Slowly, the move – for professionals at first, then for amateurs – from film to digital grew apace. The technology became (and continues to become) better and cheaper. And the key benefits of speed and control, plus the removal of worries over film and film processing, meant that any photojournalist who didn’t swap over to digital would be left behind in the rush to get their images on the picture editor’s desk.
One of the first cameras produced by Kodak and Canon was the EOS DCS 3, comprising a Canon EOS 1N film body adapted to take a Kodak digital ‘back’. The camera shows how the early digital SLRs were a hybrid of film and digital technology.
Nikon’s ground-breaking DSLR, the simply named D1, revolutionized not only the DSLR camera market, but also what photographers came to expect from their cameras.
The introduction of Nikon’s D1, fully integrated and, for the first time, complete DSLR (not needing the addition of a digital ‘back’) in 1999 transformed the marketplace. At last, there was a complete, user-friendly, reasonably sized and, importantly, reasonably priced DSLR, and it took the market by storm. Well made and featuring all the photography tools you’d expect from a top-end model but in a svelte package, the D1 left almost everyone wanting to own one. It also meant that there was no turning back for the marketplace.
The range of DSLRs
Today’s DSLRs cover a broad spectrum of the marketplace: there are cameras to suit everyone, from novice users, those swapping from film to digital, as well as high-end professionals. Top-end entry level cameras such as Canon’s EOS 600D and Nikon’s D3100 are extremely sophisticated pieces of kit but they are both built to a price. They have many of the professional features, both in build quality and controls, available on higher-end models but are less expensive and have access to a huge range of lenses and accessories.
Even though the Canon EOS 600D is aimed at the advanced amateur, it still boasts an 18 megapixel sensor and a host of advanced features only dreamt of when the first DSLRs arrived. It also costs a fraction of the price of those early professional cameras.
Sony have not been slow in catching up with their DSLR and the Alpha 850 is the most affordable full-frame model currently on the market. Pentax, meanwhile, has introduced the K-R with an amazing ISO range of 100-25,600.This incorporates a range of new lenses and a new 4:3 aspect ratio Kodak sensor (hence the name of the system). Nikon, meanwhile, has introduced another enthusiast level DSLR in the shape of the D80.
At the top end of the scale, there are the professional-level DSLRs, typically built to withstand the knocks meted out on, say, match day at a football ground in the pouring rain, and the dust and dirt of harsh environments, such as war zones. The camera bodies and the internal electronics are tough, all of them offer high-resolution sensors capable of the highest image quality, and they come at a premium in price as well.
Fujifilm Finepix HS20 boasts a staggering 30x optical zoom (24-720mm full-frame equivalent), Fujinon lens and a 16 megapixel EXR CMOS. It also has HD video recording and a three inch LCD monitor and only weighs approximately 730g/25 oz making it an ideal entry level camera.
Canon’s EOS 1DS MK4 represents one of the high-end DSLRs designed for professional use. Even though the body is tougher and the internals more complex than those of less expensive EOS DSLRs, this camera can still use the same range of lenses and accessories.
Advantages of DSLRs
DSLRs are extremely versatile, offering key advantages over compact digital cameras and many SLRs. The fact that they can use a range of varying focal length lenses or lenses designed for specific tasks is, of course, key to their success.
Since DSLRs come with larger lenses and brighter glass elements than those available to digital compacts, it means that they offer higher-resolution optics. The amount of detail that can be captured is increased and the wide range of optics available for a variety of jobs helps, too. With a DSLR, you can cater to all tasks, including specialist jobs, such as macro photography, where the lens must be able to focus very close to the subject, and architectural work, where a shift or tilt lens can correct converging verticals.
Accessories, such as flashguns that mount on a hotshoe on top of the camera allowing for more control of lighting, provide even more versatility, as does the ability to use studio flash systems for professional portrait shoots, for example.
A DSLR is part of a system of lenses and accessories that enables the photographer to shoot a huge variety of subjects while retaining complete control of the shoot, making this type of camera truly versatile.
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The equipment
A DSLR camera is a complex piece of machinery with advanced technology to help it do its job. There are many pieces of additional equipment, from lenses to accessories, that all go to make up the camera and the system to which it belongs.
Camera body
Foremost in any camera system is the camera body, followed by its lenses and then the accessories that help to expand the capabilities of both; these include flashguns, lens filters, hoods and so on. In this chapter, the key elements of all the equipment you’re likely either to own or encounter as you use your DSLR are discussed but, first, let’s look at the DSLR camera and its technology.
This cutaway of a Canon EOS 1DS with a large telephoto lens reveals the inner workings and complexity of a DSLR. The largest element is the lens on the front of the body. The various internal lenses and their respective curvatures show how light is captured and channelled down the lens barrel, focused and passed on, into the camera body. Here, the light encounters a 45-degree angled mirror that directs light upwards and through a pentaprism to the photographer’s eye placed at the viewfinder. When you take a shot, the mirror flips up and out of the way, the shutter behind it fires, the sensor sitting behind the shutter is exposed to light and a photograph is made.
Sensor
Today’s DSLRs use special, light-sensitive sensors to capture light and record images, thereby starting the process of turning light into a digital image. There are three types of sensor: the CCD (charge coupled device), the CMOS chip (complementary metal oxide sensor) and the more recently introduced Foveon X3 sensor. The CCD and CMOS are, in essence, the same but they use different technologies to do the same job. The Foveon sensor is quite different.
All three types of sensor use millions of tiny, discrete picture elements, known as pixels. The more pixels there are, the higher the sensor’s resolution. The CCD and CMOS chips have their pixels laid out on a flat plane, and each pixel can be thought of as a small light well.
Every pixel has a tiny micro lens on top of it (special Fuji sensors