Help me pick first DSLR

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alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
I hadn't thought of that. I think the LCD res of the Sony A330 is the same, 230K. 930k seems astronomical!

Unfortunately a lot of the time by the time you review the shot is gone. This is one benefit a dSLR has majorly over a P&S. Shot to shot times in the sub 1 second range vs waiting 2-4+ seconds to be ready to shoot again. Even button to shutter fire is much different.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,546
8,123
136
Unfortunately a lot of the time by the time you review the shot is gone. This is one benefit a dSLR has majorly over a P&S. Shot to shot times in the sub 1 second range vs waiting 2-4+ seconds to be ready to shoot again. Even button to shutter fire is much different.
I tested my Samsung P&S yesterday (Digmax V3, bought in January 2004, my one and only digicam):

Startup: Maybe 3 seconds, not the issue

Shot to shot: 9 seconds minimum, even with LCD and flash turned off [Maybe it would be faster if I used less resolution. I've always shot at the maximum resolution, the JPGs coming to around 1.5MB]

Shutter lag: about 1 second

If you're shooting action (I do a lot!) it's tremendously aggravating. I went into the menu system yesterday and found a continuous shooting mode, but it's evidently for 2 shots only, barely any help.

My new K-x will shoot 17 shots at 4.3/second, they tell me.

I think I'll probably be buying a card or two. What I have now is:

Two 2GB Kingston SD cards (they don't work in my Samsung P&S)

Two 256MB Kingston SD cards, which do work in the Samsung P&S

I figure the 2GB cards might be OK for a while but an 8GB SDHC would be nice, maybe a Class 10 (this is the fastest now, I have no experience with this so don't know if it's worth it to get over a Class 6). The extra storage would be good if I want to do much video, I suppose. Having never had a camera that shoots RAW, I haven't shot any! I guess I'll have to install and get into my Photoshop Essentials.
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,546
8,123
136
Unfortunately a lot of the time by the time you review the shot is gone. This is one benefit a dSLR has majorly over a P&S. Shot to shot times in the sub 1 second range vs waiting 2-4+ seconds to be ready to shoot again. Even button to shutter fire is much different.
I shot a festival yesterday (in Chinatown, Oakland) with my new DSLR. All the frustrations I had with my P&S (shutter lag, 9+ second shot to shot wait) were gone. Instant shutter, no shot to shot wait and if I kept my finger down on the shutter button, click-click-click-click-click, about 5 shots/second. :eek: Night and day doesn't begin to describe the improvement. I even got a nice 720p video.