What is the Difference Between a Digital Camera and a Digital SLR Camera?

In this article we hope to be able to explain the difference between a normal digital camera and a digital SLR camera. When choosing and purchasing a new digital camera, there are some important elements of photography that you need to familiarize yourself with.

To get us started "SLR" stands for Single Lens Reflex. Essentially this means that the lens can be removed and replaced whenever required. A regular SLR camera is a conventional film based SLR camera whilst a digital SLR (DSLR) is a digital SLR camera. DSLR or SLR cameras compared to a normal fixed lens digital camera, are far more complex to use, as certain items and settings within the camera have to be manually changed - such as focus, shutter speed and zoom. These are aspects of a digital camera that most people take for granted, as they can be automatically set within the camera. These days, for your benefit, most DSLRs have some pre-set automatic functions - this being the functionality of digital cameras! Along with this, a DSLR can have the lens detached and installed, meaning that the photographer can take extremely close up images of tremendously high quality.

The reason why DSLRs are so frequently preferred by professional photographers is because they allow an accurate preview of framing at the moment of exposure, and because DSLRs allow the user to choose from a huge variety of alternate lenses. This gives you the best possible choice of photographic effects and quality of exposure. You can get lenses such as wide angle lens, telephoto lens and macro lenses. DSLR cameras offer a level of flexibility that other types of cameras cannot match, they have such a huge array of addons and accessories. For DSLRs you can buy things like filters,external flashes, adapters, extension tubes, light strobes and a multitude of brackets and attachments. With a DSLR, you can also purchase a large array of tools which opens the possibility of new creative expression. Most DSLRs also have a feature that allows accurate preview of depth of field.

Perhaps the most important core component of any digital camera or DSLR is the sensor. This really is the most critical device in the camera and is perhaps the most important in determining the picture quality. Typically on a DSLR the sensor is far larger than those installed on a fixed focal length or digicam type camera. Most of the time fixed focal length cameras have a sensor just a half or one third the size of a DSLR. This in itself is reason enough to get a DSLR over a normal digital camera. The vastly superior picture quality makes it an essential part of any serious photographers arsenal.

A DSLR camera can offer you the ability to become a very skilled photographer, producing some high quality photographs. When you visit a professional camera store they will assist you in making your choice between a digital camera and a digital SLR camera.