DSLR Terms

            In the last post, I talked about what to take into consideration when you are choosing your camera. One of the things that you should do before doing so is to learn some SLR terms. Even though this is largely a quick overview of the terms, I am going to be splitting this up into two parts as there is a lot of ground to cover and if you would like a more detailed description of a specific one, just let me know. With that said, let’s get started!         

The first one that I want to talk about is megapixels. Digital cameras capture images as pixel elements, called pixels.  To put it simply, a megapixel is equal to one million pixels. Digital images are made up of thousands of these really small picture elements. The more pixels there are, the higher the image resolution is. Resolution is related to the print size of the photo and the amount of detail an image has when it is seen on a computer at its full size. And as I said before, the more megapixels a camera has does not necessarily mean the better a camera is. Megapixels drive up the cost so if you plan on printing small photos, you are better off with one that has fewer megapixels.

Next up is ISO and noise. Increasing the ISO setting lets you take clear photos in dim light without having to use a flash, but it also degrades the image quality. An increase in ISO also causes an increase in image noise. When I say noise, I don’t mean by what’s going on in a frat party. What I mean is visual noise. Image noise comes from the use of a high ISO setting on your digital SLR camera. It is also often called grain as it gives a grainy effect to your photos. When a photo has image noise, the areas of color that should look smooth have a speckled appearance. Newer DSLR camera models are getting better and better at suppressing noise even at high ISO settings.

Third is dust control.  Dust control is a feature on DSLR cameras that wasn’t introduced until sometime during the year 2008 and has been a popular feature on newer camera models. The reason for having this feature is because one of the key differences between digital SLR and compact digital cameras is that you can remove the lens of an SLR. However, every time you take the lens off your DSLR, you're exposing the inside of the camera and the digital sensor to dust contamination. Dust in your home won't cause a lot of problems, but dust on your sensor appears as little black spots on every photo you take and dust control systems attempt to prevent this.

Next is live view. A live view LCD on a digital SLR camera lets you preview the photo you're about to take using the large LCD on the back of the camera. This provides you with a second way of composing your photos. The first involves looking through the viewfinder which is the eyepiece of the camera. A live view LCD is great for people who don't want to be limited to viewfinder composition, and enjoy taking photos from the hip, high up, or from odd angles. The continuous image displayed on the LCD helps you ensure that you're getting the composition right, even when your eye isn't pressed to the viewfinder.

The last thing I want to cover briefly is image stabilization. There are two types of stabilization. One that's included inside the camera and one that's inside the lens. Regardless of the type, stabilization helps get rid blur in your photos caused by camera shake. It helps you take clearer photos of non-moving subjects in dim light when you're not using the flash, photos when the camera is moving around a lot, and photos when using lenses with long focal lengths. However, it does not help when you're trying to capture photos of fast-moving subjects as a fast shutter speed will be needed.

I hope this gives you an idea of what some of these terms mean. Next time I will be talking about dynamic range, HDSLR, autofocus, and continuous drive. Until then, if you have any questions feel free to ask.