SmartMoney Award neil Parmar Tatars ae) Digital Developments inthe spare zoom at Jennifer Anderson's Lovertsville, Va..home, you'l find Digital SLR camera eee naan Ikboard easel forhertwo- year-old daughter and born to laughing celles. sales jumped more than om sq 25 percent last year. We them with an old film-based poine-and-shoor camera. But thanks to some see ifa $1500 model PEE ei cat he sc pono sng oeene—e3 i andletheactionin te am neptune sins Ae Times Square iaulelcmacetbeimerercio " Tro vhoroeanhers ate onalrs The welLequipped amateurs digit Anche Tookingro equality, interchangeable lense indeed percent, to $2.2billion, nd-shoot models ell? 107, says research firm IDC, sim SMakr Money 101percent compared witha year earlier. And ‘with the marker in flux, camera makers are loading up their DSLRs with a host of high-tech features that promise to reduce shaking, find faces in a crowd and even allow images to be transferred wirelessly between devices. I's no wonder SLRs are making a ‘comeback. When they were frst popular izedin the 1970s, they were heavy, clunky alfairs, and developing pictures often in- volved either inhaling a brain-numbing cocktail of chemicals in one’s basement darkroom or forking out costly process ing fees. These days camera bodies have ind sofware like Photoshop makes image refinement a wleavor Early digital SLRs carried breathtaking price tags (Kodak's gotten smaller and lighter, first model, marketed to the military, cost cool $25,000), but they've come down, significantly; last year the average price dipped under $1,000, according to the NPD Group. Bur the main reason people are uperading? The same reason they've always bought SLRs: faller creative con: trol aver their images—allowin decide what part of the frame should be in focus and whether to freeze motion or ‘opt for an artful blur. Anderson, for one, really likes her DSLR's controls for shut ter speed, which broaden her options with action shots, “Little kids move around lot” she says ‘And of course, with hundreds of ens cs available—wide-angle, portrait, tle phoro—DSLRs introduce photographers 0, far wider world of visual possibilities 102 SuaxTMoney Learn to Accessorize While the average price of cial SLR camera fll to anew low ast yeas, accessories pushed the acta costo nearly ive times that of an average point-and shoot model. Here's what ker in minds ‘* Zoom lens: Range from $160 to $1,640, and you're usually kited to those made by the camera manufacture, Eipera suggest newos sping for at tht bunds tga acamera body with oe ro rece “_* Tipod: Essential for stil photographers, though most consumers can skip paying up to $80 for one. That's because nomatter how mich cote you dink, many offoday' camara andlenses-countractshaly hands wth an “image oabizaton’ feature. ‘+ External flash: Popular models start at $100 and run to more than $3500, Cane helpful in inating shadows and devioh ed oye, but they noaveye necessary and adi SLRs hen eg acoe than the point-and-shoot. But consumers usually can’t choose the lens when they buya “kie" of camera body plus lens (ver sus buying body and lens separately}; re- sults withthe kit lens can vary widely. At Jeascthar’s what we heard from Maynard Switzer,a 30-year proand instructor atthe School at International Center of Photog raphy, whom we enlisted to help us sort through some of the newest DSLR options ‘Together we ventured into the jungle of soaring buildings and blinking billboards that is New York City’s Times Square, to determine which camera wasthe sharpest shooter of the bunch, One camera’s “face detection” feature pu First up: the Olympus E-510 ($650), which comes with a 14-42mm lens, the smallest—and least versatile—of the group. Still, Switzer gives the E-510 points for being the only one witha lens hood to protect images from damaging sunspots He points the camera skyward and shoots a giant beer bottle ona digital billboard: *Sce, no flaring!” Buthisexcitementsours ashe starts scrolling through the on-screen ‘menu, “I's not intuitive e says, strug: sling to adjust the white-balance setting Once he fignresit out, he snaps some pic tures, but aiming at the bright blue sky males the nearby buildings look too dark,while targeting the shadowy buildings overexposes—washes out—everything, clse, This model, he says, is “just not that sophisticated.” ‘Can a new competitor in the camera wars do better? Switzer reachesinto our bag, nd pulls out the A3S0 ($900), one of three new models by Sony; which released its fiest DSLR in 2006 after acquiring Konica Minolea's phoro-imaging business. Switzer praises ts steong 18-70mmlens, which eas: ily zooms up 33 stories to profil the glass sphere atop the old Paramount Building. Bait takes four tees a adjusting the shut- ter speed before he realizes that he needs to press not only “enter” but “menu” as well, (A Sony spokesperson says the shut ter speed more easily adjusts by rotating, the finger dial—incidentally, the only way todo itbefore the advent of LCD sereens.) Finally, to test the camera's image-stabili- zation feature, Switzer purposeflly gales hhishand while raking a picture ofa moving taxi His verdict? Ies "pretty sharp” but tll “litle too grainy.” Shaking and blurring could hinder the Panasonic's DMC-L1OK ($1,300) as well, says Switees, since itssmall, ightbody may not adequately balance its long, weighty Tens. And he has to wait a few intermi: nable seconds for the picture to take once he’s pressed the button, a big drawback for a DSLR. What he does enjoy is the camcorderlike LCI ‘out oewist 180 degrees to the leftand even more when flipped up or down. Holding the camera high above his head, he uses the screen to guide a high-angle shot of the crowd: “Look at how great this is!” he says, Less great, however, isthe screen's “face detection” feature, Instead of focus- ing the lens on upto 15 facesin the picture, as advertised, it pur small green frames around only three faces—plus a woman's jacket and her shopping bag, When asked, spokesperson explains thatthe faces need to be looking “at” the camera For similar features a a better price, Switzer prefers the Nikon D60 ($750). Its shorter, more powerful ens feels more “balanced” chan the Panasonic, he saysas he begins to direct an impromptu photo shoot —with us as his model. (We're in good hands, considering he’s published in ‘multiple fashion magazines, such as Sev- centeen and Mademoiselle). "Very nice!” he says, complimenting not our pose but an innovation called Active D-Lighting, screen, which snaps which highlights color even in shadowy conditions and makes our crimson cardi- gan pop against a black coat. But there's ‘one glaring omission from che D60' list of features: live view. That means Switzer i forced to take every picture by looking through the cameras viewfinder instead of composing with the LCD sercen. In the end, it seems, size matters. The Canon BOS 40D ($1,500) has the largest and most “durable body” of the bunch, says our expert, Its also has the biggest LCD screen, at 3 inches, with clearly writ: ten and easy-to-adjust menu options. But could ibe too big to handle? Switzer says that unlike with the other models, heneeds both hands to adjust photo settings and toggle through the menu. Yethe pronoune csthe Canon's 28-135mm lens our winner, since it gives him crystal-clear shots that zoom up multistory buildings and digital billboards. “This could be used by pro- fessionals,” he says, adding that some of his peers use it as backup for thei $8,000 models, Alas, he's packed the powerful lens away just before wenoticea crowd of tourists snapping and flashing away near by atone of Times Square's most popular attractions: the Naked Cowboy. © little green frames around a coat and a shopping bag. Mav 2008 SmartMoney 108