Serious cameras should have serious features. Many advanced amateur cameras can fill the shoes of DSLRs, but in more compact packages. But not all advanced amateur cameras are created equal. Here are five features that I require on my serious cameras.
1) Hot Shoe
2) RAW format
3) Fast lens - maximum aperture of f-2.4 or brighter. I prefer f-2.0
4) Filter ring
5) Remote release
Two "serious" advanced amateur cameras that meet these requirements are the Canon PowerShot Pro 1 and the Sony Cybershot DSC-R1. These are examples only and certainly not the only two advanced cameras that fit these requirements. At the moment, the Sony is the higher rated of the two cameras and has better customer feedback on Amazon.com.
Listen to the Podcast
Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Five Must-Have Camera Features." You can download the podcast here (24 minutes).
Technorati Tags: review, digital photography, product review
With a street price of $900 for the Sony I would suggest getting a real DSLR. As well, looking around for reviews of the Pro 1 doesn't make it look like a promising camera. I think this genre is quickly fading and Nikon has taken note as you pointed out. The only plausible camera I can see in this category is the Canon G6 weighting in at $600. It has at least 4 out of 5 on the list. I'm not 100% sure that it has a remote release but it has the 2sec delay which is just as good (I used that function on my Canon S2 last night for fireworks and with a little timing I got some fantastic photos). However, both the Pro 1 and G6 are starting to show their age. Canon is always rolling out new models so we will see how they fair in the future.
Hi Ben, I don't totally agree that this class of camera should be replaced by DSLRs. I think for many shooters, these are convenient, powerful alternatives. The Canon G6 is a good camera indeed with remote release. And I believe it has RAW!
I don't know what the quality of the glass is on these prosumer cameras, which is really a wild card in this argument; but if you put a comparable zoom lens (w/ a big max aperture and decent ED glass) on one of those lower-priced DSLRs it certainly bumps up the price a bit. I would guess the cost-conscious consumer might want to still think seriously about buying one of these.
Heck, as soon as Nikon clears up this back-order on the new 18-200 lenses, I will have spent more on lenses than on my D70 itself. :-) A lot of people don't want to fall into that "trap" (in quotes because some of us fall into it willingly...).
The quality of glass is a good point, Travis. A big selling point for the Canon Pro 1 was that it sports an "L" series zoom, which is pricey when purchased separately. The Sony DSC-R1 has a sweet Zeiss zoom that would fetch a good price if bought alone. So for these top end "prosumer" models, the quality zoom is a factor to consider. The question is, are we going to see more of these cameras, or are they going the way of the dinosaurs?
Hi, I just subscribed to this podcast. It sounds very nice ... calm voice, clear sound. I came here via a story about the M-Audio MicroTrack
Welcome Pete. If you like photography as well as audio, we have a good community here. Podcasts are weekly and I post daily on the site. You might want to check out "Grab Shots" and "Photo Assignment" under the "Jump To" menu located in the upper right corner of the page.