The New Digital SLR Cameras of 2008

Image Stabilization (IS)

Image stabilization systems help you capture clearer photos when you're using long telephoto lenses (200mm or more) or when you're using slow shutter speeds in low light and don't have a stable surface for the camera.

Both telephoto lenses and slow shutter speeds enhance camera shake and lead to very blurry photos.

Canon and Nikon have been including stabilization systems in their lenses for years, but a recent trend is to add the stabilization to the camera BODY, so that it works with every lens that's compatible with the SLR.

Since Canon and Nikon have already invested a lot of effort in their IS lenses, it's unlikely that either will follow this trend any time soon - you'll find that new camera models released by these companies are paired with kit lenses that include IS.

Learn more about Image Stabilization

Dust Control Sensors

Without a dust control system, dust can contaminate the digital sensor of your SLR camera and will be evident as little black spots in every photo you take.

Dust isn't a problem with compact digital cameras since you can't change the lens.

With an SLR, dust can enter the camera body every time you remove the lens to exchange it for another.

Rare a year ago, dust control systems are now quite common on new digital SLR cameras: they repel and/or shake off any dust particles that enter the camera body and try to land on the digital sensor.

Learn more about Dust Control

Live View LCDs

If you've ever used a compact digital camera, you've used a live view LCD: the LCD shows you a "video" preview of the photo you're about to take.

For many years, a similar feature was missing on digital SLRs: the only way to compose photos was to look through the viewfinder.

While you could use the LCD to review photos and change menu settings, you couldn't use it as an alternative to the viewfinder.

Today, the tide is turning and "live view" LCD screens are appearing on more and more new digital SLRs.

Learn more about Live View LCDs

Extended Dynamic Range

Dynamic range enhancement is a fairly new feature of digital SLR cameras, but is gaining in popularity.

Imagine you're taking a photo of someone wearing a white jacket standing next to someone wearing a black jacket on a bright sunny day.

There is a wide range of contrast from black to white and digital SLRs can't capture the entire range: either the white jacket will lose detail (appearing as pure white) or the black jacket will (appearing as pure black).

Digital SLR cameras that feature "extended dynamic range" attempt to compensate for this either by limiting the brightness of highlights or by increasing the brightness of shadows to create a more balanced image.

Learn more about Dynamic Range

Canon XSi / xTi

Besides the obvious increase in megapixels (from 10 to 12) the Canon XSi includes some other enhancements over its little brother.

A significant change has to do with how the camera stores photos: the memory card.

All other Canon digital SLRs use Compact Flash cards, but the Rebel XSi uses the smaller SD memory card: bad news for anyone who's invested a lot in Compact Flash (like me) but great for people with compact digital cameras that use the same memory media.

The XSi is compatible with SDHC cards (SD High Capacity) which is a good thing since 12 megapixel files can eat up a lot of space - if you want to take photos for an extended period of time, the high capacity card is a real benefit.

The XSi is the first digital Rebel to include a live view LCD, the standard kit includes an image stabilized lens and the camera has extended dynamic range. In short: the XSi covers every single additional feature you can have on a digital SLR, making it more suitable for a wide range of photographic opportunities.

The XSi also gets a slight boost in its continuous capture rate: up to 3.5 photos per second from 3 (on the Rebel xTi).

Bottom Line: get the Rebel XSi over the xTi if you'd like the convenience of a live view LCD, already have a compact camera that uses SD memory cards, or want a camera package that includes an image stabilized lens.

Nikon D60 / D40x

The key enhancements that the D60 features over the D40x are easy to summarize in a short list:

1. Addition of a new dust control system
2. Uses Nikon's EXPEED system for quick image processing
3. Includes Active D-Lighting: Nikon's term for extended dynamic range
4. Can create stop-motion animation from a sequence of images
5. New kit lens includes image stabilization (which Nikon calls Vibration Reduction or VR)

Bottom Line: if you're looking for dust control, extended dynamic range and lens-based stabilization, then the D60 is a better choice than the D40x.

Nikon D90 / D80

The new Nikon D90 isn't really an upgrade to the D80: it's a complete paradigm shift.

First, the D90 includes all of the new "extra" features that the D80 lacks: a dust control system, live view LCD, an image-stabilized kit lens and enhanced dynamic range.

The icing on the cake is that the D90 is the first digital SLR to break the movie barrier - allowing you to capture High Definition videos with the same 12.3 megapixel sensor that captures still images.

The D90 further expands the gap between the older D80 in image quality: the D90 produces exceptionally low noise even at very high ISO settings - providing photographers with a lot of flexibility when shooting with available light.

Bottom Line: if want a digital SLR that does it all, then the D90 is the camera to consider.

Sony A200, A300, A350 / A100

Early adopters of the Sony A100 now have a lot of upgrade alternatives to choose from.

More importantly, anyone with a few old Konica Minolta film SLR lenses - which are compatible with all Sony digital SLRs - now can choose between four different camera models (five, if you coun the high-end A700) rather than just one.

Let's take a quick comparative look at what each one has to offer:

It's true - all of these cameras are quite similar to each other.

There are some key differences to pay attention to: both the A300 and A350 offer a live view LCD where the LCD flips out from the camera body, making it easy to compose photos from above your head or down around your waist.

If you don't think you'll ever really leverage this feature, then save some money and go with the A200 or A100. I'd recommend the A200, just because it offers some functional improvements over the original A100.

When comparing the A300 and A350, just remember this: cameras with more megapixels don't take BETTER pictures. More megapixels just means you can print at larger sizes and it gives you more leeway to crop out parts of your photos.

Bottom Line: 10 megapixels is more than enough for the armchair photographer, so only spring for the A350 if you're positive you'll be making poster-size prints.

Olympus E-520 / E-510

Since the E-510 was groundbreaking - the first to feature a dust control system, live view LCD and built in image stabilization all in one camera - the E-520 has a lot to live up to.

The big differences between the E-520 and E-510 are subtle ones, but potentially important depending upon your photography style.

1. Improved Live View - the E-510 uses what's become a common implementation of live view: in order to autofocus in live view mode, you can't use the same button as you do when you're using the viewfinder. The E-520 changes this so that the transition from viewfinder to live view mode is much more seamless.
2. Face Detect Autofocus - this common feature on compact cameras is now finding its way to digital SLRs. The autofocus system is designed to recognize faces and will immediately set autofocus for the faces rather than competing elements in the foreground and background.
3. Extended Dynamic Range - the E-520 automatically brightens shadows in your photos to create images where there's more balance between shadows and highlights.
4. Wireless Flash - the E-520 can trigger multiple FL-50R and FL-36R flash units without the use of any connecting cords
5. Underwater Housing - for those who want to take their digital SLRs under the waves, Olympus is releasing a PT-E05 underwater housing for the E-520

Bottom Line: if you take a lot of portraits, capture photos in high-contrast light, or need an SLR to take photos when you dive, then the E-520 is a better option than the E-510.

Pentax K200D / K100D

The K200D is quite similar in many ways to the K100D...only better.

If you compare the specs side by side for the two cameras you won't see a lot of huge changes. The K100D was an inexpensive SLR with a good feature set, and the K200D just builds on top of that.

The most notable improvement is that the camera is sealed against weather and dust which means you can use it in a rainfall and at the beach without worrying about damaging it. Weather sealing is quite common on semi-professional camera models like the Canon 40D, Nikon D300 and Olympus E-3 but it's extremely rare for digital SLRs in this price range.

Pentax also upgraded their dust control system in the K200D with a new Dust Alert feature that shows you where dust particles may be adhering to the sensor.

Also new on the K200D is a feature that's now quite common on other digital SLRs: the ability to customize the way the camera captures color when images are being saved as JPG files. Options include Natural, Bright, Portrait, Landscape, Vivid and Black and White.

Finally, if you want to go on a longer trip with your camera and don't mind extra size and weight, the K200D is compatible with the new D-BG3 battery grip. The grip not only allows you to take more photos before having to recharge the batteries, it also includes additional camera controls to make taking portrait photos more ergonomic and comfortable.

Bottom Line: if you take lots of photos in bad weather or want a camera whose stabilization system works with virtually every Pentax lens ever made, then the K200D is the least expensive choice.

Pentax K20D / K10D

Even thought the K10D was a solid camera that took great photos, the K20D improves upon it in several different ways.

First there's the additional features: a live view LCD screen and extended dynamic range. The first is useful for anyone who enjoys composing photos without peering through the viewfinder, while the other is suitable for photographers who often take photos that have a wide range of contrast.

Another major addition is the brand new 14.6 megapixel CMOS sensor, developed in partnership with Samsung. Paired with noise-reduction technology and a built in image stabilization system, this should be a good camera for low-light hand-held photography.

The K20D is the only camera of this group with a true pentaprism for the viewfinder instead of a pentamirror which makes the camera heavier but should yield a (slightly) clearer image in the viewfinder.

Another interesting enhancement on the K20D is the ability to quickly shift between program, aperture priority and shutter priority mode, simply by turning a command dial (on every other SLR this change is made by rotating a knob on the top of the camera).

Bottom Line: if you want to make enormous prints and are looking for an SLR with stabilization, dust control, a live view LCD and extended dynamic range then the K20D should be on your list.