Selecting a D-SLR

The de-facto camera today for professionals is a D-SLR. While for a time professionals avoided them, almost every pro today uses one. If you're reading this blog, I assume I don't need to convince you of the advantages.

Debates rage over whether more megapixels is important. I think many people generally agree that the more megapixels you have, the larger your printed enlargement can be. If you're printing a poster, a 12MP camera ought to be sufficient. That's just my opinion. I've printed posters from my 12MP cameras and have not had problems. Do I wish I had 24MP? You bet! I'd love to be able to buy a Nikon D3X, but can't justify it right now.

Why do I use a Nikon? Because I've been using Nikons exclusively for over 20 years and it would be too expensive for me to switch. I sometimes regret not switching to Canon when I moved to digital in 2006. Nikon then caught Canon with its pants down when it introduced the D3. That camera is so good that even sports shooters, who have tended to prefer Canon over the last decade or longer, started switching to Nikon. Canon is now in the process of finalizing its newest cameras that should rival or surpass the D3X. The fact that they leapfrog each other is great for us -- whether professional, prosumer, or amateur! If you're starting fresh, consider the following and additional factors.

Here are some factors to consider:
0) Price. How much can you afford? Between a camera body (and backup?), lenses, memory cards, and accessories, it's easy to spend thousands of dollars.

1) Brand. Do you own or have access to autofocus lenses of a particular major brand? If so, it may be better to stick to a camera body compatible with that brand.

2) Megapixels. How many do you need? Most prosumer DSLRs today exceed 10MP. If you can afford $40,000, the 39 megapixel Hasselblad H3D may be for you! Unfortunately for most of us, the more likely candidates are Canon, Nikon, Pentax, or Sony.

3) FPS. If you shoot sports or moving wildlife, you'll want a high frames-per-second rate (fps). The Nikon D3 is capable of 9 to 11 fps. If you're shooting more stationary objects, 5 fps is plenty.

4) Sensor quality. Some sensors are better than others. During the film/slides days, we used to say that the lens was a more important consideration than the camera body. That's not as true today because the sensor is almost as important as the lens. When we used to place importance on the lens, film was also an important consideration. So, we needed a good lens and a good film. today, we need a good lens and a good sensor. While some sensor problems can be corrected during postprocessing, it's better to capture the best image possible initially. Some sensors are better than others at doing that. For example, the Nikon D3 captures high ISO images with very-low-noise. Earlier Nikons did not have the benefit of Nikon's latest sensor technology.

5) Body materials. If your camera body is going to take abuse (e.g., exposure to elements or lots of travel), then a professional body may be ain important consideration. they use superior materials (e.g., magnesium alloy in the Nikon D3) than the plastic used in more consumer-oriented camera bodies. An advantage to the plastics is that they are much cheaper and lighter. They also are not as fragile as one would think.

There's a huge array of choices from many brands. The good thing is that Moore's law is still in effect and we're being presented with new and better choices more frequently than annually.

Links:
1) Photo.net article: Factors to Consider when Choosing a Digital SLR Camera
2) Consumer Reports magazine/book and online step-by-step guide which is mostly targeted at consumers (not prosumers)
3) What Chase Jarvis, a Seattle-based commercial photographer, thinks of the D3X