SLR for Dummies

This blog aims at people who have point and shoot camera and are ready/interested to upgrade to SLR Camera. I dont want to get into the details but mostly the overview. There are tons of articles over the net if you need more details on the same.

Advantages of SLR over point and shoot:
SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex Camera. In an SLR camera, you see the actual real image that the film will see. If you take the lens off of an SLR camera and look inside, you'll see how this works. The camera has a slanted mirror positioned between the shutter and the lens, with a piece of translucent glass and a prism positioned above it. This configuration works like a periscope -- the real image bounces off the lower mirror on to the translucent glass, which serves as a projection screen. The prism's job is to flip the image on the screen, so it appears right side up again, and redirect it on to the viewfinder window. Whereas in a point and shoot what you see in viewfinder is not the same as what your lens actually sees. Moreover the precision of SLR cameras are unmatchable. More details.
Below, you can see an image taken by an SLR and a point and shoot camera. The picture speaks for itself.
SLRs are capable of collecting more light over a larger surface area. Furthermore, their photosensors (tiny individual collectors of light that make up the image sensor) are larger than the ones on point and shoots, leading to less noise.

SLR Lenses:
Another big advantage of SLRs is the flexibility to change lenses. Depending on the kind of photographer you are, you could choose your lens. The very first questions any person who owns a point and shoot(PS) camera would ask: My PS gives me 3x optical zoom and 12x digital zoom. What would I get from SLR? Answer: There is no such concept of 3x, 10x etc in a SLR. Generally all the point and shoot cameras are 35mm cameras. This is actually the focal length of the camera. And when they say 3x zoom, then the camera is capable of extending its focal length to 35*3 = 105mm. But as you know, the more you zoom in your PS, the more distorted the image would be. The reason is nothing but the amount of light that falls in the lens. In SLR world, lenses start from 16mm and the most common lenses are 18-55mm, 18-105, 70-300, 55-200, 18-200 etc. click for Full list.

So how do you compare a PS and SLR on zoom perspective. Consider 18-55mm lens. The maximum zoom of the lens is 55/18 = 3x. But 3x in PS is 105mm. For 55-200 lens, zoom is 200/55 = 4 approx. So it is actually the lenses that control the zoom of SLRs rather than the camera itself.

Also, one major advantage of the 18mm range lens is that, its a very small focal length, so you can easily take a nice picture of someone standing pretty close to you and still capture his entire face and surrounding. 16mm and 18mm lenses are called wide angle lenses because you cover more at that focal lengths. Now this concept is also catching up in PS cameras as many cameras now come with "wide angle shoot" but mostly 27mm only.

Now, lets get into every lens in little detail:
18-55: The everyday lens. This lens generally comes as a standard attachment to majority of the low and medium budget SLRs. For most of the people, this lens is more than enough. Most apt for indoor photography and but not so good for outdoors. You can take a nice panaromic view of the scenery in front, but if you want to focus on something, this is not the one.

55-200: The Outdoor Lens.  A Very good lens for outdoor as it provides really very nice zoom. You can point an object at a much farther distance and still capture a razor sharp picture of it blurring everything around at 200mm. I really like this lens a lot. I like taking pictures of my daughter only with this lens, as I can stay pretty far and let her do whatever she wants without much distraction. Again not a good lens for Indoor as the minimum is 55mm and I may not be able to cover everyone in house.
Generally the above lenses make a great combination and most recommended because of two reasons
- Solves your indoor and outdoor problems.
- Cost effective. When you buy as a package, its very cheap.

I also bought the same way, now I am thinking otherwise. The reason, when at outdoor you would like to take a picture of someone nearby. And you cannot take it. So you have to go really far from the person to take the picture. Sometimes you really cannot go so farand abort the shoot instead. And the vice versa for other lens. So, you would end up changing lenses often and this creates an annoying situation and you will be tired soon.

18-200: The All-rounder. I would say this is the best. No need to change lenses. Covers the entire range. Such big advantage comes with big cost as well. This costs around 5times more than 55-200 lens. And its really too heavy. See the chart below for weight comparison.

Weight of SLR + Lens Combination

As you can see from above, 18-200mm lens weights more than double that of 55-200mm lens. I have compared it with 2 cameras Nikon D40 and D90. D40 is an entry level camera which is also light weight. So if we attach 18-200mm to this, your camera becomes front heavy, it will be too difficult to even hold the camera. But while D90 is a much advanced one and built considering in mind the big lenses. The weight gets evenly distributed and you wont feel the lens much heavier.

18-105: Mr. Compromise. Its somewhere in the middle. Also it is not so costly. Ofcourse when you decide on a SLR, you should be already ready to shell twice or thrice the cost of a normal PS.

70-300: Mr. Zoom. Strictly for zoom purposes only. More apt for Wild life photography, artistic monuments etc. Some of my friends have this lens and to utilise this lens, they have taken safari tours in jungles. 

Comparison of all Zoom levels - The pictures on the top are taken from Nikon D40 (6.1 MP)  and the bottom from Sony Cybershot (3.2 MP). Click on Image to Zoom

Look how the subject is focussed leaving everything as blurred. The more your zoom, the more you can achieve this.

Fish Eye lens: This is not so popular one for regular buyers. But an attractive one. Seen an image reflected over a concave lens (e.g. old fashioned rear view mirror). Well thats is the result of this lens. Sometimes this would be pretty interesting.

Note: Every company has their own set of lenses. Also, the prices too differ a lot.

Cameras: Now, that we have looked at the lens, lets see the cameras. The best of breed SLRs are Nikon, Cannon and Sony. Among all, Nikon is considered to be the best in terms of picture quality. But if you are not a professional photographer, you may not find any difference between them. Sometimes a shot comes well with Cannon and not a nikon and vice versa. But I have seen very few Sony cameras. But whichever it is, if you decide to buy an SLR, try not to buy the entry level ones, buy a little higher level. In case of Nikon D40 (now D3000) is an entry level. But you can take video only with D90 and further. Cannon and Sony give more features for the same price of Nikon. E.g: Generally in low end SLR Cameras, you cannot see the scene in front of you using the LCD. Higher end yes. But in Sony, you can see the scene even in the low end cameras. Its much easier for a person who upgrades from a PS. Sony α500 goes one step further. You can swivel the LCD monitor behind to have a easy view. Believe me, thats very very convinient. Also in Sony, Zoom can be adjusted the same way like a PS which is not the case in Nikon and Cannon. I have a friend who has this and he is very happy with it and uses much for wild life photography. But I dont see many Sony around. Thats little puzzling.

If you need more details about all different SLR Cameras and all different lenses, then this is the best site to visit. http://www.kenrockwell.com/. He has provided an extensive coverage of every single SLR and its lens. He easily guides you to choose the best from his own experience.

Disadvantages: There are two sides to every coin :). The very first thing that comes in everyone's mind is, its too heavy. Yeah, you are right. It no longer fits in your pocket like your PS. If you try hard, it will easily put a hole in your pocket, be it weight or price. Its definitely not for the light hearted. Also, if you go on a hike or trekking, it feels like a big burden on you. Especially in Travel it takes more space in your baggage. The camera bag is much bigger.

Another thing is that, its really tough with old people. Every time, I give the camera to my mom to take picture, I have to set it right and wrap the cord around her neck so that she is comfortable.

But as travel has become more affordable, baggage carrying is very easy with all the 360deg wheels and ultra light big big boxes, space is not a big criteria. It more depends on your interest in photography. For me, I will never go back to a point and shoot. After seeing the clarity and the sharp pictures, I hate to use my point and shoot. Its still a nice backup camera. My wife's dad, who has no idea of what an SLR is, always wanted us to take a picture in my SLR rather than take a picture in his 10x Sony Cybershot.

But recently, there have been many attempts by Sony, Lumix, Olympus to create some mini SLR Cameras ( a hybrid of PS and SLR with interchangable lenses). I am not sure how well they flare. But eager to see one and find out the difference. If I get one, will definitely update my blog. If you have one, please update me how it compares with a SLR.

I hope I have provided a good overivew. Thanks for reading.

The Great Economic Divide

    In Bangalore: Once I stopped at a roadside coconut vendor and asked him to provide tender coconut and a bigger one, so it contains more water. He stopped, stared at me and told, if you want more water, just buy a Bisleri bottle. You can afford it. Without saying a word, I started my car and left the place. This may be very easily seen in the metropolitan cities but also happens in smaller cities too.


People who have money are getting richer day by day and poorer getting more poorer day by day. This is what I am calling as the Economic Divide and the gap is widening more every day. One could easily argue that irrespective of the corruption, many new companies are starting in India and many job opportunities are also getting created. But how many people are benefited from this? Not everyone. This is the problem.


Not only that, even if per day wage of people is increasing, the inflation and there by the prices are increasing in twice the pace of it. In 2008, I used to have a good lunch in Vasantha Bhavan ( very popular in Tamil Nadu ) for Rs.20. But my mom now says that no meals are less than Rs.40. Has the daily wages also increased that much? No. Think of your house maid, the laundry man, house security, a government clerk. 


When the middle and upper middle class flaunt in front of them with their new car, new LCD TV, Hero Honda, luxury travel, these people get really irritated and become more greedy. The Talented ( real talent / talent in making social networks ) somehow move up the ladder while the others act like the coconut wala. And worser, I now hear more news about kidnapping, ransom, killing etc. Recent example is the Coimbatore double murder of sister and brother.


India is not a poor country, but its wealth lies only with certain people who can really a make a difference. We people can talk about it, make petty donations to NGOs. But this does not help much. If you see in US, prominent people like Gates, etc devote lot of time, money and energy to the Underprivileged. Gates was ready to part with his wealth. But people like Mukesh Ambani spent $2 billion only on his home. He has every right to build a lavish home but I am just questioning the social contribution of such people. And not to mention the corruption that is happening.


India may be already shining, and everyday more polish is getting applied. But it would be really shining only when:
- The wealth is spread across
- Things are made affordable for the underprivileged.
- We Indians behave more responsibly (lets not just blame the politicians here. They are just one of us).
- Reduced corruption. 


Also, lets try to appreciate the smallest good thing that individual people / government tries to do. We need to encourage them for more. May be we can start from here. We can vote Narayan Krishnan as CNN hero of the year and appreciate his contribution, if possible with a donation. I am not marketing for him. But hope you got the message.


Lets make India shining. 

Paypal look alike Fradulent Emails - Beware

This is an experience that happened to me today. I was planning to sell my camera Lens and buy a bigger lens. I had put the Ad in Craigslist. One guy responded and mentioned that he would do the payment through paypal. Since it was paypal, there was nothing to panic for me. I got a Paypal confirmation from him today morning, mentioning that I have received the amount and I can go ahead and do the shipment.

Couple of things didnt look normal in the mail
1. The Shipment Address was Nigeria. The guy had mentioned that he is gifting to his fiancée. I thought this guy to be some merchant and he didnt want to mention it.

2. I wanted to login to my paypal account and wanted to see any amount in my account. I was searching for a link in the mail. Normally, such mails will have a link that points to my account and once I provide the password, I would be taken to my account. But unfortunately, there was no link to paypal.

3. I opened paypal site in a seperate browser and checked the procedure for such kind of payment. The procedure said this: Once the buyer sends the money, the amount will be shown as "Pending/Hold" in my Paypal account and once I do the shipment and provide the tracking number to Paypal, the amount will be credited.

4. My mail id was highlighted. When I clicked the link, it opened "Compose message" window and the To Address was some wierd yahoo mail address.

5. I called PayPal Customer Care and asked them whatz happening. I provided them the buyer's email address and they told me there is no such account and it is fraud. Had I not taken steps to ensure the accuracy, I would have lost around $300 in this transaction. They asked me to forward the mail to spoof@paypal.com and they would verify it and take action on it.

The Paypal confirmation mail was hand drafted by some hi-tech thieves and unless you look into it very very closely, you cant make out any difference.
I got the mail from service@paypal.com. But actually that is the name and the mail id was paypalcustomerservicecentre@ukaccountant.net, which is not a Paypal ID.

I havent done such kind of transaction in Paypal and this is a eye opener for me. It may be a eye-opener for you as well. So beware of any email especially related to shopping and money.