Until some time ago, casual photographers could not dream of buying a digital SLR. Having played around with megapixels for quite some time, now almost all major camera manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony and Pentax are battling it out in a tough turf that once remained the bastion of professionals—the DSLR space. And this battle, subsequently, has brought the prices of DSLRs down to affordable levels, threatening the prosumer’s mantle. This, in turn, is compelling casual and home photographers to rethink their prosumer camera choices. My opinion is instead of wading through unknown waters, one needs to be aware of the pros and cons of a DSLR before choosing it over a prosumer.

The most obvious advantage of a DSLR is the ability to change lenses to suit our various needs. But why do we need to change lenses when we get a super zoom at a much cheaper price? For example, most prosumers typically come with a 36-432mm lens with an average price tag of around Rs 20,000. But a DSLR comes with a kit lens of 28-80mm focal length (17-55mm in APS-format). So to match the focal length of prosumers, you need at least an additional 105-450mm (70-300mm in APS-format) for your DSLR. The cheapest and lowest quality lenses in this range will cost you at least Rs10,000. But the changeability of lenses is, in fact, a blessing for professionals who are ready to spend some money on specialist lenses. These lenses come in the range of Rs 20,000 to a few lakhs, depending on the level of sophistication of the lenses and again, these lenses tend to be very bulky and heavy.

Changing DSLR lenses has its share of problems. For example, the act of changing the lens exposes the sensor to dust and other extremes of environment. Professional photographers know how difficult it is to protect their equipment from dust and fungus in Indian conditions. But in the case of prosumer cameras, since the lens is fixed, there is no chance for dust or fungus to enter the sensor. This is very important to know especially if you do not use the camera very frequently. A DSLR lens is more likely to catch fungus than the lenses of compacts because of the coatings and lubricants used for the construction of composite lenses.

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