Consumers 'Snapping Up' Digital SLR Cameras

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'Awesome' SLR digital cameras let you snap faster

Mon Nov 22, 6:50 AM ET 

By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY 

Joey Atilano's compact digital camera wasn't cutting it.

He liked to shoot pictures of his cousin's high school football games but found that he missed many shots because of the long time it took the shutter to fire. So he upgraded to a $1,000 single lens reflex, or SLR, camera like professional photographers use - a full-featured tool that enables him to shoot multiple pictures in a row to capture the action.

With a digital SLR, "You can take much more artistic photos," says Atilano, 29. "They're just awesome."

Glance at the ads for consumer electronics stores this holiday season, and you'll surely see lots of space given to the digital SLR category. Besides being higher-profit-margin items for retailers, they're also objects of great desire among consumers bitten by the digital bug.

Digital SLRs "are a very hot category right now," says Jerry Grossman, vice president of marketing for photographic powerhouse Nikon. "These cameras are hitting a real sweet spot for people who were afraid of making the investment and waiting for the chance to use their old lenses from film cameras in digital."

No. 1 camera seller Canon kicked the category into gear last year with its EOS 300D Digital Rebel. It was the first digital SLR to sell for under $1,000 at a time when most in the category were $2,000 and up. 

When Popular Photography and Imaging put the 300D on its cover, "It was our best-selling issue in 10 years," says Michael McNamara, the magazine's technology editor. "There was a real pent-up demand for this kind of camera."

Look for rebates

According to market research firm IDC, 845,000 digital SLRs were sold in 2003. The firm projects sales to more than double to 2 million for this year.

Longtime Canon rival Nikon answered the Digital Rebel a few months ago with the more full-featured - and expensive - $1,299 D70. Pentax, Konica Minolta and Olympus have just introduced new digital SLRs, at prices from $999 to $1,599. 

Holiday rebates have brought prices down to $899 for the Canon Rebel and $1,199 for the Nikon. 

McNamara says shutterbugs are moving up to digital SLRs for four main reasons:

•Image quality. SLRs offer the best image quality of any kind of digital camera. Digital SLRs aimed at consumers range from 6 to 8 megapixels, compared with an average 3 megapixels for the best-selling compact cameras. A megapixel is an indicator of a camera's resolution. On a digital SLR, the megapixel sensor is larger than on the compact version, producing a cleaner image. 

•Better composition. Instead of trying to compose images through a small LCD screen on the back of the camera, often hard to see in bright daylight, shutterbugs can use a traditional viewfinder, viewable in any situation. 

•Versatility. With a digital SLR, photographers can use additional lenses, for a wide angle or telephoto view. 

•No shutter lag. Many users of point-and-shoot digital cameras complain of "shutter lag" - missing that all-important shot because the camera isn't ready. With a digital SLR, when you put your finger down on the shutter and the picture gets taken immediately. 

For instance, with the Nikon D70, you can shoot 144 pictures in a row, non-stop, something that would be impossible with a point-and-shoot. 

And with a good lens, "You can blur a background with portraiture, to focus on the person, not the background," says Chuck Westfall, Canon's director of technical information. "When you're trying to be serious about photography, that's one of the basics."

Tips for shoppers

•Low end. The two cameras you'll see most advertised are the best-selling Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D ($899 with holiday rebate) and Nikon's D70 ($1,199, with rebate). 

If these are your two choices, the first decision usually hinges on whether you already own Canon or Nikon accessory lenses. But even if you have a full line of Canon wide-angle, telephoto and zoom lenses in your closet from your EOS film camera, you might consider selling them on eBay. Nikon's D70 is vastly superior to the 300D. 

The Canon Rebel is an improvement over many point-and-shoots but very hard to focus in low-light situations (scratch using it for many sporting events), a trait the D70 does not share. The Nikon has a sturdier feel and more advanced wireless flash features. 

Pentax's new $999 *ist DS is lighter than the D70 or 300D. Neither the Pentax, nor the $999 Olympus Evolt E-300 was made available for review. 

•The middle. Konica Minolta's $1,499 Maxxum 7D (without lens) is heavier (28.2 ounces) than most competitors but has a unique feature designed to curb all those fuzzy pictures that come from camera shake - a built-in "anti-shake" technology, similar to one found on video camcorders. 

Canon's new $1,499 20D answers all the Rebel's flaws, with faster focusing, higher resolution than the Nikon (8 megapixel vs. 6) and superior image quality in ultralow-light situations. 

For the semi-pro, or event photographer, the 20D has more features (and costs more) than the Nikon D70, and is the camera to beat in its class. 

 

[Truck4 48]

More Tech = Less Talent

[WAS967 97]

the D70 and others are nothing compared to the higher end SLRs that the pros use. Those suckers go for 5000+. For the average use some basic tech can make for good pictures despite lack of talent, but it only goes so far. A good feel for the subject matter and composition goes much further along with knowing how to maniplate all those complex settings (something I need to learn how to do :-k ).