Digital Camera Buyers' Guide - Year of the SLR
by Wesley Fink on November 23, 2007 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Things to Consider
Consumer Electronics are always on an accelerating roller coaster of better performing products, shorter life spans, and quick changes in the market. Despite this, there are watershed events in the markets for consumer electronics that bring stability and orderly progress to markets that were chaotic. An example of this is when DVD+ and DVD- merged and were supported by all DVD players and recorders. This holiday season we are hot in a war of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and whoever wins will make the opposing camp very unhappy. There are hints and rumors that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray may go the way of DVD and merge into a standard that supports both, but there is too much at stake in both camps to even hint there is any real interest in that development right now.
You might ask what that has to do with digital SLR cameras. The answer is that DSLRs are on the verge of a format war. Canon has had full-frame DSLR pro models for several years, and their hot-selling full-frame 5D has dropped in price these days to near prosumer territory. Nikon has also announced their first full-frame pro DSLR. Rumor has it that Sony's upcoming pro DSLR will also be full-frame, which makes sense when you consider that Sony is the primary supplier of Nikon sensors.
For those of us who have been using SLRs for many years the compromises of lens factors and APS-C sensors are just too much. It is frustrating to see an incredible and expensive Nikon 20mm wide-angle lens behave like a common 30mm wide angle on a D300 or a D80. It would be nice to see a 20mm ultra wide angle again, and full-size DSLR sensors allow that.
It certainly appears that the DSLR camp is going to be split by manufacturers in the near future to full-frame pro models and APS-C entry to prosumer models. This will require companies to support two lens lines with some overlap, but the pros will win this one and we will still be using mainly 35mm glass for quality results on the APS-C cameras. There will be cheaper "small sensor" lenses, as there now are, but perhaps fewer of these in the future. This is due to the reality that advanced amateurs inevitably want to shoot what the pros shoot. That is why they buy Canon 5Ds today and why they will demand full-frame prosumer DSLRs in the future.
This is where Olympus and the 4/3 system has a crack to pop through, because the only real standards in digital and SLRs in general are full-frame 35mm on the one hand and 4/3 on the digital side. Perhaps another small-size sensor standard will develop, but as long as the big players like Nikon and Canon are mainly interested in making pro glass for the developing full-frame DSLR market there is no incentive for them to develop a new small-sensor standard. Players like Pentax just don't have the influence to forge a new standard on their own.
By this point we hope to have shed some new light on your holiday shopping for a digital SLR. Our recommendations will not be popular with many Canon and Nikon owners, but we have personally spent time with every camera discussed in this guide and we call them as we see them. This is an interesting time in the digital photography market. It is a time of flux that will only increase as this battle plays out, but what develops will probably be interesting and surprising.
Have fun shopping for the best buy in digital SLRs this holiday season. There are many great buys out there and you will likely see lots of superb specials as manufacturers fight for market share. Performance is good enough on most of the entry-level cameras that you would not be wrong to shop for the best price you can find on a 10MP camera for example. Whatever you choose, just be sure to take lots of digital pictures of your family and friends opening their holiday presents.
Happy Holidays from AnandTech!
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74 Comments
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melgross - Saturday, November 24, 2007 - link
I doubt that any of the cameras were actually tested. They just seem to be his preferences, sometimes, based on incorrect information, or lack of understanding.I agree, stick to computers.
Wesley Fink - Saturday, November 24, 2007 - link
Corrected the typo to 5.0fps.I personally have spent time shooting with EVERY camera mentioned in this Buyers Gude except the Nikon D300 which supposedly has just started shipping.
This is a Buyers Guide based on my experiences using these cameras. It is not a review. My first SLR was a Pentax over 40 years ago and I have owned and used almost every 35mm system over the years, and even shot medium format exclusively for several years. I made a living as a Professional Photographer for two periods in my career.
It is very easy to profess to know everything, but quite difficult to admit there are many things you don't know. I don't know everything about photography, but I suspect I have much more valid experience to write this Buyers Guide that most who would tackle this. I also have an open mind not severly blinded by conventional wisdom or marketing hype, which is why I have been writing for AnandTech for quite a while.
Wesley Fink - Saturday, November 24, 2007 - link
Corrected the typo to 5.0fps.I personally have spent time shooting with EVERY camera mentioned in this Buyers Gude except the Nikon D300 which supposedly has just started shipping.
This is a Buyers Guide based on my experiences using these cameras. It is not a review. My first SLR was a Pentax over 40 years ago and I have owned and used almost every 35mm system over the years, and even shot medium format exclusively for several years. I made a living as a Professional Photographer for two periods in my career.
It is very easy to profess to know everything, but quite difficult to admit there are many things you don't know. I don't know everything about photography, but I suspect I have much more valid experience to write this Buyers Guide that most who would tackle this. I also have an open mind not severly blinded by conventional wisdom or marketing hype, which is why I have been writing for AnandTech for quite a while.
KorruptioN - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
The Sony A700 does 5fps continuous, not 6.5fps as quoted in the article.Wesley Fink - Saturday, November 24, 2007 - link
Corrected the typo. I personally have spent time shooting with EVERY camera mentioned in this Buyers Gude except the Nikon D300 which supposedly has just started shipping.This is a Buyers Guide based on my experiences using these cameras. It is not a review. My first SLR was a Pentax over 40 years ago and I have owned and used almost every system over the years, including medium format. I made a living as a Professional Photographer for two periods in my career.
It is very easy to profess to know everything, but quite difficult to admit there are many things you don't know. I don't know everything about photography, but I suspect I have much more valid experience to write this Buyers Guide that most who would tackle this. I also have an open mind not severly blinded by conventional wisdom or marketing hype, which is why I have been writing for AnandTech for quite a while.
AssBall - Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - link
I didn't realize you were 60 years old Wes.Photo people are always rabidly defensive of their own stuff. When the day is done, guess what... they all work pretty much the same for the rest of the world.
hoppa - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
Is the prosumer section a joke? The only thing you can come up with for Canon is that "it doesn't break new ground" and that 10 MP is too skimpy? Excuse me? It's common knowledge that more megapixels does not equal better, and it's even more known that the difference between 10 and 12 megapixels in minuscule if not even impossible to tell the difference between in anything but 20"+ prints. Furthermore, the noise levels on the Canon are *so far below anything else out there* that it easily out-resolves its 12mp brethren.Get a clue, guys. This write-up is pathetic.
Captmorgan09 - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
But come on guys, stick with what you're good at, reviewing mobos/CPUs/PSU and so on. I've never really been impressed with your camera reviews/buying guides. The most important thing about buying a camera is image quality. Fancy bells and whistles are nice, but if the picture looks like crap, who cares. If you read real reviews of these cameras at sites like dpreview, you'll see that there is a valid reason why Canon/Nikon cameras are the best sellers, image quality.Hulk - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
Exactly.I've long been a fan of Anandtech but this article and others that try to talk about high-end cameras make me do the "oh jeez did they really write that?" face.
As the above poster says it's about image quality in the D-SLR category. Optical image stabilization is simply better than mechanical. And there are many times when a straight prime with no stabilization is best.
And please don't talk about auto focus speed of the body alone. The lens has a lot to do with auto focus.
I could go on and on so please if you have to do camera articles just stay with rangefinders.
andrew007 - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
I got E410 in August just before my trip to Japan. The reviews were favourable and I wanted something light. After using it for a while, I am really happy with most aspects of it, and the price has fallen even further since. It is really a very light camera AND lens(es), making it easy to hang around your neck and take with you every day. Yet it's full featured and it makes nice pictures. I have no complaints on the lens whatsoever, and with a fast CF card it's pretty snappy. The only real complaint is dynamic range, as the various reviewers noted. It's easy to blow out highlights in high contrast situations - which is the most situations, unfortunately, when you're a tourist going outside on a sunny day. So one must keep fiddling with the exposure compensation. Other than that, I can't see any reason to not recommend this camera to someone who is going on a vacation and wants to make good pictures but is not interested in totting large bags and heavy lenses. Pictures these Olympus make were much better than what my friend's Canon Elph (the newest model) made, and for not that much more money.