Is that a (D)SLR in your pocket ?

Earlier this month I was looking for a new camera. My 2001 vintage digital Pentax Optio 330GS has served me well, but I couldn’t help but feel it lacking compared to modern cameras. In particular it only had 3MP resolution, the auto-focus was slow and the shutter lag was so marked I mostly took pictures of places my daughter had just been.

I wanted a capable compact, most of my photography these days is incidental, I never go out to take photos, but I make sure I always have my camera should opportunity present itself. Unfortunately this is invariably when I’m trying stop one of my kids causing mischief, so one handed operation is a must, a built in child net wouldn’t go a miss either.

The need for ‘compact and capable’ lead me pretty quickly to the Canon Powershot G9. It boasts full manual, a raft of convenience settings, hot shoe, good resolution and fairly fast lens. The real clincher was the lens adapter, it allows any 58mm filter to be fitted the camera, genius!

I was ready to part with my cash until I realised; “I can get a DSLR for that!”

Now there’s another thing, where did I find the best price on a DSLR? The Internet? The camera specialist? Nope, Dixons. The much maligned high street retailer. They had the Olympus 410, the smallest DSLR on the market, with a decent kit lens for less than a powershot G9.

A lot folk don’t like the E-410, mostly due to the four thirds lens system. They say the E-410 doesn’t compare well to other DLSRs, especially if you consider the cost and choice of wider system components like flash, and lenses. That may be so, but compare it to a compact camera or a bridge/prosumer in the same price bracket an you have a very strong contender.

I pondered for a while. The Olympus offered good resolution, and all the creative potential a DSLR brings, especially the promise of more options around depth of field and the potential to add at least one more lens. A standard zoom is reasonably priced even if most other four thirds lenses are costly. Unusually it offers compact like live view in the back LCD.

It was a close run race. Until I handled the E-410. I just didn’t sit right, it’s compact because it doesn’t have hand grip, but what a difference that makes. The camera lacks balance compared to say the Canon 400d or Nikon 40. I could have easily put up with that, the G9 doesn’t handle all that well either, but that’s somewhat expected with a compact. Then I squinted through the view finder, I found it small and narrow, I knew that having been spoilt by the brightness and generous dimensions of my Canon 50e view finder I couldn’t down size.

Dejected I left the shop, I needed my gadget fix, but I wasn’t prepared to spend DSLR money on a compact, and I didn’t want a DLSR that handled like a compact.

Something had to give, and for once taking time to make a decision payed off, in the time it took me to research the alternatives, the predecessor to the G9, the G7, dropped in price. The gap, in terms of features I wanted, between the G7 and G9 was pretty small, and there wasn’t a decision to make anymore. I’ve ordered a G7 and I can finally get my head out of specification tables and back into taking pictures!