DSLR News

The hot topic for serious shooters going into the New Year: Should you stick with the traditional DSLR system that has served you splendidly, or opt for one of the latest mirrorless compact system cameras that promises to deliver the full interchangeable lens shooting experience in a smaller, lighter package?

While compiling a list of my favorite professional DSLRs two things came to my mind: At this point in the 21st century, why are they still called DSLRs and not simply SLRs? Canon’s top-of-the-line, film-based EOS-1v was introduced in 2000 and is long gone. Nikon’s F6 ($2,399) was launched in 2004, and although you can still buy one, not many people do. To me it’s like calling automobiles “horseless carriages” and since I don’t think a Nikon F7 is around the corner, let’s put this abbreviation to bed.

Pentax/Ricoh Imaging has been rather coy about its forthcoming, full frame DSLR, posting a series of slightly changing teasers on its website. The latest teaser adds a new photo of the DSLR along with some text that seems to be a clumsily translated press release about the camera and the lineage behind it.

In a short press announcement this morning, Nikon said it's developing a forthcoming full frame (aka FX-format) professional DSLR called the Nikon D5. The D5 would be the follow-up to the 16-megapixel full frame Nikon D4S, which was announced in February 2014.

If this is a photography trend, it’s one we like. Last month we told you about a photographer who attached a GoPro camera to his DSLR to show what it’s like to shoot a football game. Now another photographer, inspired by that cool clip, has attached a GoPro to his DSLR to give you a POV perspective on what it’s like to capture a dance music concert.

On face value, this would seem to be a silly challenge and in many ways, it is. But silly is good and Jim Goldstein of All Things Photo offers this fun and interesting video comparison between the then cutting edge Canon D2000 from 1998 and today’s Canon 5DS R, a modern 50-megapixel full frame monster.

Some photographers may think that every camera is only capable of making the exact same sound when the shutter is pressed (to capture a single shot or a rapid burst of images): that familiar soft metallic click. While that may seem to be true, in reality nearly every make and model of camera has a shutter sound that is quite unique.