When you leave the compact camera and get your first SLR it is as if you took a step further. You go to another level. You look cool ? You look in the mirror, holding your new reflex camera, and you look "more interesting". However, shortly after starting to use it, you start to encounter a series of disappointments and unpleasant surprises that you did not expect.
Although I am usually a staunch defender of SLR photography, in today's article I stick my finger a bit in the sore spot to describe 5 unpleasant surprises (plus one as a gift) that one encounters when landing for the first time in the SLR world .
1- ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM
Most of those that land in the SLR world come from a compact digital camera . They are therefore used to zoom levels that in SLR photography are considered totally out of the ordinary.
In addition, many mistakenly associate the enormous sizes of SLR cameras and how long their lenses seem to be with the idea of a long-range zoom, and it is not.
The zoom level that an SLR camera can offer us will not depend on itself but on the lens that we attach to it. The lenses of SLR cameras work differently from those of compact digital cameras. In the compact ones, compactness usually prevails precisely, they offer the most with the least. In SLR photography, optical quality, sensitivity to light and things like that are favored more.
2- THE CONSUMER PASSION
And speaking of lenses: one of the most frequent disappointments that people have when buying their first SLR camera is that the lens that comes standard has a very limited use, and they need to buy, separately, more objectives. What's more, they discover that there is a goal for each type of photo .
So why fool ourselves? Most of us who dedicate ourselves to SLR photography and LOVE it are inveterate consumers. The user, when buying a camera of this type, does nothing more than start a long journey of consumerism. The SLR photography industry is based on that. After a short time we realize that we need such a lens, or such a filter, or a powerful flash, etc. What can we do!
It is an expensive hobby and you have to accept it. (Although I have to admit that it is one of the most rewarding hobbies on a personal and emotional level).
3- THIS WEIGHS A LOT, RIGHT...?
Forget how agile, small, light and discreet your compact camera was. SLR cameras are anything but lightweight. It is true that among the different ranges of SLR cameras the weights vary from one to another, but in general for someone used to a compact camera, SLRs are heavy and bulky, which leads to the sad situation of not always having it at hand. You can always carry a compact camera in your backpack, shoulder bag, bag, and sometimes even in a pocket. Regarding SLRs, many times it is lazy to take them out, we think that we are going to need them. Logically sometimes we are wrong and we miss them.
4- WAIT A MINUTE... DO I HAVE TO TAKE THE PHOTO?!
And someone will think: «Well, I assume all these inconveniences. If my DSLR has to weigh a lot, I accept it. If it has to cost me a lot of money, that's okay, if I have to keep changing objectives, I don't care at all. The important thing is that I will finally have a camera that will take magnificent photos of me .
I'm sorry to be a killjoy but... you won't be able to have that either: you won't have a camera that takes good photos of you. You'll have to do them yourself, friend. True, you will have a better machine, you will have access to a better tool, but it will only be that: a simple tool. You will still be the photographer. If you took bad, bad, excessively bad photos with a compact camera, I'm sorry to tell you that you probably won't notice much difference with an SLR. SLR cameras do not have any magic formula that corrects our photographic blunders.
I will not get tired of repeating it: the photo is not taken by the camera, it is taken by the photographer.
You.
5- THE VIRTUE OF PATIENCE
Compact cameras, in English, are called Point-and-Shoot . Literally translated it would be Aim-and-Shoot. Because in essence they are that: they are devices that you just have to turn on, point at the subject, and shoot. Boooom. Look what a cool photo!
SLR cameras, although they also have an automatic mode, are generally aimed at a photographer who is less in a hurry, a user who takes the time to set up the camera, select the appropriate settings, experiment with different settings, and shoot. . The ideal user of an SLR camera is a person who enjoys both the preparation of a photo and the final photo itself. He is a very patient user.
I always like to use this metaphor: SLR photography would be the equivalent of a delicious Slow-cooked Stew. On the other hand, photography with a compact camera would be a kind of pre-cooked food, frozen and then made in the microwave in half a minute. Practical, fast, but tasteless.
BONUS TRACK: YOUR CAMERA IS NOT PROFESSIONAL (NECESSARILY)
There are people who bought an entry-level DSLR, the Nikon D3100 for example, and a year later they still thought it was a professional camera. It is a very common confusion.
SLR camera and professional camera do not mean the same thing. Reflex means the type of camera, or the mechanism with which it works (which is through a mirror that it has inside). Professional is a range within SLRs. Not all SLR cameras are professional.Within the SLR cameras we find those for beginners, those for advanced users, and already professionals. It is not that it is good to buy a professional one or bad to buy one for beginners. What's more: I recommend beginner users refrain from professional SLR cameras because it can be very counterproductive for learning.
Please, if you just bought your first SLR and you're discovering that it's not a professional camera, don't be sad ? nothing happens. You can take great photos with a beginner's camera. Professional SLRs offer features that a novice user probably doesn't need, and they're just going to cause you complications, believe me.
After reading this, how are you? upset? frustrated?
If it serves as a testimony to you, since I use SLR cameras I appreciate photography more, I enjoy every shot, every detail. The sound of the shutter release of my reflex camera gives me real pleasure, I never tire of hearing it. Control the lens with my hand in search of focus, see how blurred objects and subjects become more defined, as I move the focus, and become sharper. Whoo. It drives me crazy to photograph people completely blurring the background behind them. Then I show them the result on the camera screen and I see a look of pleasant surprise on their faces, as if they don't believe how handsome they are. I love freezing a drop of water, capturing lightning and star hunting.
The reflex camera makes me feel like the artificer, a small craftsman. It's a satisfaction that a compact digital camera will never give me.
Never.
