Father v Son

[Ian]

Re: Father v Son

It sure makes you wonder if the DSLR is over rated. See this post of Stephens http://dpnow.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=3186 which also showed that compacts are a force to be reckoned with.

We had a family do on Sunday as my Mum had just returned from a month away in the Philippines and it's almost her 82nd birthday.

I brought a little Epson PM290 miniprinter with me as my sister, who travelled out there to bring her home, had some shots of the relatives. I printed her shots taken using a Panasonic Lumix FX10, if I recall, which is a 6MP pocket compact. I then printed some taken with the Oly E-510 DSLR I'm currently using and I was actually surprised at how much sharper the DSLR pics, printed, were. No contest. I'm surprised that the difference showed up in a print as small as 6x4.

Ian

[lumix]

Re: Father v Son

We had a family do on Sunday as my Mum had just returned from a month away in the Philippines and it's almost her 82nd birthday.

I brought a little Epson PM290 miniprinter with me as my sister, who travelled out there to bring her home, had some shots of the relatives. I printed her shots taken using a Panasonic Lumix FX10, if I recall, which is a 6MP pocket compact. I then printed some taken with the Oly E-510 DSLR I'm currently using and I was actually surprised at how much sharper the DSLR pics, printed, were. No contest. I'm surprised that the difference showed up in a print as small as 6x4.

Ian

I don't doubt that the DSLR is far more capable than a compact. But pound for pound dose the difference in quality warrant the difference in cost. I've owned and earned a living with some of the best film based cameras ever made. I must admit that they were certainly worth every penny I spent on them. In them days the quality of affordable cameras that amateurs were using was pretty poor compared to the high end cameras we pros were using. I just feel that the modern digital compact has improved so much that the gap now has closed considerably. The way things are progressing in the compact world we will soon see very little difference to that of the DSLR. OK so you can change lenses on the latter but with the advance in zoom technology that will also soon be an unnecessary evil.

[Ian]

Re: Father v Son

I don't doubt that the DSLR is far more capable than a compact. But pound for pound dose the difference in quality warrant the difference in cost. I've owned and earned a living with some of the best film based cameras ever made. I must admit that they were certainly worth every penny I spent on them. In them days the quality of affordable cameras that amateurs were using was pretty poor compared to the high end cameras we pros were using. I just feel that the modern digital compact has improved so much that the gap now has closed considerably. The way things are progressing in the compact world we will soon see very little difference to that of the DSLR. OK so you can change lenses on the latter but with the advance in zoom technology that will also soon be an unnecessary evil.

For general use, I would agree with you, but the larger sensor and the better lens designs (in many if not all lenses) for DSLRs does make a difference. You can be more flexible with the depth of field with a DSLR, out if focus bokeh has the potential to be more 'special' and there is undoubtedly better dynamic range in challenging conditions.

Ian

[StuartR]

Re: Father v Son

Stuart I owe you one. You have just ruined my chance of an upgrade. My wife has just walked away muttering, "Whats the point if you can't tell the difference between an expensive camera and a cheap one." I had to agree or spend the night with the dog in the garage.

Sorry mate