You may be wondering: "What does the subject of SLR cameras have to do with the photo in the header, a truck?" Indeed, we are not going to talk about trucks but about SLR cameras. But don't be impatient, you will find out in due time ?
I have already explained, on many occasions, that not all photographers need a "professional" SLR camera . I have tried, from time to time, to explain the differences between a professional SLR and an amateur one, but I always did it very superficially.
Today it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to explain in a little more detail the differences between a professional SLR camera and an amateur one .
BEFORE STARTING
If you are interested in this topic, I want you to first get rid of that false feeling that professional is synonymous with "best". The word "professional" has undergone many alterations and deviations in its use. We say "Ohh.. That's a very professional job!" referring to high quality work.
In SLR photography the term professional does not exactly mean "best quality". We will see its exact meaning shortly, but I wanted to clarify this point first.
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY VS. AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Professional photography is nothing more than photography that is practiced as a "profession". This is: to earn a living.
That person who goes out with his camera to the street, hires a model, rents a photography studio, and practices photography with the main purpose of earning money, is called a professional.
As you can see, the quality of the photos is not part of the definition of “professional”. You are a professional photographer regardless of the quality of your photos. Yes, it is true that it is difficult to prosper as a professional photographer if the quality of our photos is terrible, because nobody would hire us or buy our work. Even so, we could speak of a "professional" photographer, only in this case it would be a bad professional. But he would be professional, mind you. Well, he tries to earn a living by that means. There are also bad plumbers, bad lawyers, bad salesmen. There are good and bad in all professions.
Similarly, amateur photography is the photographic activity in which passion, enjoyment and hobby are the main objective. It is a type of photography that does not necessarily seek to make money (although it could arise by chance).
When you dedicate yourself to photography in your free time simply because you like it, then you are an amateur photographer. Again the issue of quality has no impact here. When you are an amateur photographer, it does not matter if the quality of the photos is excellent or terrible.
DSLR CAMERAS
SLR is a type of cameras that, simplifying, are characterized by having interchangeable lenses and an inner part called a "mirror".
Within digital SLR cameras we find 3 main groups:
- Hobbyist or Beginner SLRs
- Semi-professional SLR cameras
- professional reflex cameras
Next, I will explain the common characteristics of a beginner's SLR and an amateur one. I'm going to skip the semi-pros but they're basically the middle ground.
HOBBYIST/BEGINNER SLRS
They usually have a decent but not excessively large number of megapixels, between 10 and 20 megapixels. If you look at the technical characteristics of the camera, you will see that it has a relatively small sensor (if you compare it with the size of the sensor of a professional SLR camera).
Since entry-level SLRs are made for a public that walks the streets, travels, and sometimes has to carry them in a bag or backpack, they have the characteristic of being relatively small in size and not very heavy.
Battery capacity is another differentiating factor. Cameras for beginners have a very good charging capacity, but not even half of what a professional camera battery can hold.
Finally, one of the most striking (and lucky) features of an amateur SLR is the price. Its price can be a quarter or a sixth of that of a professional SLR.
Here are examples of what to me are some of the best SLRs for beginners .
PROFESSIONAL SLR CAMERAS
Professional photography has some characteristics that make SLR cameras dedicated to this purpose (work, profit) very different from amateur ones.
For example, one of the professional uses of photography is advertising, where you sometimes need to print huge billboards. Precisely for this reason, the camera needs to be equipped with a large number of megapixels. Today a current professional SLR does not go below 18 megapixels.
The sensor, on the other hand, is usually larger, the battery lasts twice or triple that of an amateur SLR, and therefore it is a tad larger. Generally in a professional SLR everything is bigger, to such an extent that the camera itself is considerably larger and heavier than an amateur camera. It is understood that this is not a problem for the professional who will surely use it with a tripod and very stable conditions.
Some professionals are dedicated to the photography of extreme sports, travel, landscapes, animals, etc. These are extreme conditions of wind, dust, water and rain sometimes that threaten the physical integrity of the camera ? For this reason, professional cameras tend to come "sealed" from the factory against this type of adversity of nature.
Sport is another very recurring theme in professional photography. A photographer covering sporting events needs an SLR capable of capturing many, many photos per second in burst mode. So such a camera could not have less than 6 FPS (photos per second) in its burst mode, although 10 FPS is usually normal.
Finally, the price of a professional SLR camera does not normally fall below 2,000 euros.
As you can see, both professional and amateur SLRs, both are focused on meeting the needs of their regular users. It is not that the professional ones are better, nor are the amateur ones. If you are an amateur and you know that you will never want to work as a professional photographer, why bother spending an embarrassing amount of money on a beast of a camera that you are not going to use even 10% of the features of. So that? So everyone can see how big your camera is?
Would you prefer a truck to buy a car?
