Now, I’m very happy with my Lumix FZ5. I’m taking some great pictures with it, and having buckets of fun. Still, sometimes I wonder if I’d like to take the plunge into the world of DSLRs: Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras. The “digital” in “DSLR” is obvious enough; the “SLR” part implies that the camera takes interchangeable lenses and has a “through-the-lens” viewfinder. In short, DSLRs are the digital equivalent of the serious 35mm cameras of yore.
My FZ5 has a number of advantages over any DSLR. Because it has a smaller senser, it’s got a much deeper depth-of-field at larger apertures; that makes it easier to take pictures with an extended depth of field without using a tripod. Its built-in 12x zoom Leica lens gives me the ability to shoot both telephoto and (somewhat) wide angle without changing lenses. It’s both light and compact, so it’s reasonable to carry it around me all over the place. In short, it’s a great camera for taking snapshots of the kids on family excursions, and with its manual features and outstanding lens it’s also a great camera for serious shooting.
Moving to a DSLR would buy me a number of headaches. You can swap the lenses on a DSLR; but on the other hand, you pretty much need to swap lenses to get the range of focal lengths my FZ5 has built-in. Plus, when you swap lenses, dust has a chance to sneak in and collect on the (electrostatically charged) sensor. In Understanding Digital Photography, Bryan Peterson explains that the first thing he does when he loads any new image into Photoshop is examine the whole thing at 100% and remove any dust specks. Ugh! And of course the ability to swap lenses brings with it the need to buy lenses to swap. A typical lens might cost almost as much as my FZ5 does.
When you use a DSLR, you can look through the lens, and see precisely the image the sensor will see, which is very cool. But unlike my FZ5, you have to use the viewfinder; the very design of your standard TTL viewfinder means that the current image can’t be displayed on the camera’s LCD. I’ve taken lots of neat pictures that I simply could not have taken if I’d had to look through the viewfinder to do it. During my recent jaunt to Old Town Pasadena, for example, I took a lot of pictures with the camera held down near the ground. To do the same with a DSLR, I’d have had to lie down on my stomach–and given the state of the some the alleys we were shooting in, I’m simply not that dedicated to my art.
On the other hand, DSLRs buy you a lot too. The sensor is larger, which means you need to use much smaller apertures to get equivalent depth-of-field…but that just means that you’ve got much greater control over your depth of field. I like that. Because you can swap lenses, it’s much easier to take extremely wide-angle and macro shots. It’s more work…but you can do more, including things my FZ5 will never do.
So happens, Panasonic has just announced its first DSLR: the Lumix L1. The full details aren’t available yet, but I think perhaps I’m in love. Please note: this is a DSLR with a through-the-lens viewfinder and a continuously updated LCD. You get the best of both worlds. Plus, it has a special cleaning system that gets dust off of the sensor each time the camera is turned on.
This is very new technology; frankly, I suspect I’d be wise to wait a year or so and see how it shapes up. In any event, the L1 is still in development, and the full specifications aren’t yet available. But if it proves to be a DSLR with the usability of my FZ5, I’m going to be extremely tempted.
The View from the Foothills 