using to take a photo.  You can choose to make you photo brighter, darker, capture the action by using a fast shutter speed or blur the action by using a slow shutter speed.  You have the ultimate control over your image and that can be kind of scary and intimidating (at least it was to me - hence the SLRaphpbia).  You can also change your lenses.  This is a huge plus because there are so many lens options to choose from between a macro (super up close) to a telephoto zoom (super far away but you can zoom in and get the image anyway).  

One last benefit of the DSLR that I would like to make, is that they are usually made with a faster processor than digital point and shoot cameras.  I don’t know why this is, perhaps it is just the demand from the professional industry.  But “usually” digital point and shoot cameras have a slower processor and that means when you push the button there is a little bit of a lag from when the photo is actually taken.  My D100 is pretty old and I know that Kristina’s new 30D is way faster than mine.  As technology advances so do the cameras - both digital point and shoot and DSLR.

A point and shoot has many good features.  The ease of use is a great benefit.  It is relatively easy to use; you just point and shoot.  There are so many great preset program modes that benefit the user as well.  There are modes that will help you take photos of people in groups, single people, fireworks, up close (macro), far away (zoom), landscapes, etc.  I know that the new Sony Cybershot has an interesting mode that focuses on people’s smiles.  

Another great point about the point and shoots are that they are usually compact.  Slip them in your pocket or purse and pull them out quickly to capture the action.  

Also, more recent digital point and shoots have a faster processor than their predecessors but they are not using the same processors that they use in the DSLRs.  My sister’s new Sony Cybershot probably has a faster processor than my D100 because mine is such an old camera.  But I would venture to say that it probably isn’t as fast as Kristina’s 30D or even a newer DSLR.  This makes it possible for a DSLR user to do that old click-click-click-click-click that we associate with film cameras.  You can’t really do that with a digital point and shoot.  

(Please, if you contest what I am saying, post a comment.  As I have previously said, my most recent point and shoot is a few years old.  I have not tried more recent cameras.  As budget allows, I would like to try and review some more current digital point and shoots.  Also, if you would like to post a review of a camera, email me.  I would love to hear your thoughts!!!  Momshots at yahoo dot com.)

Anyway… as neat as all these preset modes are, I am drawn to the manual control of the SLR camera.  I found that I rarely used any of the preset modes in my point and shoot.  I posted earlier about my favorite mode - the Sports mode.  That’s about all I consistently used.  Sure, I tried the other modes here and there but I ended up using the same mode over and over.  

I hope that clears up what the difference between DSLR and Point and Shoot is.  I am also not saying that the SLR is better than the point and shoot.  They are different cameras.  I am saying that I personally am really enjoying learning how to use my SLR.  I am enjoying it far more than I ever did my point and shoot cameras.

If you ever want to find some really cool photos by point and shoot users, do a search in Flickr for a specific camera model.  For instance, I just did two Flickr searches one for Sony Cybershot and the other for Nikon Coolpix.  Both searches yielded tons of really artistic and beautiful images.  You can do so many great things with a digital point and shoot.  I think the key is to develop your artistic eye and explore the capabilities of your camera.  That goes for both DSLR and point and shoot!

I found an explanation on the Kodak website about the difference between SLR and point and shoot.  If you want more info, check it out here.

This Momshots tip is for those point and shoot cameras that have different preset modes you can shoot in.  You know, landscape, portrait, party, fireworks, whale watching mode - well not really but whatever, there are a ton of preset settings…  I found that when I would try to take some Momshots with my camera in the regular camera mode (My Nikon Coolpix 5600 literally has a picture of a camera on the dial) I was getting frustrated because I wasn’t able to capture the action fast enough.  I would hit the button and like 10 minutes later the shutter would open and close.  OK, maybe not actually 10 minutes, but when you’ve missed the action, 1/2 a second or 10 minutes might as well be the same thing!

I discovered the sports mode one day by accident.  I was thinking about my camera and the different presettings.  I may have even been reading my manual!  I started thinking that the purpose of the sports mode was to capture the action while the action is happening.  Isn’t that what taking pictures of my kids are all about?  Yep!  So I realized that if I put the dial on sports mode I might actually be able to get a halfway good picture - or at least not miss the action.  

It was the best thing since sliced bread!  I suddenly was able to take pictures of my kids and what they were doing when they were doing it.  This was a major breakthrough.

Now my sister, Olea, just bought a really cool Sony Cybershot.  I’m really impressed by what a great little point and shoot it is.  I guess I’ve kind of been out of the loop since my Coolpix has been working pretty well for the past 3 years; I haven’t upgraded.  Anyway, her camera doesn’t have a sports mode.  I was kind of surprised by that, but then on the other hand, the whole action of taking a photo seemed much faster than what I was used to.  It definitely could have something to do with new technology, but we’ll talk more about that later.  She is going to give me a little review of her camera, in the future.  So stay tuned…