Digital SLR Review

Digital SLR cameras keep getting better

Digital SLR cameras offer quite a few advantages over fixed-lens digital cameras. Digital SLRs offer fast startup, imperceptible shutter lag and continuous bursts of action shots. The best digital SLR cameras take sharp photos even in low light (ideal for sunsets), and for close-up shots, macro lenses and ring lights can fill a frame with a single flower. DSLR cameras also make it easy to put the subject in sharp focus, while blurring the background. You don't need a pro camera to get these features; this report covers digital SLR cameras costing less than $2,000.

One digital SLR in this price range, the new Nikon D90 (*Est. $1,120), can even shoot video, a feature that's a first among SLRs. It's in this "enthusiast" price range that we're finding the most innovation right now. This includes better low-light performance plus LCD preview screens with much higher resolution, which can make a big difference in using them for manual focus. For moving subjects, the new 14.7-megapixel Canon EOS 50D (*Est. $1,600 with lens) can shoot as fast as 6.3 frames per second.

As a result of innovation in higher price ranges, entry-level digital SLRs are also getting better. For example, Nikon expert Ken Rockwell advises buying the entry-level Nikon D40 (*Est. $470) and putting more money into a bigger, better lens system over time. Some of the best photos in history have been taken with what seem now like very primitive cameras, so experts say it's best to choose a digital SLR that feels comfortable to you and that you can afford, and then get on with taking photos. For about half the price of an enthusiast camera, you can buy one of the most-recommended digital SLRs, the 12.2-megapixel Canon EOS Rebel Xsi (*Est. $700), and add an image-stabilized zoom lens.

The best digital SLR camera reviews are based on a combination of objective lab tests with expert judgments of image quality and ease of use. The most in-depth coverage can be found at websites such as The Imaging Resource, Digital Camera Review, Digital Camera Resource Page and at publications including Popular Photography and What Digital Camera, a British magazine. All subject cameras to extensive testing and publish full test results including sample photographs. Comparisons are often made with competing DSLRs, and each site rates cameras and/or lists the top choices.

Consumer Reports has updated and refined its comparison tests and ratings of digital SLR cameras (for example, testing for dynamic range -- how well a camera can capture both shadows and highlights). However, like many other publications, Consumer Reports lags behind in covering the latest cameras. This is also a problem at quite a few other sites that provide otherwise excellent reviews of digital SLR cameras. Many such sites are nonetheless very useful, drawing on unique viewpoints and expertise of photography experts like Ken Rockwell, Phillip Greenspun and, at Luminous-Landscape.com, Michael H. Reichmann (whose reviews are unabashedly subjective).

Reviewers agree that it's a mistake to rely solely on pixel counts in judging digital SLR cameras. Most users will be happy with prints no larger than 8 by 10 inches, which a six-megapixel camera can readily supply. As sensor resolution increases, in fact, image "noise" (pattern artifacts that show up especially in solid colors) also tends to increase. Many other factors -- lens quality and image processing, for example -- affect image quality. The best reviews include plenty of sample photos so you can choose a digital SLR that provides images that appeal to your own tastes.

Some digital SLR cameras do consistently rank lower than others, however, in expert reviews of image quality and ease of use. Canon and Nikon compete closely for top ranking on both factors, and both brands offer the widest range of lens choices. Digital SLR cameras by Olympus, Pentax and Sony rank lower but sometimes provide compensating features. Several Olympus digital SLR cameras, for example, offer swiveling LCD screens that make it easier to compose photos. Reviews usually rank digital SLRs from Fuji, Sigma and Panasonic at the bottom. For example, tests at What Digital Camera rank the Sigma SD14 (*Est. $800 body only) lowest of all the current digital SLRs. For less money, you can get the full-featured Canon EOS Xsi (*Est. $700), which includes an image-stabilized lens.

Expert reviews say the most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a digital SLR camera is the brand more than the specific model -- that is, the entire system of camera bodies, lenses and accessories. A digital SLR body may be obsolete within two years, but the lens can perform well for decades. You can use most SLR lenses on both digital SLR and film SLR camera bodies of the same brand. And you're almost sure to find one brand more comfortable in your hands than another -- a factor emphasized in expert reviews. If a camera isn't comfortable to you personally, you're apt to leave it at home.