I used to use a Nikon F801s SLR and now use a Nikon Coolpix 950 (see my review in the appropriate section!) and I feel that 'prosumer' digital cameras like the latter have some significant advantages over wet film SLRs...
When I used the SLR, it tended to stay in a case most of the time and emerge for specific events, holidays, etc. By contrast, I now greatly annoy my friends by pulling out my Coolpix 950 at every opportunity. The only way to improve your photography is by experimentation and practice. With a digital camera, you can instantly see the results on the screen to see what works and what doesn't and you are freed from the restriction of film and processing costs.
I've shot 2,000 exposures so far on my digital camera, and I can't imagine I'd have got through 55 36-exposure rolls in the same time. This allows the freedom to experiment. Some of my best shots are ones I could have taken on an SLR but probably wouldn't have.
Manual controls are the most commonly cited reason for sticking with an SLR, but high-end digital models like the 950 offer manual control over focus, aperture, shutter speed and metering mode albeit in not quite as ergonomic a way as on a good SLR. You can use filters and even optional adaptors that convert the lenses to anything from fisheye to extreme telephoto.
While digital cameras look like compacts, they offer the central design advantage of an SLR over a 35mm compact in that when shooting using the LCD screen they avoid parralax (the shot you take being different from the shot in the viewfinder).
I wouldn't object to a Nikon D1x if someone has the best part of £4k burning a hole in their pocket and wants to buy me one, as (apart from portability) a digital SLR offers the best of both worlds. Hopefully digital SLR prices will come down to affordable levels over the next few years and Digital vs SLR will cease to be an issue to debate!
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Apr 25th, 2001
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