PCPhoto

How To Choose A Digital SLR

What to look for...and look out for

By Mike Stensvold

Page 6 of 6

Lenses & Accessories
D-SLRs made by companies that manufacture 35mm SLRs generally can use the lenses film cameras use, so if you have an AF 35mm SLR and several lenses, you can save money by buying a D-SLR from the same manufacturer. But the smaller-than-full-35mm-frame image sensors in most D-SLRs allow for smaller lenses with smaller image circles, so the D-SLR manufacturers and major independent lensmakers also offer “digital” lenses optimized for D-SLRs. Most of these digital lenses can’t be used on film cameras (or full-frame D-SLRs) because their image circles are too small—they cause vignetting.

Most D-SLRs from film-camera companies accept many of the accessories that film SLRs take. If you plan to do serious macro photography, you might want a D-SLR whose system includes extension tubes or a bellows unit. If you want to use multiple off-camera flash units with wireless TTL control, make sure you get a camera that supports it.

Unique Features
Some wonderful special features are out there—though not in the same camera. My favorites include Konica Minolta’s body-integral Anti-Shake (in the Maxxum 7D and Maxxum 5D), which turns all your lenses into anti-shake lenses; Nikon’s Lock-On (in all its D-SLRs), which keeps focus locked on the subject if it momentarily passes behind something, such as a bird flying past a tree; and Olympus’ Supersonic Wave Filter, which vibrates dust off the image sensor every time you switch on the camera. There’s also the Canon optional Data Verification Kit, which confirms that an image hasn’t been altered (handy for forensic photography), and optional wireless image-transmission systems for Canon and Nikon pro D-SLRs.

So what’s the “best” D-SLR? It’s not necessarily the one your best friend uses, or even the one your favorite famous pro uses. It’s the one that makes it easy to do what you need it to do and is in your price range.


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