How To Buy Your First Digital SLR Camera

Now that many of us have made the plunge and purchased our first or second digital cameras, there's another upgrade to consider. Sure you love the portability of your pocket-sized camera, and the pictures are pretty darn good. But you covet pictures that have more color depth, crisper images, and above all, zoomed in detail that can only occur when a telephoto lens is in use.

Enter the Digital SLR: these look like traditional cameras with black bulky bodies and long adjustable lenses, but the film is gone. These imaging devices use memory cards for storage just like your digital point-and-shoot cameras. Digital SLRs offer flexibility for photographers who want more manual control. Best of all, they have interchangeable lenses. You want up-close telephoto shots? Ultra-wide landscapes? No problem, there's a Digital SLR lens for almost every photographic need.

By the way, SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. The short explanation on SLR technology means that regardless of the interchangeable lens you are using, the image you see in the view-finder is the image you'll capture in your picture.

Buying a Digital SLR Camera
There is a downside to these wonderful imaging devices: they are pricey. When you are making an investment in a camera that could cost you thousands of dollars, you'll want to do a lot of research to make sure you get the right camera for your needs. 

Use this entry as a starting point in your research. I'll touch on four things you need to consider during the buying process: budget, lens type (focal length), sensor type, and focus systems. I've also included links to some comprehensive guides explaining digital SLR terms and mechanics.

How Much Can You Spend?
An entry level Digital SLR starts in the $800-to-$900 dollar range for the camera back and one lens. The good news is that you can add lenses, flashes, hoods and other accessories as you can afford them. For this reason make sure you are buying an interchangeable digital SLR, not a fixed lens SLR or an SLR-like camera. You want options and room to expand.

What Will You Primarily Shoot? Lens Focal Length
A big part of buying a digital SLR is deciding which lens you should start out with. You'll want an all-in-one type lens that has the most flexibility possible: some width, some magnification or zoom. The relationship between zoom verses width in a lens is referred to as the focal length, and it's measured in millimeters.
My pick for a "desert island lens" is 24mm-85 mm. This quantification means it does a decent job with close-ups or wide shots (at the 24mm end of the spectrum) and it has some zoom capabilities (at the 85mm end of the spectrum).

My advice is to buy the camera back without the bundled lens. Instead get an all-in-one lens like the 24mm-85mm to start you out with the most flexibility possible as you experiment with the camera and your needs as a photographer.

As you gain more experience, you'll probably want to think about a second lens: If you shoot sports, kids, or animals, you'll probably want a telephoto lens. If you shoot landscapes or small items, you'll want a wide angle lens.

More on Lenses
Visual explainer of lens focal length

Sensors
The sensors in digital cameras are what process the light of an image into the actual digital file. There are two major types of sensors in digital SLR cameras: CCD and CMOS sensors. Both have upsides and downsides: battery life, quality, price. Neither technology should be a deal-breaker for buying a camera: consider the upsides and downsides of the sensor in the context of the entire camera specifications.

Geeky info on image sensors

Shutter Lag and Focus Systems
Auto-focus capabilities on digital SLR cameras are crucial to the clarity of your images and the speed at which you take them. You can quantify the speed of a camera's auto-focus system, but this is one buying factor that needs to be experienced to be properly evaluated. Get your hands on a camera and try out the auto-focus. You have to feel the picture-taking experience before you buy and the auto-focus features are crucial to that experience.

More on Auto-focus and other key features in the digital SLR buying process

Good Luck!
Take your time, try lots of cameras, and talk to people who use digital SLR cameras on a regular basis. Buying a digital SLR camera is a huge investment of money and time, but the reward of amazing photographs makes the whole process worth it.

Anatomy of a digital SLR camera
Reviews of  top 5 digital SLR cameras