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General discussion

Difference between SLR and non-SLR cameras

Dec 4, 2004 3:06AM PST

I bought my wife a Canon Powershot A20 a couple of years ago as her first digital camera, and she has loved it but has bumped up against the camera's limits. I want to get her a substantial upgrade. I'm debating between the 7 mp Canon Powershot G6 at $700 and the 6.3 Canon Digital Rebel SLR, which costs a couple of hundred more.

I'm OK about spending the extra money if it makes sense, but I don't want spend it if it's not good value. The SLR allows for changing lenses, so she could get a very powerful zoom lens if she wanted to -- but I'm not sure she would need it.

Other than the changeable lens issue, what makes an SLR camera better than a Powershot or other point-and-shoot?

Discussion is locked

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Re: Difference between SLR and non-SLR cameras
Dec 4, 2004 5:57AM PST

Two things come to mind:

The Digital SLR has much less of a noise problem when shooting at high ISO settings. This is because the physical image sensor is much larger. That means you can shoot at higher ISO settings. This means if you shoot a lot of low light photos, select the Rebel.

The Digital SLR will have little or no, shutter lag.
Along with the better lighting advantage makes the
Rebel the choice for action photography.

The other thing with the ability to change lenses is you can change to a "bright" lens (f1.8 or better) for low light situations. Of course, a bright zoom lens is very expensive.

Right now, Canon is offering a $100 rebate on the Rebel. Nikon is offering a $100 rebate on the D70.
Check their websites for details.

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I second that. Check the Nikon D70. An SLR let's you see
Dec 4, 2004 8:25AM PST

through the lense, and it lets you manually focus. Thus, your image does not get wiped out by bright sinlight (the LCD), and, if the camera has trouble focusing, you can see through the lense to manually focus it. My Nikon, for example, at times cannot lock focus on a extreme close up of a flower. You can see it go right through the best focus point and not stop.

The ability to change lenses is also extremely important. It means the camera is not limited to the zoom and other settings built into a non SLR camera. If you need a higher zoom, or a better macro ability, you can buy the lense rather than a new camera. Of course, some lenses may cost more than a new camera, but...

The D70 was built to be a Rebel killer, so it ought to be looked at if the Rebel is considered. The next higher level Canon may exceed your price point.