Advanced Point and Shoot Versus DSLR

With so many good camera options available, how should you decide between an Advanced Point and Shoot versus a DSLR? For some people, the choice is very easy. If you need something compact that will fit in a purse or a pocket, it has to be a point and shoot. If you want high quality pictures that you can sell or blow up into poster-size, then you'll be looking at DSLRs. Between these extemes however; the choices get somewhat fuzzier. 

To go right to the bottom line, with Point and Shoot cameras getting better and better, it may be a tough decision between a Point and Shoot and a DSLR. For those who may be trying to decide between an advanced Point and Shoot versus a budget DSLR versus a more full featured DSLR, we have provided a comparison of our top picks in each category:

* The image quality can only be measured on cameras that can save to RAW format. Almost all DSLRs can do this but most Point and Shoot cameras cannot. The sensor on a Point and Shoot camera is about 1/6 the size of the sensor on a DSLR. This is one of the biggest differences between the two and it means that the picture quality on a Point and Shoot camera may be quite acceptable for family photos and so forth but for more serious uses, the quality is very limited and can’t match the quality from a DSLR.
_________________________________________________________________________

Looking at this chart may lead to the question: why would I buy a DSLR when the FZ100 provides such a great package of features? For many people this is a very legitimate question and the answer may be that they should buy the FZ100 instead of a DSLR. For normal everyday family pictures or landscapes, a Point and Shoot camera like the FZ100 will provide very acceptable pictures. With the 11 fps burst mode, it is also a pretty good choice for family sports photography. The full HD video can be used for 10 – 15 min clips and that probably means that that you don’t need a separate video camera. With 24x zoom, you can get close-ups of very distant people and objects.

So why consider the K-x? A DSLR is really best suited for those who wish to go beyond the simple family photos and take high quality pictures, even in less than ideal conditions.  When you look at the Max ISO and the Max Shutter speed comparison, you can see where the DSLRs start to leave the FZ100 behind. There is also a significant difference in image quality, even though we can’t show a number for the FZ100. For photographers who want to do their own post-processing of their pictures, RAW mode (from a DSLR) is a necessity.  Buying a DSLR means that you won’t get the same richness of features (as the FZ100) unless you go for more than a basic DSLR. It also means that you will need to purchase a separate telephoto lens if you want to zoom in on those distant people and objects. A 300mm telephoto lens will give you a magnification of 9x. You won’t likely be using 24x zoom on a DSLR.

The chart above also shows that the K-x stacks up quite favorably against the more expensive Sony a560. The K-x has been lauded for its picture quality and you can see that the quality measurement (from DXO Mark) is actually slightly higher for the K-x than for the a560. You can also see that the Max Shutter Speed for the K-x is higher than for the a560. Some of the other features on the K-x don’t match those on the a560, but that is what we would expect given that these cameras are in different categories and have quite a difference in price. You can easily see the rationale for the high ratings for the K-x for “Picture Quality” and “Value for the Money”.  So the choice is yours. The right answer depends on how you want to use the camera, the results that you expect and how much you want to spend.