Nikon and
Canon have dominated the digital slr market over the past decade with most professionals using their extensive camera systems. Sony has also entered this competitive market after taking over Minolta's camera division a few years ago. Digital SLR photography has grown rapidly over recent years as the price of digital SLRs have tumbled while specifications have increased and many manufacturers now produce smaller SLR cameras which may suit photographers moving up from a digital camera to a digital SLR camera.
The smallest and lightest digital SLR camera as of early 2010 is the Olympus E420 which weighs in at a light 445 grams including batteries and is much smaller than many bridge cameras with dimensions of only 129.5 x 91 x 53 mm. Olympus Zuiko four thirds Zoom lenses are also very small and light but for the ultimate in miniaturization, an Olympus E420 DLSR camera body coupled with the tiny Olympus Zuiko 25mm f2.8 pancake lens is hard to beat and ideal for travel photography.
Recently, Panasonic has released the world's first mirrorless compact system camera based on the micro four thirds digital camera standard - the Panasonic G1. The Panasonic G1 does not have a mirror housing but does use interchangeable micro 4/3 lenses & standard 4/3 lenses via an adapter. In 2010 to 2011, both Panasonic & Olympus have released further micro four thirds cameras including the G2, G3, GF2, GF3, E-PL1, E-PL2 & GX1.
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Samsung have released the first mirrorless compact system camera to use an APS size sensor called the NX10 followed by the NX5, NX100 and NX11. Sony have released their NEX system of cameras in 2010 with the NEX-3 and NEX-5 followed by the NEX-C3 and NEX-5N in 2011. Pentax have also released their Q mirrorless interchangeable camera system in 2011 which uses the much smaller 1/2.3" Sony backlit sensor. The digital slr camera market is changing rapidly but the table above lists the most popular bestselling digital slr cameras on the market today.
For photographers requiring total control over the digital photography process, a digital slr camera is the best choice in terms of image quality, manual controls, speed of operation, versatility, creative possibilities and in the use of raw images which provide the equivalent of a digital negative without any loss of quality through compression. In addition, standard digital cameras cannot compete with the range of accessories available for digital SLR cameras. These range from ultra wide angle zoom lenses to large aperture telephoto lenses for professional photographers in sport photography, advertising, fashion and other commercial areas as well advanced amateurs or enthusiasts.
Finally, digital SLR cameras also benefit from the wide range of high powered versatile flashguns which clip onto a DSLR's hotshoe. Flashguns can also be used externally in a wireless multi flash studio setup for a more professional approach and most flashguns have flash heads which swivel or tilt for a more natural light via bounce flash.
