Digital Photography from 20,000 Feet
by Wesley Fink on September 25, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Moving Forward: Digital Camera Reviews at AnandTech
Digital SLR cameras have come a very long way in a very short period of time. They have gone from very expensive instruments affordable only to corporations and professionals to the fastest growing segment of the imaging market in only a few short years. Many of the early problems like low resolution, slow startup, slow saves of images, high energy requirements, and bulky batteries have all but disappeared. The fairest measure of the state of Digital SLR cameras is that today they are not much different in appearance and function than the last generation of film cameras. In general, however, they offer even more electronic sophistication than the film cameras they replace.
Recent digital SLR cameras are capable of 1000, 2000 or even more images on a single battery charge. Digital SLRs are also getting smaller in general, and now average even smaller than the last generation of film SLRs. Despite the decreasing size, many camera makers are paying much more attention to ergonomics - how the cameras feel in the users hands - and the smaller digital SLRs handle very well.
For all of these reasons you will find many more digital SLRs than point-and-shoot cameras in future digital camera reviews at AnandTech. This is because the digital SLR is now the fastest growing segment of the digital camera market, and that is where most of the new camera introductions will happen. This does not mean we will ignore the digital point-and-shoot, as there is always a place for a small, pocketable, and reasonable digital camera. It does mean AT will pick more carefully among the point-and-shoot cameras we will choose to review.
The Sony Alpha or A100 and Nikon D80 are already planned for review. They are the first of the new breed of affordable (under $1000) 10 megapixel SLR cameras. We will also review the other announced members of the 10 megapixel club - namely the Canon Rebel XT1, Pentax K10D, and Samsung GX-10 - when they become available in the market. As stated at the beginning of this guide, we really need your help in deciding how to test these cameras.
Many of the tests used at photo websites have very little real relevance to the digital SLRs of today. Start-up and shot-to-shot times are all but instantaneous with the latest models and even those fast times continue to improve. Virtually none of the lags of early digital cameras remain, and the response time no longer reminds you that you are using a digital SLR camera. Since SLRs have interchangeable lenses there is no fixed lens to review and every major lens line has some incredible lenses and a few dogs. Do you want us to test the standard kit lens in our upcoming reviews or should we use a standard quality lens for all tests in that line like a 50mm f1.4? Or both?
What tests would you like to see in the digital camera reviews? This is your time to sound off. Resolution targets are available and it is fairly easy to determine resolving ability of the kit or a standardized lens. Would these be useful to you in our reviews? There has also been the suggestion that we shoot a standard scene (the same scene) in every review so readers can compare fine details like color balance and resolution. If you want that let us know. We are open to new ideas and new ways of examining digital cameras in AnandTech reviews. We have a different audience than the photo websites and we want our reviews to provide you with what you are looking for.
We sincerely hope you enjoyed our overview of digital photography, with a slant toward the digital SLR. It is our belief that, in contrast to computers, many readers at AnandTech don't know a lot about photography and digital cameras. Some of you are very knowledgeable, but our letters indicate many more readers have been shopping for digital cameras with little understanding of how they work or what to look for. The purpose of this Guide from 20,000 feet is to provide a broad overview with enough specifics to help our readers become better shoppers for digital cameras in general and digital SLRs specifically. If we helped in that arena please let us know in your comments. If there are additional articles on digital imaging you would like to see in the future we would be happy to hear your suggestions.
Digital SLR cameras have come a very long way in a very short period of time. They have gone from very expensive instruments affordable only to corporations and professionals to the fastest growing segment of the imaging market in only a few short years. Many of the early problems like low resolution, slow startup, slow saves of images, high energy requirements, and bulky batteries have all but disappeared. The fairest measure of the state of Digital SLR cameras is that today they are not much different in appearance and function than the last generation of film cameras. In general, however, they offer even more electronic sophistication than the film cameras they replace.
Recent digital SLR cameras are capable of 1000, 2000 or even more images on a single battery charge. Digital SLRs are also getting smaller in general, and now average even smaller than the last generation of film SLRs. Despite the decreasing size, many camera makers are paying much more attention to ergonomics - how the cameras feel in the users hands - and the smaller digital SLRs handle very well.
For all of these reasons you will find many more digital SLRs than point-and-shoot cameras in future digital camera reviews at AnandTech. This is because the digital SLR is now the fastest growing segment of the digital camera market, and that is where most of the new camera introductions will happen. This does not mean we will ignore the digital point-and-shoot, as there is always a place for a small, pocketable, and reasonable digital camera. It does mean AT will pick more carefully among the point-and-shoot cameras we will choose to review.
The Sony Alpha or A100 and Nikon D80 are already planned for review. They are the first of the new breed of affordable (under $1000) 10 megapixel SLR cameras. We will also review the other announced members of the 10 megapixel club - namely the Canon Rebel XT1, Pentax K10D, and Samsung GX-10 - when they become available in the market. As stated at the beginning of this guide, we really need your help in deciding how to test these cameras.
Many of the tests used at photo websites have very little real relevance to the digital SLRs of today. Start-up and shot-to-shot times are all but instantaneous with the latest models and even those fast times continue to improve. Virtually none of the lags of early digital cameras remain, and the response time no longer reminds you that you are using a digital SLR camera. Since SLRs have interchangeable lenses there is no fixed lens to review and every major lens line has some incredible lenses and a few dogs. Do you want us to test the standard kit lens in our upcoming reviews or should we use a standard quality lens for all tests in that line like a 50mm f1.4? Or both?
What tests would you like to see in the digital camera reviews? This is your time to sound off. Resolution targets are available and it is fairly easy to determine resolving ability of the kit or a standardized lens. Would these be useful to you in our reviews? There has also been the suggestion that we shoot a standard scene (the same scene) in every review so readers can compare fine details like color balance and resolution. If you want that let us know. We are open to new ideas and new ways of examining digital cameras in AnandTech reviews. We have a different audience than the photo websites and we want our reviews to provide you with what you are looking for.
We sincerely hope you enjoyed our overview of digital photography, with a slant toward the digital SLR. It is our belief that, in contrast to computers, many readers at AnandTech don't know a lot about photography and digital cameras. Some of you are very knowledgeable, but our letters indicate many more readers have been shopping for digital cameras with little understanding of how they work or what to look for. The purpose of this Guide from 20,000 feet is to provide a broad overview with enough specifics to help our readers become better shoppers for digital cameras in general and digital SLRs specifically. If we helped in that arena please let us know in your comments. If there are additional articles on digital imaging you would like to see in the future we would be happy to hear your suggestions.
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Zaitsev - Monday, September 25, 2006 - link
That was a very interesting article. I've always wanted to learn more about cameras and photography, in the hopes of making it a hobby once the time and money is available. So thanks for explaining the background info for noobs like me :) I'll be looking forward to the rest of the series.