Everyone loves the gorgeous pictures that their digital SLR camera takes but no one likes carrying around the unwieldy, weighty cameras themselves. So we’re all on a perpetual quest. We want a much lighter camera that still takes great pictures and allows for the kind of fiddling and fixing — both in the camera settings and later in the “digital darkroom” — that D-SLRs offer.
Until recently, there was virtually nothing. For one, very few smaller cameras allow you to take pictures in the RAW format that preserves all the data from your digital camera’s sensor. Jpeg and other compressed formats trash some of the data, leaving you with less ability to fix and adjust pictures back home on your computer.
The other major shortcoming was the size of the digital sensors in most smaller cameras. While camera makers want to confuse you with useless information about the total number of pixels on a sensor, the really important stat is the density of those pixels. A ton of pixels mashed on a relatively tiny sensor results in a worse image than many fewer pixels on a larger sensor.
Lately, there have been some strides towards really improving small digital cameras. One of the first of the new breed (which we own) is the Canon S90. It has a larger sensor than most small cameras, saves images in the RAW format and has numerous manual controls to help you get just the photo you’re looking for.
I’ve used the S90 quite a bit this year in place of my aging Canon Rebel XT. But unfortunately, the results have not lived up to my possibly unrealistic hopes. Despite the improvements in the S90, it still remains hamstrung by a built-in lens that has far less flexibility and overall quality than the lens available for D-SLRs. That means worse low light performance, less detail captured and limited ability to take artsy shots with blurred backgrounds.
I kind of knew this was the case after a few recent disappointing outings with the S90. But I confirmed it last weekend by taking both Canons out for a spin in the back yard. Below you can see the S90’s inability to blur the background and failure to capture the same level of detail. Obviously the external conditions were the same in all shots and I was setting the f-stop manually.
Here’s a shot from the S90
And a similar shot from the Rebel XT
Notice the flatness of the background in this S90 shot
And here’s some pretty blurring, or bokeh as photogs say, from the Rebel XT
All of this makes me think that I should probably move in the opposite direction. The Rebel has a sensor that is sort of medium sized and known as the APS-C format. Instead of a smaller camera, I should get a better D-SLR — one with a larger “full frame” sensor that is about the dimensions of old-fashioned 35 mm film. A couple of years ago, some less-than-insanely-expensive full frame cameras hit the market like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the Nikon D700. But neither has been updated in two years.
Prior coverage:
All I ask is a full-frame and a single mirror to sail her by (July 1, 2008)
Start saving my pennies: Canon updates 5D digital camera (September 17, 2008)
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