The basics of digital photography are pretty much the same whether you’re using a digital compact or DSLR (also referred to simply as an SLR), but there are a few important differences.

Digital Compacts

One of the biggest advantages to digital compacts is the cost. Another thing to consider when buying a DSLR is that you will need to purchase at least one lens for your camera especially if you want to take distant photographs. Digital compacts always come with a built in lens and sometimes even come with a zoom.

If you do have an optical zoom on your digital compact then you’ll also be able to take some good quality telephoto pictures. An optical zoom is always far better than a digital zoom because a digital zoom works like cropping – it takes away pixels. The more you zoom with a digital zoom the lower the image quality. Unlike regular zooms, an optical zoom maintains the quality of your picture.

Some compacts produce such high quality photographs that many a pro will grab the compact if they dont’ want to carry all their DSLR gear. The quality of the photo depends largely on the photographer’s skill.

While digital compacts don’t have as many mega pixels as DSLRs, with only 5 mega pixels, you can produce an 8×10 print of the type of quality you’d be proud to display in an 8×10 picture frame on your wall.

And lastly, learning how to use a digital compact is a lot easier than learning how to use a DSLR with all of its functions.

Digital Single Lens Reflexes (DSLRs)

A digital single lens reflex is the digital version of the SLR. DSLR’s are also called SLRs but never the other way around. With the release of cameras like the Canon Rebel and other moderately priced DSLRs, more photography enthusiasts are enjoying the benefits of using a DSLR.

The big advantage of the DSLR is its creativity and versatility. 

For example, by using a long telephoto lens you can take a close up of an eagle on the top of a tree and you’ll never be able to tell from the picture that he was so far away. With a DSLR, you can find a lens or filter to suit almost any photographic need.

Another advantage to the DSLR is its ability to take crisp, focused sports and other action shots in places with low light where flash isn’t allowed. The larger sensor on a DSLR allows you to adjust the ISO and get a good picture, whereas with a compact it usually creates an image with a lot of grain called digital noise.  If you are taking still photos, it’s not a problem. The problem with Sports Mode in a low light setting is that the shutter must close quickly so there is just not enough light to hit the image sensor even with a large aperture setting. The only way this can be compensated for is with a flash or a higher ISO setting.

However, there are software programs that once learned can often can work wonders in eliminating digital noise created with compacts in these settings.

Another advantage of using a DSLR is that you can use an external flash instead of always having to use natural light.

DSLRs have more megapixels than the best of the digital compacts, meaning you can take and print high quality pictures for framing in large picture frames like 11×14 frames or larger.. And lastly, digital cameras are slower to take pictures than film cameras but DSLRs are much faster than digital compacts.

Although the digital photography basics do start with selecting a camera, the quality of your images will largely depend upon how you use your camera. Regardless of what type of camera you have or will be buying, you have to be willing to practice and enjoy taking lots of pictures with your camera.