[MUSIC] Welcome back, in this segment we're going to talk about DSLR camera. That's digital single lens reflex camera, so let's get going. In this early illustration of the camera obscura, we see an artist tracing an image that has been formed by light rays focused through a lens, then projected on to a sheet of ground glass after being reflected in a mirror. He's looking down into that device, and you can see the light coming through, bouncing off the mirror up to the ground glass, that he's looking at. There's a single lens, a mirror to reflect the light, and the surface on which the camera is focused. So we have a signal lens reflex system. The British photography Thomas Sutton, patented the first signal lens reflex camera in 1861. And all SLR cameras today are based on the same principles. This Hasselblad camera is very similar to the principles that we saw in that camera obscura drawing in that there's no reflex. We're going to see the light will come through the lens into the camera body where there's a mirror. And then it'll bounce up to a ground glass that's located in the camera here, and the photographer looks down into the camera to see the subject and make the composition and do the framing. During exposure, the mirror is going to flip up so that light can pass straight through the camera on to the film in the case of this camera or on to a digital sensor with a digital camera, as the shutter opens an closes and exposure is made. I switched out my,what we call a chimney in a Hasselblad where it forced me to look straight down into the camera, and I put a single lens reflex capability into this camera body now, by adding a prism to the top. And with the prism, let me take my glasses off, I can take a look and see the subject just as I would through a digital SLR that might be a little bit smaller. The light comes through the lens, hits the mirror, bounces up to the ground glass, then I can see it through this prism housing up here, right. The eyepiece, there he is, hello. Everybody associates that with a DSLR, a single lens reflex camera that records digitally. This is very much like my house abroad except I can't take the prism off, but the light will be passing through the lens, hitting a mirror inside here, bouncing up to a ground glass which I will see. Right there, through my view finder. The first digital single lens reflex camera was the Kodak electro optic camera. It was invented in 1987 for an unnamed US government client, and you can see it's quite a bulky device. It was based on a Nikon camera body that Kodak scientists monkeyed around with and came up with a cool solution to create digital images rather than exposing on film. The first DSLR available to the general public, was the DCS or digital camera system camera. It was invented and produced by Kodak in 1991 and it sported a whooping 1.3 mega pixel sensor, all at the cost of $20,000. It was based on an Nikon SLR film camera body, with the sensor at the focal plane instead of film. And it was attached to a very heavy box that contained all sorts of wizardry, including a small video screen on the side of the box to view the picture. I actually used one of these early models at a wonderfully, cool, hidden lab that Kodak had available for people in the state of Maine many, many years ago. Whether you consider yourself a professional photographer or an advanced amateur. When the ability to choose from a wide range of lenses, accessories, record the highest resolution photographs possible. And have the advantage of a system available to you, the DSLR is often the choice. One important question to consider in which brand of DSLR you purchase is, how big is the system. Does it have dedicated lenses, flash units, remote controls? Are there other brand specific options that are available to customize that camera to your specific needs? That's often an important question for pros. When you buy a DSLR system, it's important to recognize, that you're buying for the long haul. As you'll undoubtedly add lenses, flash units and probably more lenses, all of which will fit and function only with that particular brand. And sometimes within that brand, only work with a specific camera style. With a DSLR, just as with a compact or mirror less cameras, we look for the capabilities that are available at different price ranges. In addition to the capabilities that are covered in our previous lecture on what camera capabilities are essential for you. We'll look for the following things with DSLR's. Does it have the option for tethered shooting? In other words, can you plug a wire into the camera? Plug the other end of the wire into a computer and tether them together so that your images appear on the screen ready to share and work with? What are the high processor speeds that are necessary for you, in this type of camera, to make rapid shooting an option? That's especially important if you are shooting sports or scientific matters, anything where there is rapid movement. Is there an external microphone capability? With a pro DSLR, you've got also a pro video camera. Can your record sound in stereo? Is there a stereo mic built into the camera? Can you plug stereo microphones and other high quality video and still image file accessories into these cameras? Now when you move to a DSLR, some people think you've got to get your wallet out and start spending thousands of dollars. And in reality there are some good options available for you at the lower end of the price spectrum. But you got to accept that with that lower end of the price spectrum, you're going to get lesser capabilities, lesser options. So, we can start off with a really good little camera, the Pentax K-50. It's a full feature DSLR, has a little bit smaller body because it's got an APSC sensor. Not as rugged in materials as its higher end cousins. And you won't find nearly as many lenses or accessory options as with a name brand like Canon or Nikon. Pentax is a very good brand, but in terms of the options available in this price range, they're not as much. But you know something? If you don't need those options, it doesn't really matter. If you do go down the road where you may end up starting to need more than the camera's system has got available for you, you might find yourself starting with another camera. I don't want you to think that a camera in this price range doesn't have substantial features, because they do. And taking a look at this Pentax, we're going to find what some of those are. One of the things I like a lot about this camera and others in this price range, you're finding this more often, is that they've got fully weather-sealed bodies. That means you can take them out in the rain, in the snow, misty weather. You don't want to dunk them underwater, but they will resist that weather. Sand, sleet, all that kind of stuff. This camera also has a fairly hefty sensor, 16.3 megapixel. That's about average standard for this price range. It also has a wonderful 11-point autofocus system and in-camera stabilization. So that if you tend to shake your hands a little bit, especially at the telephoto lens range, it will accommodate for that. It's got 12 video frame rate options. It also shoots in HDR, and it's got an ISO, believe it or not, up to 51,200. Moving now to the mid range DSLR, these are cameras that we're going to look at it at price point of about $1000, maybe a few dollars less, maybe a few dollars more. In this price range you're not only buying the camera and a first lens along with it, usually they come bundled, but you're making a major commitment to a system. You're putting down a lot of money for that first camera and lens, and you're doing so in part because you want access to the rest of the system. That's part of the price of the camera. Nikon, Canon, other manufacturers, they invest heavily in research and development for new lenses, new flashes, lots of new accessories to strengthen their systems. And they also offer benefits to photographers who invest in these cameras, in the form of special access to speedy repairs, even loaner cameras sometimes, especially, if you're a professional. For photographers who have made a commitment to that system. This particular Canon camera has some high-end features that you'll also want to look for in this price range. And it sets such cameras apart from that basic level, DSLR. One of the things I like a lot about this type of camera is that the LCD information panel is on top of the camera, rather than solely on the rear of it. So as I hold the camera I can look down and make some quick adjustments if I need to without having to raise the camera up and look at it's back. It has a 24 megapixel CMOS sensor and that's quite a bit advanced from that basic level. With a maximum ISO of 25,600, it offers great flexibility in exposure under a wide range of lighting and shooting conditions. It also has five frames per second of continuous shooting rate and that's notable. This camera also has and you want to look for WiFi and also near-field communications connections. In other words, connecting the camera to a smartphone or a tablet or a computer, without having to hook it up with a wire for transfer of images and making connections to mobile devices for various purposes. I always want to have in a camera, in this price range, variable tilts of the screen. And the larger the screen, the better in the case of this Cannon Rebel, it's a three-inch screen, very bright. Lots of colors, very sharp, easy to look at, and this one has touch screen capabilities as well, making it easy for you to access various control options, without doing too much fiddling with the control panels. Along with that, it's got a full range of full HD video options, you also get the option of live viewing. And live viewing means, you're looking at the screen and you're seeing the image that's going to be recorded through the lens itself. Not through the view finder but on the screen itself. There's even in this camera an HDR option for movies. The flash flips up a good distance from the lens, to reduce red eye effect, and we want to see that also. We want to see that the flash is a little bit bigger on cameras like this, little bit more powerful, but also physically bigger to spread the light farther. When you open your wallet very wide, and move into the pro level DSLR arena, you're going to find capabilities that match the price, but you want to be a careful shopper. Again, you're going to be buying into a system, a camera that's part of a broad system of options for you. One of your choices is whether to spend more or less money on the camera body. You can buy a midlevel or even a lower-priced DSLR still be part of the system, but you're really, in this sense, making a choice that this camera body really has the capabilities that you need. That's important because it's not unusual to find cameras in this price range available without a lens, just like we see on the screen here. We're going to be looking at this Nikon 810 as a prime example of a very high end camera. The Nikon D810 DSLR, this is a very high resolution camera, folks. It's got a 36.3 Megapixel, full frame FX sensor. One of the really cool things about this is, that it can also be set to record on a smaller DXI is basically APSC sensor size. Which will increase the number of pictures that can be shot on any card, and it also increases the number of frames per second that you can shoot at, from five per second to seven. The camera also holds Nikon's fastest and most effective processor. And that's a very important thing to look at, in cameras at any price range. How fast is that processor? It's going to affect the ability to make JPEG's quickly, but also the ability to shoot at a faster frame rate. The ISO settings on this camera range from a high of about 5100 to a low of 64 and that is huge. Allowing you to make photographs in a wide, wide range of lighting settings. There are jacks on the camera for external microphones and headphones. So this is a full service video camera as well as a still image camera. It supplements the built in stereo microphone system. And the most exacting full HD video recording that you can do. This is important to look at in cameras in this price range no matter what the brand. Interval and even time-laps photography can extend to a sequence of almost 10,000 pictures. To record it all this camera, and others like it, even hold both compact flash and SD cards. Ergonomically, the camera has a magnesium alloy body and it's built to last. It's going to take a beating and keep on clicking. It's got extensive dust and weather sealing. It doesn't get thrown in the water, but it's really good in sandstorms. And it's got a molded handgrip that will really feel comfortable to most people, and improve your control in fast moving situations. So with the DSLR, the first place to look is your wallet. Consider what you can afford and then consider the capabilities that you need for the kind of photography you want to do. Look within that price range, look at the capabilities, look at the options for the system. And if a DSLR is the right camera for you, you now know the features to look at, at those different price levels. [MUSIC]
