...and make it snappy II

Many thanks to John and Factobrunt for their comments. Both have highlighted the dilemma. On the one hand, the pocketability of a compact, on the other the quality of an SLR.

To get the best of both worlds, this Leica caught my eye. I mean, just the whole idea of using a Leica has glamour. The detail that appeals is being able to set the shutter speed and aperture manually...

Any more comments?

Comments

  1. FactoBruntMon Dec 05, 01:05:00 pm GMT

    The problem with Leica is that you pay for the badge. You can probably get better cameras than the Leica for less.

    Nearly all compacts allow you to control aperture and shutter speed, and having a pretty decent compact that does allow you to do that means you can get photos which would otherwise impossible (such as night shots). However, it's usually a pain in the bum to do so, often doing it via some button presses or awkward menu systems.

    The compact I use is a Canon S45 and it's fine, but it doesn't near the quality of the Nikon D70 I use. The lens just isn't as good and I can't change it! The problem with compacts is that the lens has to be small, and it means the light has to go through a very small amount of glass and imperfections (chromatic aberration) show up more.

    One particular thing that SLRs will have over most compacts is their sensitivity, which will be very important for surreptitious taking of photos (although of course, they're bigger too, so that might work against this argument!). SLRs have the option to increase the sensitivity usually 16 fold, sometimes more (D70 goes from ISO 200 to ISO 1600). My compact can alter its sensitivity only 4 fold (ISO 100 to ISO 400 - 4 times less sensitive than my D70). This is usually because the smaller CCDs in the compacts suffer from worse noise as the sensitivity is increased.

    Hmm. Anyway. I guess that's alot of reasons to go DSLR. But of course, you can't put a DLSR in your pocket!

    I think it's all down to whether you want to take quality photos or just capture a moment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Garry NixonMon Dec 05, 04:40:00 pm GMT

    Thanks again Factobrunt. I went to the camera shop lunchtime to look at the Leica and it's a peach. The lens is the seller. But then that's a really important point you've raised about the ISO - the Leica only goes to 400 too. Which would give it severe limits without a flash.

    Hmm...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Garry NixonMon Dec 05, 04:42:00 pm GMT

    ...And the Leica does have a relatively big lens for a compact.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ApprenticeSat Dec 10, 11:06:00 am GMT

    Nikon D70 Gaz. They're cheapish right now. I'll be getting one in Jan or Feb, so if you like we can take the plunge together. Thing is to look at the lenses. The D70 comes with a really great 18 - 70mm kit lens, see here: http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/NikonD70vsRebelXT_pg2.shtml It's worth about £150 on its own. Jacobs is selling D70s with this lens for about £430. No contest, really. I could drone on boringly, but there it is..

    ReplyDelete

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