I disagree. One who doesn't like to swim in a sea doesn't mean that one is not a good swimmer. You are insulting the OP.

correct correct correct.

hat is OP?

Anyway, its getting more complicated already... Also donno what u all say.

Ocean Pacific... they make trendy clothing and accessories.
http://www.oceanpacific.com/

Camera is just a tool. Advance in camera technology is only making taking pictures easy. Look at Ansel Adam back then, he was carrying a big brown monster box around to capture stunning pictures and those pictures still well appreciate now. All PNS, prosumer or DSLR has its own pros and cons, and of course All has the capability to take great pictures. Just pick the one that suits your need.

This post has been edited by cheefai7: Jan 15 2008, 11:36 PM

I'd like to add, even mobile phones today can enter into that category.

perhaps some ppl enjoy this process. I'm not sure about other DSLR user, but I enjoy it. I feel sorry for u that u have made a wrong choice.

i doubt the people here are insulted.

i'm quite sure most are just simply amazed / dumb-founded by how one could jump into such a conclusion and even start a thread on it when one is obviously lacking even the basic knowledge of the difference between what he / she owned and what he / she intended to jump into.

it's like you upgrade from A to B and thinks B is bad when the actual problem is do you even bother to understand B before upgrading? I believe that's the point most are getting at.

look at the title, What you can do, I can do also! - yeah right, there's a reason why DSLRs are around. There's a reason why prosumer users when hang around DSLR users are poisoned badly.

i'm truly sorry DSLRs were not meant for you. You can stick to PnS & Prosumers for the rest of your life... They take pretty great pictures as well!

TS, b4 you sell off your new gear, make sure u bring your S3 to shoot again. You may not find dslr better than pns when you 1st migrate, but you may find your pns worse than dslr when you go back to s3... Especially speed, clearity of viewfinder..etc.

This is very true...
I just sold off my dSLR recently and took back my prosumer to take the vacancy... And my... am I dissapointed. The noise the noise the noise...
color wise, still good... at bright lights, still ok... but when it goes to ISO400 and above... I can't keep any pic.

TS, Just give it some time and you will slowly learn how to use the DSLR.

I also started off using P&S (Canon Ixus II) then Prosumer P&S (Fujifilm Finepix S7000) and now a Nikon D80

In the beginning I really didn't know how to use the D80 but the transition from my Finepix S700 to D80 wasn't that bad as I had been practicing using manual settings on the S7000.

So, I got a hand of it.

IMHO, if you know you camera well enough, they will give you the best photos ever.

But DSLR cost more for some reasons. And if it wasn't for those reasons, all pros will be using P&S :-p

aww yeah. we're from the same prosumer background.

but yeah that's what i did too but it didn't register that well until i got a DSLR.

the S7000 is still part of my arsenal today.

TS, you're really making a fool out of yourself here, getting a DSLR without understanding why you did it and all that.

You've got alot of money to blow, izzit?

Let me use cars as an analogy. If you have been taught to drive only using an automatic gear car and I suddenly asked you to drive a car with manual gears, you would have great difficulty.

However, all the F1 racing cars on the Sepang circuit have manual gears simply because the drivers can get the best performance out of their cars using manual gears.

I would advise you to continue using a P&S camera until you realize its limitations, then that is the right time to get a dSLR. I would think 90% of holiday snapshooters would never need a dSLR.

Having said that, there is no valid reason why you cannot use both. I carry along my Canon Ixus and my Canon 350 all the time.

for your information...
F1 racing car doesn`t use fully manual gears... as it is consider too slow for human to shift the gear....

they uses semi-automatic sequential gearboxes...
for me actually more like auto gear since gear change just a click of the 2 switches on the steering without need to step on the cluth pedal...

so in translate more like shooting at aperture or shutter priority mode than fully manual mode..

sorry for out of topic...

Some say that asking questions in a provocative manner is the best way to get answers

I already told you guys that buying D40/D40x is same as buying PnS. That's why no difference. D40 is just glorified PnS with exchangeable lens. Next time, listen to sifu.

mine is from Nikon 775 -> Canon S3IS -> EOS 350D -> EOS 30D

That's a lot of replies and I appreciate the viewpoints.

The main reason why I got the DSLR is I recognized that the S3's got certain limitations during certain situations and shots, and I had hoped that the DSLR will be able to address/overcome these limitations.

Some of you have pointed out that I do not know much about cameras or photography. That would be not far from the truth. I'd say that I've learnt just enough to let me play around with manual mode to take some shots which I couldn't have taken using "auto" modes.

The beauty of the prosumer is that it retains a level of automation that takes a load of trouble/worry off the photographer => Undesirable for pros, but desirable for normal people who don't know what in the world is white balance, bulb exposure... etc. (much less how to control/tweak them).

The sudden need to tweak and play with so many values/buttons is overwhelming.... hence the frustration.

Anyway, I've bought the D40x... no turning back now. Might as well learn to be a better photographer... hoping that you guys can provide some tips and help/change in perspective and viewpoint.

Still have more noob questions from me, thanks for bearing up so far. This is in reply to Scorgio's post :

1) Accurate optical viewfinder - S3 doesn't. Whatever you see on your electronic viewfinder or LCD is actually a delayed liveview.

When I adjust shuttle speed/apperture/iso, the changes are reflected directly on the S3 LCD. Thus I know if I've got the ISO too low or adjusted the shuttle speed too fast and can compensate before taking the shot. I tried varying this on the D40x... there are no changes visible on the viewfinder. Many of my shots end up too dark/too bright and I have to take several (trial and error) before finally getting one right.

Do you guys have a certain sixth sense or experience that tells you what shuttle/iso/apperture to use for what occasion?

2) Image quality - The sensor size of a dSLR is much bigger than S3. Thus the ability to capture a wider range of colors & tones.

This doesn't really matter for me right now since my objective is primarily to capture photos for 4R and just enjoyment. Correct me if I'm wrong but I doubt the differences can be so great that it's noticable with the naked eye (unless you post two identical photos by prosumer & D40 side by side).

3) Burst mode - The slowest of the dSLR selling in the market today can do 3fps, S3 is 1.5fps/2.3fps (based on dpreview.com).

This is for fast shots/sports/continuous shooting I presume? Not really used atm for group photos, posed-photoshoots and scenery.

4) Hotshoe - The S3 don't have it thus can't mount an external flash. And thus can't shoot beyond 20ft in low light condition.

Night shots are really bad for the S3. How much is an external flash btw?

5) AF speed - The worst SLR can AF in less than 0.5 sec. While S3 usually takes 0.5-1 sec to lock on.

I don't notice the difference.

6) Shutter range - SLR is 30 - 1/4000 sec. While S3 is 15 - 1/3200 sec.

At 1/4000 or even 1/3200 sec unless the background is very bright otherwise the photo will turn out dark anyways so hardly/seldom use.

7) Instant response - SLR power up almost instantly (0.2 sec average), S3 around 1-2 sec.

An improvement of course, but I find the 1-2 sec sufficient since it takes me that long to bring up the camera and start looking at the subject anyways.

8) Shutter lag - entry level SLR is 80-90ms. S3 , I don't know.

I don't take sport/fast photos so I don't know.


Again, thanks to those who have replied constructively.

This post has been edited by darthbaboon: Jan 16 2008, 09:26 AM