Should I buy a DSLR?

I get this question a lot from my friends (or a variant of it that ultimately boils down to this question.) The answer is quiet simple: buy a DSLR if you are a photography enthusiast, not just because you want good-quality pictures. But, as all the simple answers go, this does not satisfy my friends. So let me elaborate...

If you are buying something, you have to make sure that you are going to use it nearly 100% to its capabilities – it's my policy of buying anything. The same applies to buying a DSLR. Therefore, try to answer the following questions before buying a DSLR:

1. Can you spend $600+?
2. Are you ready to drag along 500g+ camera to wherever you go?
3. Are you ready to spend more than few hours learning your camera's controls?
4. Are you ready to spend more than few hours learning the basics of photography?
5. Will you be comfortable using a big camera in front of your friends?

If you can truthfully answer "yes" to the above questions, then you can buy a DSLR. Don't delude yourself (or buy into a salesperson's pitch) that buying a DSLR will improve the quality of your photos. For example, check the four photos I posted above and guess which were taken by a compact and which by a DSLR (answer below.) The point is, until you spend enough time learning your camera's controls and the basics of photography, your new DSLR will behave exactly like your old point-and-shoot. On the other hand, learning the basics of photography will improve the quality of the photos taken by your compact camera. Learning a bit about photography is not as hard as you think. Of course it will involve learning a bit of new glossary (like aperture and shutter speed), but once you have learned a few new words, your learning curve will dramatically improve.

Don't underestimate the importance of the questions 2 and 5 above. Even though the entry level DSLRs are significantly lighter than the professional beasts, they are still much heavier than the point-and-shoot you used to carry around. More importantly, they are much bulkier; your new DSLR will not fit into your palm, pocket, or purse anymore. You are going to buy a dedicated camera bag and carry it around. Trust me, this extra luggage is much harder you think to carry around – it is not about the weight, but about the dedication it requires to take it around wherever you go. Note that to capture great photographs you should have your camera with you everywhere you go.

Hopefully question 5 is self-explanatory. I had to carry around my DSLR for quiet a long time before my friends stop commenting about it and be comfortable around it. Note that number of cultures/people are camera-shy and for them DSLRs can be quite intimidating. May be the issue is waning as DSLRs are becoming omnipresent, but it is still there.

I also have to warn you about one more thing before you buy a DSLR. The primary difference between a DSLR and a compact camera is the DSLR's extendability – a DSLR is capable of supporting numerous attachments: lenses, external flashes, filters, etc. As far as I am concerned, at least you have to buy an external flash to enjoy a DSLR's full potential (next is a telephoto zoom lens.) While extendability is great, it also means that you have to be ready to spend extra cash, spend extra time to learn more about them, and haul still more weight.

In summary, if you are really into photography, buy a DSLR. If not, first learn to shoot well with your compact and when you understand the real limitations of a compact, you can move to a DSLR. To quote somebody, it is actually the person who makes a photograph, not the camera. Without realizing that, I have seen number of friends abandoning their new DSLRs in a few months.

In the above four shots, only the first one was taken by a DSLR (Nikon D40) in full-auto mode; the rest were taken by a compact (Canon ELPH 300HS) again in auto. No post-processing was done except adding the number-texts and cropping the DSLR shot for 4:3 aspect ratio