The latest infographic in our popular photography cheat sheet series, our digital camera buyer’s guide not only lists the current models, their price and key specs such as sensor type, but also includes the verdicts from our own lab tests of these cameras, as well as manufacturer contact information and more.

We’ve posted a low-res version below, but click here to download our free digital camera buyer’s guide and you’ll get all the help you need (apart from wads of cash; we can’t help you there!) when deciding what camera to buy.

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But what exactly is the difference between a CSC vs DSLR apart from the size? In the latest of our photography cheat sheet series we’ve looked beyond body size at what you need to know when making a CSC vs DSLR comparison.

Below we’ve profiled the Panasonic Lumix GH2 (see our Panasonic Lumix G: tips for using your digital camera) to illustrate some of the key differences in features in compact system cameras and DSLR.

Simply drag and drop this handy infographic on to your desktop and keep it for a reference when you make your next camera purchase.

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Sony will eschew traditional DSLRs and concentrate on developing its DSLT cameras, the company has revealed.

Speaking to our sister website TechRadar, Paul Genge from Sony UK said, “We have no SLRs in our line-up today, and our intention is to develop the SLT technology and make that a real stand-out in the market.”

He also reiterated that Sony’s president made a statement during the IFA consumer electronics show that the company is going to be looking at full frame as the next introduction for for its SLT line of cameras.

From the outside, Sony DSLTs look almost indistinguishable from their DSLR counterparts. However, inside Sony DSLT cameras is the company’s Translucent Mirror Technology that allows around 70% of the light entering the lens to pass directly through it and onto the imaging sensor, while a smaller amount is reflected up to the camera’s phase detection autofocus sensor.

This means that in practice, the time taken to record a shot is reduced, as well as allowing for full-time phase detection AF.

At the moment, Sony’s current SLT line-up includes the Sony Alpha a77 and Sony Alpha a65, which were introduced last year.

Currently, Sony only manufactures APS-C size DSLT cameras, so the confirmation that the next full-frame camera from the company will be fixed mirror is exciting. The last full frame DSLR from Sony, the Alpha 900, was introduced in 2008.

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Nikon ended the long wait, unveiling its new 36.3-megapixel FX-format professional Nikon D800, which it claims ‘delivers unprecedented levels of depth and detail’ and allows users to shoot broadcast quality video.

What’s more, Nikon claims the Nikon D800 is not a successor to its popular full frame DSLR, the Nikon D700, but instead offers a potential to rival medium format cameras.

The Nikon D800, price slated to be £2399.99, will be available from 12 April, its UK release date.

Chris George, editor of our sister magazine, N-Photo, was invited to have a hands-on with the new Nikon DSLR prior to the announcement of the Nikon D800 release date. Watch our video below to see his first impressions. Or continue to read more about the Nikon D800 specs as this story continues after the video.

The Nikon D800’s 36.3-megapixel FX-format (full-frame) CMOS sensor offers photographers what Nikon claims are unprecedented levels of detail and tonal range. To this end the new Nikon camera boasts 12-channel readout with 14-bit A/D conversion and high signal-to-noise ratio, along with an ISO range of 100–6400, which is extendable up to 25600 (equivalent) and down to 50 (equivalent).

What’s more, the camera’s intelligent noise reduction systems manage noise without sacrificing fine details, allowing superb flexibility under all lighting conditions: images are crisp and clean, even at higher ISO settings.

The Nikon D800 also comes equipped with the manufacturer’s next-generation EXPEED 3 image-processing engine, offering 16-bit image processing that Nikon says can deliver smooth gradations with abundant detail and tone all the way up the scale to pure white, even when shooting in JPEG.

Nikon also claims the D800 can meet professional demands for video, shooting full HD (1080p) movies in frame rates of 30p, 25p and 24p, with 60p, 50p and 25p options at 720p. Movie clips can be up to 29:59 minutes long. As with the recent Nikon D4, full HD recording is possible in both FX and DX based formats.

The D800 also features an external stereo microphone input for video and audio recording, as well as an audio out for external headphones so you can fine tune audio in isolation both before and during movie recording. A line input setting for PCM linear recorders is also provided.

For a great example of what the Nikon D800 is capable of in terms of video recording, the video below – Joy Ride, directed by Sandro – depicts a man travelling across Chicago on his motorcycle to attend the birth of his child. The short film was shot on a Nikon D800.

Joy Ride from Sandro on Vimeo.

Finally, the Nikon D800 offers an uncompressed HDMI output for those who need the purest video output for professional quality editing. The D800 lets users output the uncompressed live view to external recorders and monitors. As with the Nikon D4, this data is output at the designated image size and frame rate, and is clean of the information overlay that can be simultaneously displayed on the camera’s TFT monitor.

Also on board the D800 is an Advanced Scene Recognition System with a new 91,000-pixel RGB sensor that analyses scenes. This detailed scene analysis is also utilised to support more accurate autofocus, auto exposure and i-TTL flash exposure results in a diverse range of compositional and lighting situations.

The Nikon D800 also implements Nikon’s Multi-CAM 3500FX AF system — with individually selectable or configurable 9-, 21- and 51-point coverage settings.

On the new Nikon DSLR the autofocus sensor module and algorithms have been re-engineered to improve low light acquisition sensitivity capabilities down to -2 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F). The overall performance is similar to the Nikon D4, the company says.

Nikon is also promising fast start-up times of just 0.12 seconds on the D800, while release time lag is minimized to approx. 0.042 seconds, with continuous approx. 4 fps capability in FX-format and crop modes, pushed to approx. 6 fps capability in DX-format Crop mode with the optional Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D12.

The D800’s glass prism optical viewfinder offers approximately 100% frame coverage and 0.7x magnification (50mm f/1.4 lens at infinity, -1.0m-1). Nikon is also launching a special edition of the D800 – the Nikon D800E, which comes with a modified optical filter.

Nikon claims the D800’s shutter unit has been tested to well over 200,000 cycles of release. For more details on this new Nikon DSLR, check out the Nikon D800 hands-on review on our sister website, TechRadar.

Switch to a full-frame DSLR and your pictures will automatically be better – or so the hype goes. But this is only partly true… A full-frame sensor camera just takes different – not necessarily better – shots than Nikon or Canon DSLRs with the more standard APS-C-sized sensor.

So, what exactly do we mean by ‘full-frame’? A full-frame DSLR from Nikon or Canon or Sony has a sensor that’s the same size as a frame of traditional 35mm film, measuring 36x24mm. The more popular APS-C sensor cameras have much smaller 22x15mm sensors. This means, a full-frame sensor has over 2.5 times the surface area of an APS-C sensor.

Sure, size has certain advantages, but there are distinct drawbacks, too, to making the switch up to a full-frame DSLR.

Camera selection
To upgrade to a full-frame DSLR, prepare to pay a premium. For instance, the street price for a Canon 5D Mark II body is around £1,700, while Canon’s flagship EOS-1Ds Mk III body is £5,250! The added production cost of the bigger sensors means that full frame DSLRs aren’t launched all that often. Today’s Nikon D800 announcement, nearly four years after the release of its predecessor, the Nikon D700, is a shining example of this.

Because full frame DSLRs are less frequent, though, this means you don’t get as much choice as with APS-C.

Image quality
The biggest advantage of full-frame is image quality and image size. Both the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 1Ds Mark III full-frame DSLRs, for instance, come equipped with 21.1-megapixel sensors, and crucially these sensors are over two-and-a-half times bigger – and have much larger individual pixels (or photosites) – when compared to APS-C cameras.

It is not the number of pixels that really counts – APS-C models such as Canon’s EOS 7D and EOS 550D have almost as many photosites, thanks to their 18-million pixel count – but the size of the photosites is crucial to image quality.

Bigger individual light sensors capture more light – and this means that less electronic noise is created. You notice this most as you increase the ISO setting – with this noise creating a coloured mosaic pattern that is particularly noticeable in shadow areas.

Crop-factor effect
The size of the sensor also changes the amount of the scene captured by the camera. Although APS-C and full-frame cameras can share many of the same lenses, the visual effect they provide is different. It is the angle of view that actually changes – as the smaller sensor covers less of the image projected by the lens.

This is known as the crop factor – which compares the angle of view with that seen by a traditional full-frame 35mm film SLR. With full-frame DSLRs the crop factor is 1x – so effectively can be forgotten. A 24mm lens gives the same angle of view as a 24mm lens before the age of digital cameras.

   

Top: Full frame DSLR at 24mm. Bottom: APS-C sensor DSLR at 24mm.

An APS-C sensor sees a smaller angle of view – with a crop factor of 1.6x. This means the same 24mm lens actually captures the angle of view of a traditional 38mm focal length setting (24×1.6=38). So if you want to capture sweeping wide-angle vistas, a full-frame camera allows you to take in more of the scene in front of you than an APS-C model with the same lens.

The flip side is that the crop factor effect of APS-C cameras becomes an advantage when shooting distant subjects.

   

Top: Full frame DSLR at 200mm. Bottom: APS-C sensor DSLR at 200mm.

A 200mm telephoto lens gives the same view as a traditional 320mm lens, when the 1.6x crop factor is taken into account – great for getting close to the action in sports or wildlife photography.

Less lens choice
Full-frame cameras used to offer a real advantage when shooting landscapes or indoors in tight spaces. However, lens makers have combated this by developing zoom lenses with shorter focal lengths exclusively for use on APS-C-sensor cameras.

Standard APS-C-style zooms offer an 18mm setting, equivalent to the view given by a full-frame 28mm lens. Super-wide lenses offer settings of 10mm – equivalent to, or with an effective focal length (EFL) of, 16mm. These lenses cannot be used with full-frame cameras (as they would produce dark corners) – so APS-C users actually get a wider choice of optics!

Blurring backgrounds
Portrait photographers love full-frame DSLRs, as the larger the sensor a digital camera uses, the smaller depth of field (DoF) you get. This means that you can throw backgrounds and foregrounds more out of focus – for artistic effect and to draw strong attention to the subject. The reason for this is that the amount of depth of field depends of three different factors: the aperture, the subject distance, and the focal length.

Use full-frame, and the actual focal length you use for a particular composition changes. You use a 28mm lens setting, say, rather than the 18mm you would need with an APS-C camera – and this difference in focal length means less depth of field.

In practice, this means that wide apertures on full-frame cameras provide noticeably more defocused backgrounds than on APS-C cameras. Look at our portrait photos below and you’ll see that a full-frame DSLR at f/5.6 produces a seemingly similar amount of depth of field and background blur to an APS-C camera at f/2.8. The f/2.8 shot on the full-frame DSLR creates a very shallow DoF for knocking backdrops out of focus to make your subjects really stand out from their surroundings.

   

Top: Full frame DSLR at f/2.8. Bottom: APS-C sensor DSLR at 200mm

APS-C cameras are better, however, if you want to maximise depth of field – which has advantages in studio and landscape photography. For example, when using the same angle of view, on an APS-C DSLRs you will be able to get away with using, say, f/14, whereas on a full-frame DSLR you may have to use f/22 to ensure your scene is sharp from foreground to background.

Nikon has announced the launch of the D4, the replacement for the D3s as its flagship high-speed SLR. Improvements include a 16.2-megapixel FX-format sensor, extendible ISO range 9100-1280 (it can go as far as 204,800) and 10 frames per second shooting with autofocus. Another key improvement is a 91,000 pixel metering for more accurate metering, white balance, flash exposure, face detection and Active D Lighting (Nikon’s system for boosting shadows and preventing highlights burning out). The new D4 also supports full HD 1080p video and improved sound recording, underscoring the importance of high-quality video recording in today’s top-end SLRs. The official price of the Nikon D4 is £4,799 and it’s due to go onsale on the 16^th of February. Watch out for a full review in Digital Camera soon!

Watch our hands-on preview below, or click here for our full, in-depth review.

Scanning the A77′s specifications, it’s impossible to be unimpressed with what’s on offer. The camera is positively overflowing with up-to-the-minute technology that either matches or supersedes the competition. Boasting a new 24.3Mp APS-C format CMOS sensor, 19-point autofocus (AF) system, 12fps continuous shooting, Full HD (1080p) video recording and the highest resolution electronic viewfinder we’ve seen to date, it’s clear that Sony isn’t taking any prisoners in its battle against the traditional SLR.

Read our full review of the Sony A77 on TechRadar.

Canon, Nikon, Sony and other camera manufacturers are increasingly putting high-def video recording tools at the top of their digital SLR feature sets – and with good reason. The large sensors. awesome low-light performance and massive lens ranges offered by current DSLRs makes them appealing to a whole new breed of filmmakers, as well as photographers. If you’re a newcomer to ‘HDSLRs’, then this is for you: a guide that cuts through the jargon and explains how to get started with high-definition movie-making…

DSLR HD video: what do I need to know?

Shooting high-definition video 
with a DSLR is a relatively new concept. Some people love it, not just because it adds another string to your camera’s bow, but because the video that some of these new cameras can produce is of broadcast quality. In fact, DSLRs – or HDSLRs – are being used more and more by professional film and television makers because the bodies, lenses and add-ons are much cheaper than traditional broadcast video equipment. In particular, DSLRs provide a far greater range of affordable lens options compared with the top-end movie cameras.

Sounds good. So who are the people who aren’t convinced about HD video on DSLRs?

Traditional photographers have been rather suspicious about it. Video has been a gizmo on pocket cameras and mobile phones for some time – and some people think it’s out of place on a serious stills camera. They think they’re paying for a feature they won’t use.

Do they have a point?

Put it this way: having HD video facilities on a top-end DSLR may make it cheaper because it increases the number of people who might buy it. Furthermore, it became a relatively easy feature to include once manufacturers started adding live view to their cameras – a feature that few stills photographers who’ve used it would want to do without.

What’s the connection 
between HD video and live view?

DSLRs have a mirror and prism system that enables you to see the scene through the lens. When you take a picture, the mirror rises, the viewfinder goes dark and the image is captured by the sensor. Live view feeds the picture from the sensor directly to the LCD – the mirror is kept raised, and the viewfinder can no longer be used. HD video recording is simply saving the live view feed to the memory card instead of just displaying it.

What level of video quality can be expected from a DSLR?

The best DSLRs can record full HD – which has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels – at 24 to 30fps. This is the same resolution as video on a Blu-ray disc. Some SLRs are capable only of the lower resolution of 720p HD, which has a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. This is still twice the resolution of the DVD format, however. Lower resolutions, such as VGA which is 640×480 pixels, are often provided as an option for longer clips or for web use.

But surely my DSLR has more pixels available than this?

True, but only for stills. The amount of data that would need to be recorded every second would make higher resolutions impractical. Besides, there would be no televisions capable of playing such footage – the best ones are capable of displaying only 1080p full HD video.

What sort of file formats do these DSLRs record video in?

If you think the choice between RAW and JPEG for stills is complicated, you’ll be baffled by the formats used by modern video devices. There are two parts to a video format. First, there’s the container – the way that data is packaged as it’s recorded. And then there’s the codec – the algorithm used for coding and decoding the data. 
It isn’t necessary to worry about this too much because the container and codec are decided by the camera you use – and videos can be translated from one format to another at the editing and output stage. Nikon and Olympus DSLRs use the AVI format, Canon DSLRs use a variation of MOV, and Panasonic and Sony work with a new format called AVCHD.

Can I still record if I use specialist lenses – like a macro or super-telephoto?

Absolutely! One of the main reasons that serious moviemakers are currently swapping their standard camcorders for DSLRs is the huge choice of lenses that you can get for them. Most video cameras have a built-in superzoom, with an often-substantial zoom ratio. However, they don’t offer a decent wide-angle view. Ultra-wide lenses and even fisheyes are widely available for most DSLRs. And you can use other lenses too – such as macro and ultra-telephoto settings.

Just as important to the moviemaker are the wide-apertured lenses that can be bought (or hired) for DSLRs. The narrow depth of field that you can get using even a low-cost 50mm f/1.8 prime lens is almost impossible to achieve on affordably priced camcorder gear. And such ‘fast’ lenses are available in practically every focal length – from the wide-apertured wide-angles used by professional documentary photographers to the ‘long-tom’ telephotos used by pro sports shooters.

Can I still use autofocus on my DSLR while shooting video?

Shooting video requires a DSLR’s reflex mirror to be fixed in the ‘up’ position as long as you continue to shoot, so that light entering through the lens reaches the image sensor continuously. You can still see what you’re shooting using the LCD on the back of the camera, but the viewfinder goes completely dark. The focusing systems used by SLRs also use the mirror, so different focusing methods are needed to ensure you have sharp footage. Autofocus systems can’t be guaranteed to work with all subjects, and it’s often best to set up the focus manually before you start recording,  and then ensure the subject doesn’t move out of the plane of focus.

Why do I need to record audio with an external mic when my camera can record all the sound?

Most cameras have a single built-in microphone that only records a monaural (non-stereo) track. The fact that they record in mono, rather than stereo, isn’t the real issue. Many professional add-on microphones are non-stereo affairs, because this is perfectly adequate for recording ambient sound and speech. However, the fact that the microphone is built in is a disadvantage. The proximity of the audio pick-up to camera and the user means that it can record the sound of your breathing, the autofocus motor (if used), and every slight touch of the camera that you make. Sound does not travel as well as light, and it is therefore important to get the microphone as close to the sound source as possible.

Any good DSLR should provide a stereo microphone socket, which enables you to connect a wired or wireless microphone. Many professionals, however, prefer to use a separate audio recording device instead. The video and audio are then combined during the editing process. Popular add-on microphones include the Sennheisser MKE400 and the Rode VideoMic

Can I record everything in Auto mode or should I adjust exposure manually, as with still images?

The amount of control you have over the exposure when shooting video varies from camera to camera. Some enable you to change the ISO, shutter speed, aperture and so on, in much the same way as you can when shooting stills. Realistically, however, you’ll have a narrower range of options.

A video is a succession of stills. You’re typically shooting 25 pictures every second – so this means that shutter speeds of 1/8 sec aren’t feasible. But fast shutter speeds aren’t always viable either, because this will create a flick-book effect on video of any moving subject. Keep shutter speeds to below 1/100 sec (unless you’re looking for super-sharp freeze-frame effects).

It’s because of this shutter speed limitation that your camera’s ISO control is often your most potent exposure weapon, allowing you to use the aperture that you really want. As people are attracted to D-SLRs for the wide aperture, narrow depth of field effects, one of the most useful accessories you can own is an ND (neutral density) filter. This cuts down the amount of light reaching the sensor, so you can use the widest apertures even in the brightest of light.

How long do memory cards 
last while recording?

The maximum length of a clip is limited to less than 30 minutes. But the way memory cards are formatted means clips can’t exceed 4GB in size, which will limit them to around 12 minutes. This should be long enough for film-making projects, where each shot is usually a few seconds or minutes long. It isn’t sufficient, though, for recording a play or a football match.

Should I use a tripod when shooting video?

We’ve all seen and suffered handheld home videos taken on a camcorder – and remember how sick they can make you feel! A tripod, therefore, is almost always essential for good quality footage.

This is particularly the case because (unlike camcorders) most DSLRs are not particularly well designed for moviemaking – you need to use Live View, forcing you to use the rear LCD as the viewfinder. You can see the screen at the back more clearly if you haven’t got to support the weight of the camera. A monopod is obviously a lot better than nothing.

When you really do need to shoot untethered to the ground, you’ll also find some interesting ‘rigs’ being sold that are designed to address the ergonomic issues of shooting video with your DSLR. Check out the Red Rock range at www. redrockmicro.com, the Zacuto rigs at www.zacuto.com and the range of supports at www.cameragrip.co.uk to see the shoulder-mounted systems that are becoming popular with pros.

What’s the simplest video editing program? And will it work with my camera?

There’s a huge range of video-editing software available, from free downloads to pricey professional packages. Most work in a very similar way, however, enabling you to import clips and arrange your different video shots and audio tracks on a ‘timeline’ – a kind of visual spreadsheet that allows you to cut and paste your movie together. Not all packages will work with all types of raw video footage. However, it’s almost always possible to convert your footage into a format that will work with a particular program using an additional piece of software.

A good all-round choice for those starting out is Adobe’s Premiere Elements – the video-editing equivalent of Photoshop Elements. This has more than enough power and tools for all but the most professional user.

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