Chapter 4
Choosing Your Perfect Camera: From Basic to Professional
Choosing the right dSLR is a significant decision with long-term implications. Unlike point-and-shoot cameras, a dSLR represents an investment in a system of lenses and accessories that may follow you for years. Making the right choice initially can save heartache and expense later.
Digital SLRs come in distinct categories aimed at different types of photographers. Basic dSLRs are stripped-down versions of more advanced models, designed for photographers stepping up from point-and-shoot cameras. Priced around $500-600 with a lens, these cameras compete with expensive point-and-shoots and mirrorless models. While they sacrifice features like depth-of-field preview, ultra-fast shutter speeds, and the speediest continuous shooting, these cameras offer excellent image quality and faster operation than comparable point-and-shoots at an affordable price point.
Enthusiast dSLRs, priced between $800-$1,200, offer a step up from basic models while remaining affordable. These cameras provide a launching point for avid photographers who want room to grow their system with new lenses and accessories. They cut corners in ways that minimally impact most users-using polycarbonate bodies instead of magnesium, pentamirrors instead of pentaprisms, and offering continuous shooting of 5-6 fps rather than faster rates. Despite these compromises, they deliver enough megapixels and features to produce high-quality images while forming an excellent foundation for building a lens collection.
Advanced amateur/semipro dSLRs, starting around $1,200 for the body only, target experienced photographers while offering enough features to serve professionals as second bodies. Some pros with lighter shooting requirements even use them as primary cameras. Professional dSLRs, priced from $3,000 to $8,000, offer tanklike reliability with metal bodies and excellent weather sealing for photographers who might shoot more images in a day than amateurs take in a year. They feature faster operation with advanced autofocus systems, minimal shutter lag, large memory buffers, and burst rates of 6-11 fps.
When selecting a camera system, consider its future upgrade potential. Examine how manufacturers handle lens compatibility-Pentax accommodates decades-old lenses, most Nikon bodies work with lenses dating to 1959, while Canon's EF-S lenses work only on specific bodies. Also evaluate how vendors support older flash units with newer cameras, as compatibility isn't guaranteed.
When making your final purchase decision, evaluate individual camera features according to your specific needs. Lens quality is paramount when choosing a camera system. Consider both optical quality and build quality of available lenses. Some vendors offer multiple lens lines including economy options and professional-grade glass. The sensor and digital signal processor dramatically impact your final image. Evaluate noise levels at both low ISO (100-200) and high ISO (1600+) settings, dynamic range, color accuracy, and overall image sharpness.
Chapter 5
The Lens Library: Building Your Optical Arsenal
Additional lenses are the most popular accessory for digital SLRs and provide the biggest boost to your photographic repertoire. Despite the "single lens reflex" name (which refers to using one lens for both viewing and picture-taking), few dSLR owners operate with just one lens.
Unless you purchased a non-existent compact 12mm-to-400mm f/1.4 zoom lens, you'll benefit from accessory lenses. While lenses don't make you a better photographer, they increase your opportunities and let you take pictures that simply aren't possible with your kit lens.
Kit zoom lenses typically have maximum apertures of f/3.5-5.6, which limit low-light shooting. Fast prime lenses (f/1.4 or f/1.8) are often inexpensive yet allow shooting in much darker environments. A 50mm f/1.8 costs under $100 but is two stops faster than an f/3.5 lens. An indoor concert requiring 1/15 second at f/4 and ISO 100 might work fine at 1/125 second at f/1.4, producing sharper images with less noise.
While your kit lens makes compromises to be versatile, specialized lenses often deliver superior sharpness at specific focal lengths or apertures. A simple 50mm f/1.8 prime might be the sharpest lens in your collection, while macro lenses optimized for close-up work produce exceptionally crisp images at short distances.
Historically, photographers relied on fixed focal length prime lenses because early zooms were slow, expensive and limited. Today's zooms are sharper, smaller, faster and less expensive, making them practical all-purpose options. Prime lenses offer advantages in speed (both aperture and autofocus), sharpness, and weight compared to zooms. Different applications benefit from specific focal lengths: architecture needs 12-28mm wide-angles; indoor sports require moderate wides around 30mm; outdoor sports demand 100-200mm telephotos; portraits look best with 50-70mm lenses (75-105mm equivalent); and landscapes benefit from sharp wide-angle primes.
Modern zoom lenses are practical for most shooting situations. Wide-angle zooms (10-20mm or 12-24mm) cover expansive scenes, though the widest options may have distortion issues. Mid-range zooms like the 18-55mm kit lenses are versatile but not very fast; premium versions offer better sharpness and larger apertures. Telephoto zooms (70-200mm to 50-500mm) bring distant subjects closer, though the longest options require tripod mounting for stability.
Special-purpose lenses expand your creative options. Image stabilization lenses counter camera shake, allowing shooting at slower shutter speeds. Perspective control lenses correct converging lines when photographing buildings. Macro lenses offer extended focusing and better sharpness for close-ups.
Wide-angle lenses offer creative possibilities beyond simply capturing more of a scene. They increase depth-of-field, allowing both near and distant subjects to remain sharp-a technique Akira Kurosawa mastered as "deep focus." They emphasize foreground elements while de-emphasizing backgrounds, and can create dramatic perspective distortion when used close to subjects.
Telephotos offer several creative applications: compression (making distant objects appear closer together), isolation (using reduced depth-of-field to separate subjects from backgrounds), sports action photography (bringing you into the middle of the action), nature photography (getting close to wildlife while maintaining safe distance), and macro photography (achieving close-up shots without specialized macro lenses).
Chapter 6
Mastering Exposure: Taking Control of Your Images
A digital SLR offers significantly more control than point-and-shoot cameras, with numerous buttons, dials and settings that provide creative flexibility. While the learning curve may be steep, mastering these controls allows photographers to move beyond automatic settings and apply exposure and focus creatively.
Digital SLRs have limited dynamic range, making proper exposure a series of compromises. When converting analog light to digital, infinite gradations become limited tones (256 shades per color in standard 24-bit images, though cameras may capture up to 14 bits per channel). The histogram is your essential guide for proper exposure-displaying the distribution of tones from shadows (left) to highlights (right). A well-exposed image shows a mountain-like histogram with most tones in the middle. Overexposed images shift right with clipped highlights, while underexposed images cluster left with lost shadow detail.
Your camera's exposure metering system continuously calculates the correct exposure based on your parameters. It uses a dedicated sensor located in the pentaprism housing to measure light coming through the lens. Digital SLRs offer multiple metering schemes that configure how the exposure sensor interprets incoming light. Center-weighted metering emphasizes the center (typically 80%) while still considering the entire frame-ideal for portraits and close-ups where subjects are centered. Spot metering measures only a small center area (3-12mm) while ignoring surrounding areas-perfect for subjects surrounded by misleading brightness like spotlit performers. Multipoint/evaluative/matrix metering (the default mode) collects data from many points across the frame and uses sophisticated algorithms to calculate exposure-best for general photography.
Digital SLRs provide multiple exposure modes-automated, manual, and semi-automatic-that should be selected based on your shooting goals. Program mode offers automation with flexibility, unlike the more restrictive Auto mode. Using a database of thousands of analyzed photos, the camera intelligently selects settings based on scene recognition-maximizing depth-of-field for landscapes or using shallower focus for portraits.
Experienced dSLR photographers prefer having control while still letting the camera's electronics handle some work. In Shutter Priority mode (S or Tv), you select the shutter speed while the camera adjusts aperture to maintain proper exposure. This proves ideal for action photography where controlling motion blur is critical. Aperture Priority mode (A or Av) works oppositely-you set the f-stop while the camera selects appropriate shutter speeds. This gives you control over depth-of-field for creative purposes. Manual Exposure mode gives you complete control over both aperture and shutter speed while the camera's meter provides guidance.
Modern dSLRs offer remarkably high ISO settings-some reaching ISO 409600-that were unimaginable just years ago. While ISO 1600 was once considered adventurous and ISO 3200 produced noisy images, today's cameras with improved sensors make ISO 6400 entirely practical, especially with full-frame models. Though manufacturers boast extreme settings, ISO 12800 is the practical limit for acceptable quality, with settings above 102400 being mostly for show.
Focusing is arguably the most critical technical aspect of photography since focus errors are nearly impossible to fix in post-processing. Manual focusing works well for deliberate, thoughtful photography like macro work, but proves challenging for fast-moving subjects. Digital SLRs focus automatically by selecting the focus point at which the image contrast is highest. Most cameras offer three primary focus modes: continuous autofocus (tracks moving subjects), single autofocus (locks focus until you shoot), and automatic autofocus (starts with single but switches to continuous if subject moves).
Chapter 7
Creative Techniques: Beyond the Basics
Digital SLRs now include an impressive array of special features beyond traditional still photography, with movie capabilities being among the most prized. These functions allow photographers to capture high-definition video, shoot in near darkness, create time-lapse sequences, and more-all with the superior optics and sensor quality of a dSLR.
Since Nikon introduced the first HD-capable dSLR in 2008, video capabilities have become standard in digital SLRs. These features allow photographers to shoot professional-quality video without carrying a separate camcorder. Operation is remarkably simple-just press a button to start and stop recording. The advantages include superior low-light performance, control over selective focus, in-camera editing options, and special effects. Many professionals now use dSLRs for commercial video production, including television shows like Saturday Night Live.
All digital SLRs can take night photos, but some perform better than others thanks to improved noise handling capabilities. While traditional night photography required tripods and long exposures, modern dSLRs offer more flexibility with high ISO performance. Despite the traditional approach of using long exposures for night photography, there are valid reasons to prefer shorter shutter speeds through higher ISO settings: time constraints or adverse conditions, wanting to take many photos quickly in available darkness, or avoiding light streaks from moving illuminated objects that would appear during long exposures.
Camera shake is one of photography's most common problems, often surrounded by myths and boastful claims. The truth is that no matter how steady you think your hands are, camera shake affects your images more than you realize. Two common misconceptions plague photographers: first, that if you don't see the shake, it isn't there (when in fact, enlarging your images will reveal blur you didn't notice); and second, that using a shutter speed matching the reciprocal of your lens's focal length (like 1/250 with a 250mm lens) is sufficient.
Image stabilization technology has revolutionized handheld photography since its introduction to still cameras in 1995. Different manufacturers implement it differently-Canon and Nikon build it into individual lenses, while Sony, Pentax/Samsung and Olympus incorporate it into camera bodies. All versions work similarly by sensing motion and shifting optical elements or the sensor in the opposite direction to compensate. This technology allows shooting at shutter speeds approximately four times slower than normally possible. However, while IS helps with camera shake, it won't freeze subject motion.
Time-lapse photography, popularized by early Disney nature films, has become accessible to dSLR users. You can document anything from flowers blooming to construction projects by taking photos at preset intervals. While some cameras have built-in timers, most dSLR setups involve tethering to a computer via USB or using wireless SD cards to transfer images.
Infrared photography offers a creative frontier with its distinctive otherworldly look-dark skies, ghostly white foliage, pale textureless faces, and grainy images that seem to glow from within. Digital SLRs vary in their IR capability because most include "hot mirror" filters that block infrared light to improve normal photography. To take infrared photos, you'll need an IR filter that blocks visible light while allowing infrared through, plus considerable patience-exposures are long because even IR-capable cameras filter most infrared light.
Chapter 8
Composition: The Art of Seeing
Digital SLRs make achieving good composition easier than non-SLR cameras through their superior viewfinders. Unlike point-and-shoot cameras with tiny, washed-out LCDs or inaccurate optical viewfinders that show only part of the image, dSLRs typically offer viewfinders showing 95% of the actual photo at 0.75X-0.95X magnification. They provide better depth-of-field preview, remain live continuously except during exposure, and eliminate the awkward "arms-length" shooting position common with LCD-only cameras.
Good composition, like good art, arranges subject matter pleasingly while communicating the photographer's message-whether subtly or directly. Before shooting, consider: What message do you want to convey? Who is your audience? What's your main subject and center of interest? Should you compose vertically or horizontally? Will the image be printed in black-and-white (emphasizing textures and contrasts)? How should subjects be arranged to create a smooth visual path? Where should you stand-considering angle, distance, and perspective? What's in the background-does it enhance or distract from your subject?
The Rule of Thirds suggests placing key elements at points one-third of the way from the image edges. This compositional guideline creates more dynamic, balanced images than centered placement. The rule wasn't arbitrary-it derives from the ancient Greeks' Golden Rectangle proportions found in nature, where bisecting this rectangle eventually creates points that divide the frame into thirds.
People photography particularly benefits from dSLRs' advantages-lens flexibility, depth-of-field control, and better image quality in challenging lighting. Individual portraits require making subjects look their best while keeping them comfortable. Have subjects sit rather than stand (preferably on a stool to discourage slouching). Position subjects looking into the frame rather than out of it. Choose flattering angles-avoid showing backs of hands, palms, or feet bottoms. De-emphasize problem areas by adjusting camera position (lower for balding subjects) and using diffuse lighting to minimize wrinkles or complexion issues.
Architectural photography typically requires wide-angle lenses to capture large buildings without stepping back extreme distances. Digital SLRs excel here with their interchangeable lens systems allowing for true ultra-wide views down to 15mm, while most point-and-shoots are limited to 24mm equivalent at best. The main challenges include managing perspective distortion when tilting the camera upward (making buildings appear to fall backward), which can be corrected using perspective control lenses or software like Photoshop's Lens Correction tool.
Landscape photography benefits tremendously from the dSLR's wide-angle lens capabilities and is one of the most commonly enlarged and displayed photographic genres. Like architectural photography, landscapes allow for contemplative, unhurried shooting as scenes change slowly. Compositional elements like curves, lines, and shapes (fences, shorelines, roads, railroad tracks) guide viewers through the image-curved lines creating gentle movement, straight lines providing forceful direction.
Chapter 9
From Capture to Output: Processing Your Images
File formats remain one of the most contentious topics in digital photography. Some photographers swear by RAW format (though it's neither truly "unprocessed" nor captures absolutely all sensor data as sometimes claimed). Others prefer JPEG for its efficiency and minimal post-processing requirements. A few traditionalists still advocate for TIFF, despite limited camera support.
When deciding what format to shoot with, photographers need to focus on just three options: TIFF, JPEG, and RAW (plus variants like sRAW or mRAW in some cameras). Each format has distinct advantages and disadvantages that photographers should understand to make wise selections.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) originated in 1987 with Aldus as a standard file format for images. It uses descriptors called tags to provide parameters for special features. TIFF files are lossless (preserving all image information) but much larger than JPEG or RAW files, which significantly increases camera storage time. Fewer dSLRs offer TIFF options today, mostly professional-level cameras.
Virtually every dSLR can create JPEG files, a format created about 20 years ago by a consortium initially consisting of vendors like Eastman Kodak but now overseen by an international standards body. JPEG was designed to create significantly smaller files than formats like TIFF by reducing file size through a process that discards some image data. JPEG is a "lossy" format-each time you load, change, and save a JPEG image, you risk losing more information, with quality degradation becoming noticeable after multiple saves.
RAW isn't a single file format but a broad term for proprietary formats created by each camera manufacturer. Every RAW format is different, requiring either special software from your vendor or third-party utilities like Adobe Camera RAW that support your camera's specific format. RAW files function as digital negatives because they haven't been subjected to the usual manipulations that camera settings apply when converting image data to JPEG or TIFF.
Most digital SLRs can save both JPEG and RAW versions of each photo simultaneously, often letting you select the JPEG quality level. This valuable capability lets you use JPEGs for cataloging, reviewing, and less-demanding applications while retaining RAW versions as digital negatives for extensive editing. The storage penalty is reasonable-a 21-megapixel dSLR can save about 132 JPEG Fine+RAW image pairs per 8GB card compared to 200 RAW-only shots, giving you truly the best of both worlds.
The more you shoot, the more valuable having relatively unprocessed images becomes-they serve as digital negatives you can return to anytime. As your image-editing skills improve, you can salvage previously unusable RAW images. Pictures you dismissed might become worthwhile with time. If you're using RAW files as digital negatives, you'll need substantial storage. External hard drives are so inexpensive now that there's no excuse for not saving all your digital negatives. Just remember to migrate them to newer formats as technology evolves.
Image editing is an essential skill for digital photographers-even the most skilled shooters use post-processing to enhance their work. With digital SLR photography, your images are digital from capture to finish, making them perfectly suited for tweaking, fine-tuning, and optimization. While cameras offer some editing capabilities, dedicated image editors provide far greater enhancement possibilities, from simple adjustments to complex manipulations.
Despite predictions that digital photography would eliminate printed photos, prints remain popular and accessible through multiple convenient options. While many people view images electronically on tablets, smartphones and computers, technology has actually created new applications for printed images alongside traditional uses. Making prints is easier than ever, whether at home, through online services, or at local retailers, with costs roughly equivalent across these methods.
