The first mass use camera became available at the turn of the 20th century and can be traced back to the year 1900 and during the 20th century the pace of technology development in cameras and photography continued at an accelerated pace much like many other key technology developments, just like how a digital camera evolved into a DSLR. My question now is if you are willing to buy a camera, should you buy a DSLR or a Digital Camera? This is a question that you need to answer for yourself and this is why I am writing this essay, for you to decide. Let us now start with their picture quality, followed by their over-all performance, and finally their major differences.

In DSLR’s, one cannot always preview how a picture will be exposed; instead, metering and experience must be relied upon, unlike in digital cameras where in megapixel rating is the main thing to consider when determining a camera’s quality. Digital cameras generally have small image sensors which mean that the quality that they produce is generally lower. This is slowly changing in some digital cameras but in comparison to DSLR’s they still have a long way to go. It’s worth saying however that if you’re not planning on using your images for major enlargements or in professional applications that the quality of digital cameras can be more than enough for the average user, although based on the survey conducted a lot of people would rather prefer a DSLR than a digital camera regardless of their skills in photography.

When it comes to over-all performance, a DSLR camera has a feature set that well suits both amateurs and more experienced photographers alike. Fast performance, incredibly detailed images, and a solid live view implementation making DSLR’s an excellent choice for more experienced photographers. While DSLR cameras are perfect for professional photographers digital cameras on the other hand offers great ease of use for beginners for it packs long zooms, is compact and has a stylish body, and it is an excellent all around camera that’s idea for travel and general purpose photography. Digital cameras are remarkably easy to use and produce great results when set to intelligent auto mode, but even though digital cameras seem to be easier, a majority of the people still prefers a DSLR.

One of the major differences between a DSLR and a digital camera is what prevents people from buying a DSLR, its price. Even though DSLR prices have come down each and every year, they are still significantly more expensive than digital cameras considering that you might want to upgrade your lens or you may wish to add more lenses later and that this adds to the cost of a DSLR, but 19 out of 30 people still think that the DSLR is more cost efficient. Zoom is also one major difference, since all DSLR lenses can be removed from the camera body, the zoom mechanism are entirely manual. To change the view you have to twist a ring on the lens. This manual zoom actually results in a faster zoom. You don’t have to wait for the motors to move the lens and out unlike that of the digital camera, you can just twist the zoom ring as fast or as slow as you like. You can clearly see the difference between a DSLR and a digital camera when it comes to size and weight because DSLR’s are heavy and sizable when you add a lens or two to your bag kit, you can end up with quite the load! Unlike in a digital camera, you are simply able to slip the camera in a pocket to the point of not even knowing you’ve got them with you!

The strength of the conducted survey is that since a majority of the few people who answered the survey chose the DSLR as their best choice, it is possible that majority of the people will also choose DSLR as their choice since DSLRs are very popular to beginners and pro’s alike. The weakness of the survey on the other hand is that only a few people were able to answer it so we cannot fully investigate what the people really think about DSLRs and digital cameras. We cannot say that the DSLR is the best choice just because 30 people said so. Although the obvious choice for most is the DSLR but it is still best to ask individually rather than assuming that the DSLR is the best choice.

If you want a portable camera that takes good enough pictures that you’ll mainly use for small prints, for uploading pictures on facebook, and one that you’ll mainly shoot in auto mode, I’ll probably recommend a digital camera, but if you’re after the image quality and you’re desire is to use the manual settings, then I highly recommend a DSLR. I also recommend people to buy a digital camera first rather than jumping into a DSLR without even knowing the basic of taking pictures.