■ No live preview. You can’t preview the image you’re going to take, exactly as the sensor sees it because the sensor can’t create an image until the mirror flips up and out of the way. The LCD of a dSLR is used only for viewing images after the fact, plus for displaying menus and other information.

■ No live histograms. As you’ll learned in later posts, histogram displays are a great way to optimize exposures. If the histogram “chart” is skewed too much in one direction or another, you can add or reduce shutter speed, aperture, or EV value to get the best possible exposure. Non-SLR digital cameras have what are called “live” histograms that show up on the LCD and/or EVF while a shot is being composed, so you can make corrections in real time. That’s not possible with a dSLR for the same reason you can’t get a live preview:The sensor is blind until the moment of exposure.

■ No sneaky surveillance-type shooting. You can connect many digital SLRs to a USB cable and use a special program to control the camera from a distance. However, once again, you’ll be shooting blind. Your control program probably can download your remote photos to your computer after they are shot, but you can’t monitor what the camera sees before taking the picture. If you want to catch a shoplifter in the act, you’re better off with a regular video surveillance camera or even a high-end non-dSLR setup to provide a live feed to your monitor or computer.

■ Shooting blind in dim light or with infrared filters. Here we go again. Because you’re limited to viewing through the dSLR’s optical viewfinder, if light conditions are very dim or you’re using an infrared filter, you have to shoot blind. LCD and EVF viewfinders often have circuitry that boosts the gain under dim conditions, providing you with a fuzzy, sometimes black-and-white image, but one that can still be viewed, even if you’re shooting with an infrared filter that blocks visible light.

■ View on the back panel LCD display. These viewing panels, which operate like miniature laptop display screens, show virtually the exact image seen by the sensor. The LCDs measure roughly 1.6 to 2.5 inches diagonally, and generally display 98 percent or more of the picture view seen by the lens. An LCD may be difficult to view in bright light. Point-and-shoot digital cameras use the LCD display to show the image before the picture is taken, and to review the image after the snapshot has been made. Some of these have no optical viewfinder at all, so the only way to compose a shot is on the LCD. In a dSLR, the back panel LCD is used only for reviewing pictures that have been taken; previewing is not possible.

■ View through an optical viewfinder.Many non-SLR digital cameras have a glass directview system called an optical viewfinder that you can use to frame your photo. Optical viewfinders can be simple window-like devices (with low-end, fixed magnification digital cameras) or more sophisticated systems that zoom in and out to roughly match the view that the sensor sees. The advantage of the optical viewfinder is that you can see the subject at all times (with other systems the view may be blanked out during the exposure). Optical systems may be brighter than electronic viewing, too. A big disadvantage is that an optical viewfinder does not see exactly what the sensor does, so you may end up cutting off someone’s head or otherwise do some unintentional trimming of your subject.

■View through an electronic viewfinder (EVF). The EVF operates like a little television screen inside the digital camera. You can view an image that closely corresponds to what the sensor sees, and is easier to view than the LCD display, but doesn’t have nearly the quality of an SLR viewfinder. The EVF goes blank during exposures, however. Because EVF cameras are usually more compact than dSLRs and can cost less, they have become a popular “SLR-like” alternative to the real thing.

■ View an optical image through the camera lens. Another kind of optical viewfinder is the through-the-lens viewing provided by the SLR camera. With such cameras, an additional component, usually a mirror, reflects light from the taking lens up through an optical system for direct viewing. The mirror reflects virtually all the light up to the viewfinder, except for some illumination that may be siphoned off for use by the automatic exposure and focus mechanisms. The mirror swings out of the way during an exposure to allow the light to reach the sensor instead. Sometimes, a beamsplitting device is used instead. A beamsplitter does what you expect: It splits the beam of light, reflecting part to the viewfinder and allowing the rest of the light to strike the sensor.

As you might guess, because a beamsplitter steals some of the illumination for the viewfinder, neither the sensor nor the viewfinder receives the full intensity of the light. However, such a beamsplitter system does mean that the image needn’t blank out during exposure. An optical viewfinder’s image reflected from the mirror is reversed, of course, so it is bounced around a bit more within the camera to produce an image in the viewfinder window that is oriented properly left to right and vertically.

Some digital cameras use a pentaprism, which is a solid piece of glass and generates the brightest, most accurate image. Others use a pentamirror system, lighter in weight and cheaper to produce, but which gives you an image that is a little less brilliant than that created by a pentaprism. Olympus uses a swinging sideways mirror viewfinder system it calls a TTL Optical Porro Finder on its lower-end dSLRs, which has the advantage of allowing a much squatter profile for the camera cos the big lump of a pentaprism/pentamirror needn’t inhabit the top of the camera. There are several other important aspects of SLR viewfinders that you need to keep in mind:

■ dSLRs provide no LCD preview. Because of the way digital SLRs operate it is not possible to view the image on the back-panel LCD before the photo is taken. That doesn’t seem like much of a problem at first—after all, the optical view is brighter, easier to focus, and often much larger than an LCD preview—until you go to take an infrared photo or other image using a filter that reduces the visibility of the through-the-lens view or obscures it entirely. An EVF camera with an IR filter mounted may still produce a dim, but viewable LCD image which can be used to compose the photo. With an SLR, you’re shooting blind.

■ Vision correction. Although many point-and-shoot digital cameras don’t have diopter correction to allow for near/far sightedness, all digital SLRs have this feature. However, if you have other vision problems that require you to wear glasses while composing photos, make sure your digital camera lets you see the entire image with your eyeglasses pressed up against the viewing window. Sometimes the design of the viewfinder, including rubber bezels around the frame, can limit visibility.

■ Eyepoint. The distance you can move your eye away from the viewfinder and still see all of the image is called the eyepoint, and it’s important to more than just eyeglass wearers, as described above. For example, when shooting sports, you may want to use your other eye to preview the action so you’ll know when your subjects are about to move into the frame. Cameras that allow seeing the full image frame even when the eye isn’t pressed up tightly to the window make it easy to do this. In the past, manufacturers of SLR cameras have even offered “extended eyepoint” accessories for sports photographers and others.

■ Magnification. The relative size of the viewfinder image affects your ability to see all the details in the frame as you compose an image. It’s not something you might think about, but if you compare dSLRs side by side, you’ll see that some provide a larger through-thelens view than others. Bigger is always better, but is likely to cost more, too.

Working with viewfinders will come up again a few times later in this book, but if you remember the basic information presented in this chapter, you’ll understand most of what you need to know.

Indeed, for as long as I’ve been involved with photography, deciding which SLR family to marry into has been an agonizing conclusion. No one prefers to be locked into a product line that won’t do the job, won’t keep pace with technology, or, worse, will go belly-up, leaving owners of a particular vendor’s equipment orphaned, in a sense. A generation ago, film SLR purchasers were committing to cameras produced by companies called Topcon, Miranda, or Yashica. These were fine cameras in their time, but none of them survived to the digital age.

Even among modern digital camera vendors, you’ve important SLR manufacturers that were late to the party (Konica Minolta, for example) and others with now-you-see-it/now-you-don’t products, such as the Contax N Digital, a 6MP digital SLR announced in July, 2000, but later withdrawn from the US market. You can be certain that Konica Minolta is in the digital SLR fray for the long term, but can you be that confident about all the other players in the game?

Digital SLR decision makers often fall into one of four categories:

■ Serious photographers, photo enthusiasts, and professionals who already own lenses and accessories belonging to a particular system, and who need to preserve their investments by choosing, if possible, a digital SLR that is compatible with as much of their existing equipment as possible.

■ Professionals who purchase equipment like carpenters buy routers. They wish something that will do the job and is rugged enough to work reliably despite heavy use and mistreatment. They don’t necessarily care about cost if the gear will do what’s needed, because their organizations or clients are ultimately footing the bill. Compatibility may be a good idea if an organization’s shooters share a pool of specialized equipment, but a pro choosing to switch to a whole new system probably won’t care much if the old stuff has to fall by the
wayside.

■ Amateurs and enthusiast photographers with too much money who feel that the only way they will be able to take decent (or better) pictures is to own the very latest consumerlevel equipment. These are the people who bought the Canon Digital Rebel when it first came out, but sold everything and switched to the Nikon D70 a few months later to gain some additional capabilities. Six months later they were posting questions in newsgroups about whether they should sell everything again and buy a Canon EOS 20D or maybe a Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D.

■ Those who are buying their first dSLR, and either don’t own an existing film SLR, or don’t particularly care about using their old equipment with a new camera. Often, these buyers don’t plan on junking everything and buying into a new system anytime soon, so they are likely to examine all the options and choose the best dSLR system based on as many factors as possible. Indeed, their caution may be why they’ve waited this long to purchase a digital SLR in the first place.

• Better lenses. You might argue that a non-dSLR eliminates the need for interchangeable lenses. If your 12X zoom EVF camera offers all the focal length equivalents between 28mm and 336mm, who in their right mind (other than architectural photographers at the wide end, and pro sports photographers at the tele end) would need more? However, I maintain that even if you super glue your lens to a dSLR (transforming it into a noninterchangeable lens camera), the dSLR’s zoom lens will provide better, sharper pictures than what you can expect from a non-dSLR’s optics. There’s plenty of room for argument here, but, in general, it’s easier to design a high quality lens for an SLR’s larger sensor than it is for a tiny point-and-shoot’s CCD. Do you have any idea what compromises have to be made to create a 6mm–60mm zoom lens that will fit one of those dinky cameras?

• Easier upgrading. You can enhance the capabilities of a dSLR quite easily, just by purchasing the add-on you need. Conversely, you don’t have to load down your camera with features you don’t need. As I write this, only a few non-dSLRs offer image stabilization (which minimizes blur caused by camera movement at low shutter speeds). If you want that feature in a non-dSLR, you have to specifically purchase a camera that offers it. Yet, most Nikon or Canon dSLRs of recent vintage can be outfitted with vibration reduction lenses, which you can purchase when and if you need one. (At the time I’m writing this, the Konica Minolta 7D is the only dSLR with anti-shake technology built into the camera  body itself.) A more powerful external flash is an easy addition, too, compared with point-and-shoot digital cameras, many of which allow no external flash at all (other than slaved units).

• Better use of power. You’ll find that your dSLR camera’s battery will last much longer than you expect. It’s not unusual to take 1,000 to 1,500 shots on a single charge. That’s partly because a dSLR may have larger batteries, but, in any case, they make much better use of the power that’s available. One thing you’ll notice right away is that there’s generally no need to turn off a dSLR to save juice. Most digital SLRs switch off their autofocus and autoexposure systems automatically if you haven’t used them for a few seconds,  and the power-hungry LCD is on only during picture review or menu navigation. You  can leave a dSLR switched on for days on end without depleting your batteries. Try that with a point-and-shoot! Most non-dSLR cameras turn themselves off automatically at the worst possible time (often “forgetting” any special settings you’ve made in the meantime), or, if “sleep” mode has been disabled, deplete their batteries within a few hours, whether you’ve taken any pictures or not.

• True “what you see is what you get” composition. A non-dSLR with an optical viewfinder is guaranteed to chop off heads, or worse, as you compose your pictures. The LCD on the back of the camera provides a reasonable facsimile of what the sensor sees, except you can’t see it in bright light, and the details on an LCD that can be as small as 1.5 inches are too small anyway. EVF cameras are a little better, especially in bright light, but most of them provide grainy images that can be hard to view or noisy in dim illumination, and that are not optimal for accurate focusing under the best of conditions. Most LCD viewfinders introduce a delay factor: What you’re looking at actually happened a large fraction of a second ago. A digital SLR’s viewfinder shows you exactly what you will get (although some provide less than 100 percent of the full field-of-view), and you can even preview your depth-of-field.

That’s not to say that other kinds of cameras don’t have their place among enthusiasts and professionals.
Leicas and other rangefinder-style film cameras have long been prized for their small size, precision, quiet shutters, and superb optics. Some of the best images ever made have been taken, and will continue to be taken, with Leicas and the like. Twin-lens reflexes like the Rollei have served ably as professional cameras using film sizes larger than 35mm. And view cameras, which accept sheet film holders in sizes up to 8 × 10 (and larger), continue to be important for high-quality illustration and portraiture, although these days view cameras are as likely to be fitted with a digital sensor back as a film back.

SLRs are not the only cameras a dedicated photographer would find acceptable, but, if you compile percentages, the single-lens reflex is way ahead of whatever is in second place. Indeed, in the digital photography realm, the success of so-called “SLR-like” cameras such as the shooters with internal electronic viewfinders (EVF) from Konica Minolta, Olympus, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, and others stems from just how closely they can mimic features that are common to virtually every SLR. In most respects, they are deliberately designed as a “next best thing.” Despite their status as a “junior SLR,” these imitators are not necessarily cheap. You can pay almost $2,000 for a Leica Digilux and more than $1,000 for many of the leading EVFstyle cameras.

Once you’ve bought your digital SLR, there are still some items that you need to think about getting your hands on. Check our list of essential extras to see if there’s anything else you need.

Printer

Once you start taking a lot of pictures it’s well worth investing in a decent photo printer. Print sizes range from 6×4 right up to A3 size. An A4 inkjet often provides the most suitable solution.

Memory cards and wallet

Called ‘digital film’ by some people, memory cards are integral to digital photography. The more expensive cards usually offer faster and more reliable performance. Keep your memory cards safe in a memory card wallet. These range from small canvas wallets right up to hardwearing waterproof plastic models. Failing that, keep the cards in the little plastic boxes they come in.

Sensor Cleaning

If you feel up to the challenge of cleaning your own sensor, save yourself some time and money by buying a sensor cleaning kit. Remember to follow the instructions as closely as you can or you’ll risk ruining your whole camera.

Reflector

Keeping a reflector in your bag will prove invaluable on many occasions. Use it to bounce light into a dark subject, lift shadows and a whole host of other applications.

Cleaning Kit

You can’t avoid having to keep your gear clean, so get your hands on a quality lens cloth and special cleaning spray. Make sure that you keep your cloth clean or you’ll just be spreading muck around your lenses.

Spare Battery and Rechargeable Batteries

If your camera takes a dedicated battery, make sure you have at least one spare. Rather than buying lots of single use AA batteries, save yourself some money and get yourself some decent rechargeable batteries and a charger.

Blower Brush

The first stage of any cleaning operation should entail blowing the dust and muck off before you wipe it around. A blower can also be used to get dust off close-up subjects.

Portable Storage

Rather than shelling out lots of money on memory cards, you could invest in a portable storage device. You can save images from your memory card onto it, then wipe the card and carry on shooting. They are indispensable to those who take lots of pictures.

Knowing how your digital SLR works and choosing the right kit for the job could be the difference between competent shots and outstanding photography. Here we take a look inside your camera and discuss how digital sensors can affect focal lengths.

Inside a Digital SLR

While they may look the same as their film SLR predecessors in terms of design and feel – and there’s no reason to believe this will change any time soon – they couldn’t be more different under the bonnet. And although it’s not  essential to know and understand how every microchip and piece of electronic wizardry actually works, a basic working knowledge of your SLR’s vital ‘organs’ will certainly prove useful in the field. Here’s a brief guide to the absolute essentials to help you get the most from your digital camera…

Control Dial

Some things never change and, thankfully, digital SLRs’ main dial still controls shutter speed and aperture, which means that the switch from film to digital won’t cause too many initial headaches.

Mirror

Many digital SLRs perform a mirror lock-up (freezing the mirror in its up position) when cleaning (or allowing you to clean) the camera’s sensor.

Battery

Digital cameras are entirely batterydependent and are more power-hungry than conventional film cameras. Depending on the manufacturer and model, cameras either have custom batteries or accept AA batteries.

Pop-Up Flash

Most digital SLRs, much like their analogue predecessors, feature a built-in pop-up flash unit. Although on-camera flash has its drawbacks, it’s perfect for adding fill-in and close-ups.

Flash Hotshoe

The camera’s flash hotshoe allows for detachable flash units to be mounted and used in conjunction with the camera’s TTL (through-the-lens) metering system.

Sensor

There are two main types of sensors used in digital cameras – CCD (charge-coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor). Both capture light on individual light-sensitive cells that convert the resulting signals into digital form.

Image Processor

Probably the single most important part of the camera, the image processor is responsible for noise reduction, colour interpretation, resolution and sharpness, and image creation.

Digital Connections

Remove the cover and you’ll find the USB socket needed to connect your SLR to a computer, as well as a remote cable release socket.

Right, so now you have a great camera and clean lenses. But you may still notice strange dark blobs on your pictures. It’s likely that this is the result of muck on the camera’s sensor. No matter how careful you are when removing the lens, dust, hairs and even moisture can fall on the sensor, creating these rogue elements. It can take hours of Photoshop work to clean your pictures if the sensor has been affected by lots of grime, so it’s well worth cleaning your sensor first. To prevent sensor dirt, take great care when changing lenses, especially in dusty environments.

What does sensor dirt look like?

The most common form of sensor grime is specks of dust. You can easily get rid of these with the Spot Healing tool in Photoshop but this can be extremely time-consuming. It’s best to tackle the problem at the root cause instead.

How to clean the sensor

The sensor is the most important part of your digital SLR and is very delicate, so only clean it if absolutely necessary. If you can get away without cleaning your sensor then don’t even attempt it – it’s a high-risk operation at the best of times. If you’re at all unsure then look into sending the camera back to the manufacturer to get it cleaned professionally. Every care should be taken when attempting this yourself, and Practical Photography can accept no responsibility for any damage caused during the process.

• Carefully read the instructions for both your camera and the cleaning kit you’ve bought.
• Make sure everything is ready for you to use, then take the lens off the camera. You’ll find the mirror between you and the sensor. It needs to be raised, so check your instruction manual for details on how to do this on your digital SLR.
• Hold the camera so the sensor is facing the floor and then use a blower to dislodge any loose dust. Don’t use compressed air, as it is too harsh. A blower like this Giottos Rocket is perfect.
• Place the tip of your cleaning stick onto the upper right-hand corner of the sensor. Apply pressure until the tip bends at a right angle, then move the stick around the edges, ensuring the whole sensor has been covered.
• Close the mirror. Replace the lens or attach a body cap over the front of the camera. Also try Photographic Solutions sensor swabs and cleaning fluid (see www.photosol.com).

Many digital SLR users also end up taking loads of pictures of their friends and family, often indoors, which can cause lots of problems. This guide should reduce the likelihood of poor exposures and wasted opportunities.

Shooting Mode

Set the mode dial to A (aperturepriority). Then use the command dial to select f/5.6 to give a relatively shallow depth-of-field to blur backgrounds.

ISO

Press and hold the ISO button on the back. Use the command dial to scroll until you reach 200 on the top LCD display. 200 is the lowest setting on this camera.

Red-Eye Reduction Flash

Press the flash button once to pop it up. Press and hold it again and use the command dial to scroll to the eye symbol on the top LCD display.

Autofocus

Press Menu. Use the multi-selector at the back to select the pencil (symbol). Scroll down until you reach 03 AF-Area Mode. Select Dynamic Area. Now the camera will recognise where your subject is in the frame better and focus accordingly.

White Balance

Hold the WB button on the rear of the camera and use the command dial to select fl ash on the top LCD display in order to get the right colour balance for healthy-looking skin tones.

Custom Colour

Press Menu, go to the camera menu and select Optimise Image. Press right, go down and select Portrait Mode which is optimised for people pictures and hopefully your skin tones should improve.

Shooting with a D-SLR does away with the need for filters, right? You can add your filter effect at the Photoshop stage, so why bother with the extra hassle and expense? Well, while Photoshop can do some of the things a filter will, it certainly can’t do all of them. And if you can avoid spending more time on the computer by getting it perfect at the taking stage, that’s got to be worth its weight in gold.

As a D-SLR user you should invest in a filter system from a manufacturer such as Cokin or Lee. Not every filter will be of use to you though. Colour correction filters are widely used with film but you can simply adjust the white balance on your camera instead and a warm-up filter has also been largely superseded by the white balance too. However, a polariser, a couple of neutral density grads and a straight neutral density filter are all worth having in your kit bag.

Recommended Filters To Use with D-SLRs

• Polariser:A polariser helps to reduce glare, removes reflections from water and will intensify colours. Blue skies can really sing when you use a polarising filter, but be careful not to overdo it or your sky might end up an unwelcome black colour. It does, however, reduce the amount of light entering the camera so make sure you’re still achieving the right shutter speed to prevent camera shake if you’re not using a tripod.
• Neutral Density (ND): A straight ND (ie non-graduated) filter is really only of interest if you want to reduce the amount of light entering the camera. You might want to do this for creative effect, such as when you’re blurring water or other moving subjects. Without a neutral density filter it could prove impossible to get the slow shutter speeds required for these techniques.
• ND Grad: ND grads can help balance exposures between light skies and darker land, so that highlight detail is retained in the image. A graduated ND filter is a real boon for landscape shots. It can help balance exposures between light skies and darker land, so highlight detail is retained in the image. To do this successfully in Photoshop, you’d need to expose one picture for the sky and one for the land, merging the two later. It’s effective but takes time and some precise Photoshop skills to get right.