Review in 2009: Digital SLR is smaller, stronger and better to use.

IT 168 evaluation center? Lonely? This is a very popular word in 2009. I also thought of this word when I wrote the annual summary of digital SLR cameras, but I have to say that the digital SLR camera and lens market in 2009 is not lonely. Although looking back on this year, there seems to be no explosive news, and there are still some small product leaks, we can't deny that technology is still developing rapidly, and the imaging performance and experience brought by SLR cameras and lenses have made great progress.

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV blew the horn with a sensitivity of over 65438+ million.

No matter what the subject matter is, high sensitivity is always helpful for shooting. Under the general trend of improving the sensitivity of new SLR in a year, Canon EOS 1D Mark IV and Nikon D3S, two cameras that focus on sports and wildlife shooting, have improved their high sensitivity to ISO 102400. Moreover, judging from the evaluation results of Nikon D3S, even the photos taken with such high sensitivity are still practical. For mid-range and entry-level products, although extremely high-sensitivity shooting is only a last resort, we have also found such a trend: with the general improvement of sensitivity, the image quality at the same sensitivity is also improving.

Canon EOS 7D is the representative of this year's new high-pixel SLR.

In order to obtain accurate digital images with large format output, enough pixels are necessary for professional digital SLR cameras. Now even the high-end APS-C format SLR camera can compete with the medium format digital back two years ago in imaging accuracy. Although the top SLR model (Leica S2? Nonmainstream? The maximum number of pixels of models has not been refreshed frequently this year, but from the models of Canon EOS 7D654.38+0.8 million effective pixels and Sony A550 654.38+04.2 million effective pixels, the general trend of improving effective pixels of products at all levels is still obvious. Of course, Nikon D3X, Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 1Ds Mark III are still the ultimate choices if the product category of 35mm SLR cameras requires strict quality and accuracy.

Nikon D3S leads the high-speed SLR team at the continuous shooting speed of 1 1 sheet per second.

Similarly, the speed limit figures in continuous shooting have not been continuously updated this year, but we can't ignore the overall development level. You see, even the entry-level Pentax K-x can reach the continuous shooting speed of 4.7 frames per second, while the middle and high-end EOS 7D models are mostly at the level of 8 frames per second. Of course, what we need to pay attention to is that the response speed of the camera is not only reflected in? Continuous shooting? On this project. Especially after the effective pixels of some mid-to-high-end cameras increase, the amount of image data becomes larger and larger, so more and more cameras use more powerful or even dual processors to complete operations, and at the same time, the noise reduction effect of images will be enhanced.

In fact, high sensitivity, high pixel and high speed are not independent of each other, but restrict each other to some extent. Only by relying on the great progress of electronic technology can we achieve all-round improvement. The significance for users is that under the same circumstances, we can get more accurate and higher-quality photos and shoot them at the same time? Critical moment? The probability has also increased.

The manipulation experience is more humanized.

With powerful image representation, it is not a good SLR camera without a body and menu system that is easy to operate and smooth to experience. However, since the development of SLR cameras, the control system can be said to be very mature, but there are still many selling points in the digital SLR camera market in 2009, which is very helpful to improve the control experience of SLR cameras.

The viewfinder coverage of Nikon D300S reaches 100%.

The biggest innovation of SLR camera is to solve the problem of framing, so that photographers can do it in theory? What you see is what you get? Therefore, it is of great practical significance for SLR cameras to reach the picture coverage rate of 100%. On the other hand, the brighter the viewfinder, the better the framing effect will be. Judging from the new models evaluated in 2009, Nikon and Canon's new SLR cameras have done a good job in this respect.

K-7 solves the problem of mirror vibration that has plagued Pentax for a long time.

When the shutter is released, the action of the mirror of the SLR camera often causes the vibration of the fuselage, which brings trouble to shooting and blurs the motion of the photo. The newly released SLR cameras this year attach great importance to this issue, and some mid-range models such as Canon EOS 7D and Pentax K-7 have made some special design improvements in this respect to make the shooting experience better.

Nikon D3S provides silent shutter release mode.

Considering that the normal exposure mode of SLR cameras may bring obvious noise in some serious cases, many camera designs? Silent shutter release mode? This mode slows down the action of the mirror, so that the noise released by the shutter is no longer a big problem in the shooting process. At present, in addition to Nikon D300S and D3S, Canon EOS 7D camera provides silent shutter release mode.

Nikon D5000 provides a reversible display.

The reversible screen combined with live view allows the SLR camera to cope with various special shooting angles. In the past, some special angle shots, such as overhead shots and overhead shots, always bothered photographers. Toss? The reversible display screen solves this problem well. Now Sony, Nikon and other brands of entry-level SLR cameras have absorbed this element from consumer cameras, making it easier to shoot at various special angles and even take selfies.

Popularization of video function

After Olympus introduced the instant view function in SLR cameras, this function has almost reached the universal level in the new SLR cameras in 2009. For beginners, the instant view function can help users control the composition intuitively, and still keep the habit of using consumer cameras. The function of face priority autofocus through instant view is also very common, and a model like Sony A550 may even? Smile shutter? So what? Tide? The gameplay has introduced SLR. For professional users, the greatest convenience brought by instant framing should be the fine manual focus control when taking macro photos.

Sony A550 even supports smiley shutter function.

However, autofocus in live view mode is completely different. Some models (such as Sony A550 and some models of Olympus E series) can quickly autofocus in instant view mode without interrupting the field of vision. Most other models rely on image contrast detection for autofocus, which will not interrupt the framing picture and the response speed will be significantly slower than the normal shooting mode.

Canon EOS 7D provides the most powerful video shooting function of SLR cameras at present.

After the instant view function is solved, it seems that the problem of shooting video by digital SLR cameras has been solved. However, judging from the new digital SLR cameras this year, there are still quite a few differences in the clarity of video shooting and the controllability of shooting mode, especially the latter. Many people are willing to try to shoot video with SLR cameras, because the video effect shot by SLR cameras is much better than that of home cameras, so the controllability of the shooting process is very important. For example, the video shooting mode of Canon EOS 7D allows the aperture and shutter to be controlled, and also supports an external microphone, which can achieve very professional movie effects.

Pentax K-7 supports high dynamic range synthetic shooting.

Although the imaging latitude of digital cameras is improving with the development of technology, the imaging latitude of most cameras can be optimized, which means that we can control the details of highlights and shadows respectively. However, the brightness range of the subject is often far beyond the tolerance range of the camera. At this time, the synthetic high dynamic range (HDR) photo is the most suitable method to solve this problem. Of course, this effect can be achieved by using software to cooperate with multiple shots of the camera, but Pentax's new SLR models, such as K-7 and K-x, have built-in this function, which means that the synthesized high dynamic range photos can be directly output from the camera. It is expected that more and more SLR cameras will have this function in the future.

SLR Camera Appearance and Lens Innovation

Looking back on the new products of SLR cameras in 2009, except for those with little possession? In addition to the models, there are actually many innovative SLR cameras in the commemorative edition, but to sum up, what about the entry-level models? Small? And then what? Fashion? They are two clear development trends, and professional models pay more attention to the improvement of waterproof and dustproof performance.

Sony A230/A330 has no prominent handle, which reduces the body size.

Pentax K-x offers a variety of colors.

Pentax has released a new lens with certain waterproof performance.

Sony's two small SLR cameras blur the obvious protruding handle of traditional SLR cameras, further reducing the size of SLR cameras and making them more convenient to carry. The colorful body of Pentax K-x is a small-scale innovation in the field of SLR cameras. As for the improvement of professional camera protection performance, top models have always attached great importance to this point, but more and more lenses and bodies may also be improved in appearance details. At least the lens bayonet that is often disassembled is no longer always on SLR cameras? The most vulnerable place? .

Nikon nano-coating improves the glare resistance of the new lens.

In 2009, there was no revolutionary innovation in SLR lens, but the more application of Canon sub-wavelength structural coating and Nikon nano-coating improved the anti-glare and ghost elimination performance of the new lens. We also saw a very obvious effect in the evaluation of the lens, so this new coating technology is still worthy of our attention.

Summary: We talked about the hot spots worthy of our attention in the past year from the aspects of the application technology of SLR cameras, the operability of the fuselage system, the shooting-related functions and the appearance, and also mentioned some technical trends in the development of SLR cameras. Some representative models mentioned in this paper are all products that have done well in the corresponding aspects, or have led this trend. Readers can focus on these products when purchasing SLR cameras.