Author: Ervin V.

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The Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera purchase advice

The camera with the most widespread use is the single-lens reflex camera or DSLR. It is suitable for a large number of photographers and can be used both in the beginner area and in the professional environment. In this article we will clarify whether a SLR camera is worthwhile for you or not. Finally, I would like to recommend a few DSLRs that are particularly suitable for beginners, but also for advanced users and professionals. But remember: a better camera doesn’t make a better photographer. It doesn’t hurt to start small and adapt your equipment to your experience. Your driving school car didn’t have 800PS either 😉

How does a DSLR work?

The mirror reflex camera is a camera that works with a mirror. DSLR stands for D igital S ingle- L ens R eflex. The mirror comes from the analog era, because back then you had to be able to look through the lens without exposing the film. The mirror is thus the switch between the optical viewfinder and the image sensor.

If the DSLR camera is switched off (or has nothing to do), the mirror is also folded down and we can look through the lens through our viewfinder. The moment we take a photo, the mirror folds up, covers the viewfinder and releases the image sensor. Then it folds down again. That is the reason why you sometimes see nothing with DSLRs while taking pictures.

Tips for taking photos with the DSLR

I would definitely advise you to use the viewfinder, although many cameras can also show the image live on the display thanks to digital technology. The disadvantage of the display, however, is that it is reflective and sometimes makes it difficult to see something. Of course, we don’t have that with the viewfinder 😉 these cameras are also built to take photos with the viewfinder. The complete autofocus and the power of these cameras are in here and it is definitely worth keeping the display outside.

 Advantages of the SLR camera

high image quality

To put it simply, a larger image sensor often results in better image quality. Well, the smallest image sensor in a DSLR is an APS-C sensor. These sensors are far superior to those of compact cameras. Due to their large size, they have a higher resolution or can handle more megapixels much better than their smaller colleagues from the compact camera. The reason for this is that with a larger sensor, more light per pixel arrives and that ensures a significantly better quality, especially in poor lighting conditions.

In good situations, all cameras can deliver a good result, but in every one? This is something demanding, which usually requires appropriate equipment.

Versatility of the DSLR

An SLR can do everything. Due to the possibility of interchangeable lenses and the almost endless setting options, we can use them in every area, which is also the reason that they can be found in every area. By screwing on another lens, we can bring distant subjects closer or capture gigantic landscapes in a single photo. The setting options of the DSLR are not only aperture , ISO and exposure time , but also white balance , autofocus and so much more. As a result, they are definitely superior to compact cameras, which were made for everything, but which cannot be specialized in one particular area.

Battery life

I still compare the subject with compact cameras, because DSLRs and DSLMs represent the next step after a compact camera or smartphone. The battery life is definitely enormous. How long can your cell phone or compact camera run before you need a new one? For me it is 7-8 hours (with two rechargeable batteries in the battery grip) and up to 4000 photos. The whole thing depends a bit on the situation, but many should realize that it is significantly more than what is possible with cheap cameras. So a big plus for the DSLR.

Speed

Probably the most important point from my point of view. So as a professional you have completely different demands on the camera. But even for beginners it is a huge advantage if the camera does not have to think for 1-2 seconds after triggering before we can look at a picture, but if everything is displayed immediately and live. I’m not talking about as many pictures as possible in the serial picture, but about general handling. Do you always want to wait a moment for a picture to appear? Or until the camera has finally written the image to the memory card? Probably not … But there is more, because the autofocus is of course much faster and more reliable. Setting the focus in milliseconds ensures that you really don’t miss any more moments!

Lenses

Maybe someone knows this well-known picture, which shows Canon’s lens park. This gigantic mass of lenses also gives us an incredible number of possibilities. There is a suitable lens for every situation, so nothing is left to be desired. What is often solved with an extreme zoom lens in compact cameras can now be solved with a variety of specialized lenses. But of course you don’t always have to go to the actual manufacturer of the camera if you want the right lens. You can also work with third-party manufacturers such as Tamron or Sigma. These offer a wonderful and, above all, often cheaper alternative.

Disadvantages of the DSLR

Nothing is perfect. Of course, the SLR camera also has disadvantages and I’ll show you a few reasons why you shouldn’t use DLSRs right away.

Weight and height

Please do not get me wrong. There are also small lenses and small DSLR cameras, but for many this factor is crucial. Imagine you are planning a vacation and you have to prevent a camera with 3 lenses in your luggage … A compact camera would be tempting. For example: a good full frame DSLR with a standard lens.

  • Canon 700d + KIT: approx. 800g
  • Canon 6d II + 50 1.2 + 35 1.4 + 24-70 2.8: 2.8 kg

These are all exemplary values ​​now, but larger cameras and lenses ensure that they take up more space and of course additional weight. It doesn’t really matter whether you use the DSLR or a system camera (DSLM). The DSLM is slightly ahead here, but in the end that doesn’t mean much. You have to be aware that you have a big and heavy camera with you.

Your own claim

This is something that I noticed again and again on my photo trips. When I travel with a DSLR, I need to take good photos. Over time you start to professionalize everything and look for the perfect photo. After all, a huge camera was dragged around with you all the time that cost several thousand yours. So why should you photograph something that you could have photographed with your mobile phone? Maybe it’s just me, but it can happen to you that you develop too high demands on your pictures and start to forget the actual memories and just stop taking those typical mobile phone photos.

Who should buy a DSLR?

A DLSR is not for everyone. If you are looking for a point and shoot camera, you should go for a compact camera. We are in an area where our purchase was unnecessary if we did not capitalize on the potential of this camera. So who is an SLR camera for?

  • Ambitious beginners who want a lot of performance for little money should use a DSLR or DSLM.
  • If you want a camera system that you can upgrade easily. (with new lenses or purchased lenses fit on new cameras again)
  • You are looking for an extremely wide range of accessories. Because the DSLR / DSLM market is extremely large and there is actually nothing that does not exist 😉
  • You want to rely on reliability and speed.

Some buy recommendations

Entry-level DSLRs

If you are looking for a cheap entry into DSLRs, the three-digit models from Canon or Nikon are very well served. Here you can get the models even cheaper if you buy older used ones. Canon’s 650d is still a good camera today!

Canon cameras with KIT lens: Canon 2000D * – Canon 1300D *  – Canon 800D *

Nikon cameras with KIT lens: Nikon D5300 * – Nikon D5100 *

Sony cameras with KIT lens: Sony Alpha 68 *

Advanced DSLRS

Canon camera with KIT lens: Canon 77D *

Nikon camera with KIT lens: Nikon D7200 *

Professional DSLRs with full frame sensors

Canon full format entry: 6D II + kit lens *

Nikon full frame entry: D750 *

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The exposure time in photography

The exposure time in photography

The exposure time or the shutter speed defines how long the shutter of the camera remains open. This has several influences on our image, such as brightness and motion blur.

Basics of exposure time

The exposure time defines how long light falls into the camera. This happens either through a mechanical lock that releases the image sensor when triggered, or it is electronically simulated. That depends on the type of camera.

As a photographer, you can control the exposure time and use this both to expose a photo correctly and to create creative effects in the images. Depending on whether you expose long or short.

The exposure time is usually given in fractions of a second (e.g. 1/125) or in whole seconds (2 ″ for two seconds) if this is necessary. But when do we speak of a short and when of a long exposure time ?

Normal cameras can expose between 30 seconds and 1/4000 of a second. If your camera can’t, don’t worry. These are extreme values ​​that are rarely used. You can orientate yourself on a value from the film industry. These use 1/48 of a second to expose the individual frames of a film. Applied to photography, this is a more normal guideline. It’s not very fast, but neither is it very slow. This exposure time ensures that, although motion blur can be perceived, i.e. motion in the image can be blurred, the motionless is mostly frozen.

Influence on the picture

Brightness

The exposure time has two influences on the image. On the one hand, it controls the brightness.
This means that with a long exposure time you let a lot of light fall into the camera and the picture becomes brighter. With a short one, less light falls into the camera and the picture becomes dark.
Beginners usually don’t notice much of this, as time is only one of three values ​​that control the brightness of a photo. However, you can also turn it around. If I want a short exposure time I need a lot of light. If I want to take long exposures, this is often not possible with lots of light. Too much light falls into the camera and the image would be too bright.

Motion blur

Everyone has probably blurred a picture at some point. This is motion blur. This occurs when something moves too fast for the currently set exposure time . That can be our subject as well as the camera itself. The motion blur depends on the speed of our subject. Everyone moves. You can’t sit 100% still. But these movements are not as fast as a car, an animal or a bird. We have to adjust our attitude in order to keep up with our motive.

Fast exposure time

If we want to expose quickly, we speak of exposure times over 1/60 sec. Usually 1/200, 1/1000 or even shorter. This short time is necessary to either compensate for too much light (when it is very bright outside) or to freeze a fast subject. When we capture a fast movement that we cannot really perceive even with the human eye, we speak of freezing. It looks like time has stood still and a very short moment has been captured on a photo. For this we need a very short exposure time and have to adapt it to the speed of our subject. The faster the subject moves, the faster we have to expose.

Long exposure time

Long exposure is a great way to get creative, but be careful. Long exposure is not all that easy. We have a few things to consider.

We usually speak of a long exposure time when we expose longer than 1/50 of a second. These are usually values ​​in the seconds range, i.e. half a second, a whole or several seconds.

Use a tripod

By using a tripod, we avoid blurring. You can reduce or completely avoid the motion blur caused by your hand and the movement of the camera. There is a rule of thumb from when you should use a tripod.

Focal length / 1 = minimum exposure time

Your focal length is crucial for this. It can be compared to binoculars. It is often difficult to hold binoculars steady without a tripod, and so it is in photography. The further your lens is in the partial area, the more likely you are to blur your image. The phrase can now be transferred to the different focal lengths.

For example:

  • 30mm = 1/30 sec. Or faster
  • 50mm = 1/50 sec. Or faster
  • 200mm = 1/200 sec. Or faster

In addition to the tripod, you can also use this value further by holding your camera correctly or using an image stabilizer.

The long exposure effect

A long exposure time now ensures that we have more light available, for example, that we can take photos at night. On the other hand, it naturally creates motion blur, which we can use skillfully to blur elements of our image or even to make them disappear. Because everything that happens while our shutter is open is also recorded on the image sensor.

Set exposure time

The exposure time you can set in your camera with two options. On the one hand there is the manual mode. This is quite demanding for photography beginners, as all values ​​have to be set manually and of course it does not forgive any mistakes. The second option is the Av or S mode. With this you can set the exposure time and your camera takes care of the other values, such as aperture and ISO . You can first concentrate on one value and then go into the other setting options.

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The ISO value of your camera

The ISO value of your camera

You must have already found a button or an ad with the label ISO on your camera. If you press it, you see a lot of numbers and maybe you don’t know what to set here. Don’t worry, that’s what today is about!

In addition to the exposure time and the aperture, the ISO value is probably the most important value in the exposure of your photo. It controls the brightness of your pictures, but also has other influences.

Origin & functionality

Originally, the ISO value comes from the sensitivity of analog films (ASA). This sensitivity was due to the different sizes of crystals used on the film. Large crystals could absorb more light, but created a so-called grain (noise). If small crystals were used, the film could absorb less light, but the grain became finer and finer and less visible to the eye.

But how does it work digitally now? After all, we can’t make the pixels on our image sensor bigger or smaller. Therefore there is a digital possibility to increase the ISO value. Usually every single pixel sends information to the camera. If this signal is too weak, the light received is too dark. Now we have to increase the sensitivity (the ISO value), which amplifies this signal. This allows the camera to perceive light much better, but unfortunately not only the light is amplified, but also the interference with the sensor and the electronics. We will see this later in the picture as image noise.

How does ISO affect our images?

This can be compared to the human eye. This can also see in the dark, but is then blinded by bright lights. It’s the same with your camera. If you have set the ISO value very high, every light, no matter how small, looks incredibly bright, but you can see with your camera in the dark.

Originally, the ISO value comes from the sensitivity of analog films (ASA). This sensitivity was due to the different sizes of the crystals used on the film. Large crystals could absorb more light, but created a so-called grain (noise). If small crystals were used, the film could absorb less light, but the grain became finer and finer and less visible to the eye.

But how does it work digitally now? After all, we can’t make the pixels on our image sensor bigger or smaller. Therefore there is a digital possibility to increase the ISO value. Usually every single pixel sends information to the camera. If this signal is too weak, the light received is too dark. Now we have to increase the sensitivity (the ISO value), which amplifies this signal. This allows the camera to perceive light much better, but unfortunately not only the light is amplified, but also the interferences of the sensor and the electronics. We will see this later in the picture as image noise.

With the ISO value this is the noise. Noise looks like someone has placed the smoking of a television picture over your photo. This effect is also known from many smartphone cameras that only show muddy pictures without sharpness in the dark.

This is because we perceive sharpness as micro-contrast. So as a small difference between light and dark. However, the edges between these areas are destroyed by noise, which is also a difference between light and dark.

The high ISO value (6400) ensures that you can see the stars, but the details in the grass are completely lost in the noise

How do I set the ISO value?

To set this value on the camera, simply press the ISO button . Then you can use the corresponding adjusting wheel to check how high or low the value should be set.

Like exposure time and aperture , the ISO value is based on aperture steps. In addition, it is based on the power of 2, which doesn’t make it all that easy. But I have an example that might make it easier.

Every step to the right (higher value) makes the picture twice as bright as before and every step to the left makes it half as bright. Got it? Well! Because there are also third steps that allow you to fine-tune the value.

So if you still have intermediate values ​​on your camera, do not worry: this is only for fine adjustment.

When do I use which ISO value

This is now a subject that a lot of completely misunderstand. Because the ISO value is nothing worse. It doesn’t always have to be kept so low that we avoid any noise. The ISO value should support you in your photography and with modern cameras the noise is also less and less.

My tip: Try to find out on your camera when the ISO noise is so strong that you can no longer use an image and when you don’t notice any differences. 

For me, it’s pretty easy with all my cameras: You can actually always use ISO 100-800 without seeing any noise anywhere. From ISO3200 everything should be treated with caution. This example can work for you, but it doesn’t have to.

Avoid image noise

Noise does not have to be a bad thing either – although this image is very noisy, you can still see enough details and can forgive the noise.

Do you now have to take photos in the dark and want to avoid the noise? Then I now have a few tips for you. First of all, a larger image sensor always ensures less noise, as the pixels on the sensor have significantly more space and can therefore absorb more light. But a new camera is not the universal solution. Better take a look at what can still be extracted from the other values. We have exposure time and aperture , which can possibly be set a little brighter and thus relieve the ISO value.

But be careful: it is better to take a noisy picture than a blurred or blurred one. Viewers of the picture are more forgiving of noise than blurred or even blurred pictures.

An alternative would be to take the photo in RAW and remove noise from the image. There are many image processing programs for this that can pick up the noise in the image. There are many possibilities here, you can find your own way.