Amateur Photographers Snap Up DSLRs

Sales of DSLRs are expected to rise 50 percent this year to .8 billion in North America, according to market-research firm InfoTrends, Weymouth, Mass. That would give DSLRs almost one-fifth of the digital-camera market. For many consumers, the move to DSLRs reflects frustration they have with shutter lag resulting in blurry action shots, says a Wall Street Journal article today. For some baby boomers, DSLRs also provide a way to resume a hobby they enjoyed in heyday of film SLRs.

Although professional photographers started migrating to DSLRs costing ,000 or more six years ago, says The Wall Street Journal, industry marketers had predicted consumers wouldn't be interested in cameras priced at more than . When Canon introduced its first DSLR priced at less than ,000 in 2003, experts thought it would appeal mostly to hobbyists and people who already had Canon lenses for old film SLRs. Nikon Corp., which came out with a sub-,000 model a little later, had similar expectations.

Compact digital cameras still dominate the consumer digital camera market, says the article, but this year, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Pentax, and Olympus all unveiled new DSLR models, some costing as little as . This month, Nikon began shipping a model called the D40.

DSLRs create better pictures than compacts for several reasons, says the article. While DSLRs incorporate sensors with larger pixels than compact digital cameras have. Larger pixels collect more light, which allows DSLRs to shoot images more quickly and more accurately capture pictures in low-light conditions, as well as capture action shots without blurring. Additionally, viewing through the lens enables a more accurate composition of a photo than using the LCD screens on the back of both types of cameras. Many newer compact digital cameras have lost viewfinders altogether in the race to offer smaller cameras and larger LCD screens.

According to the article, photo industry experts are optimistic DSLRs will boost the number of consumers who call photography their hobby, historically 3 percent of the market. Fredo Durand, an associate professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who teaches courses on photo technology, predicts that more photographers will move beyond snapshots to make sophisticated photos because "although the camera [DSLR] is more complicated, the instant feedback [of seeing the shot] has revolutionized the job of learning photography."