What's the Difference Between Point-And-Shoot and SLR?

I often get asked this question and the smart aleck in me always says the word price. An SLR camera is going to cost you more than a point-and-click. But a more appropriate answer is features. An SLR camera gives you much more ability to refine your shot than a point-and-shoot. Don't get me wrong. You can take some amazing shots with a point-and-shoot camera. It's just you don't have the kind of control as you do with an SLR.

SLR is an acronym for Single Lens Reflex. Without getting too technical, this type of technology uses mirrors and a pentaprism (five-sided prism) to reflect light from the lens to viewfinder. There's more to it than that but you get the general idea.

The most glaring difference is for an SLR, the lack of delay when you are pressing the button. People who have used point-and-click cameras know all too well about that dreaded delay, although there is a way to circumvent that: you hold the button down 1/2 way until you are ready to shoot. An SLR camera simply doesn't have this problem.

You can use different lenses with an SLR camera where this feature is typically missing in a point-and-shoot. This only really becomes important when you are looking to become a more advanced photographer. If you are only interested in taking decent photos and don't know an apeture setting from a f2, you will probably want to stick with a point-and-shoot.

The differences in SLR cameras vs. point-and-shoot is like night and day. It is similar to comparing and instamatic camera with a 35 mm camera. There are so many more features on an SLR than on the point-and-shoot. Of course, you will pay a hefty premium for those extra features. But they could be well worth as you expand your photography horizons.

James is a writer for the web and blogs.

Please note: I have removed the link that was here due to the FTC's new and sketchy guidelines about what constitutes an endorsement. I apologize if you are reading this and it left you a bit puzzled. But there are too many unknowns in these new guidelines to take a chance.

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