Once upon a time when digital cameras were still new and exciting toys to play with when you didn’t want to bring your “real” (film) camera with you, there were some who envisioned a utopian world where the heavy, bulky SLR, and all it’s mechanical parts, would one day disappear, leaving behind a new generation tiny digital cameras in its place. Gone would be the days of carrying a huge heavy bag for your camera and lenses, the new digital version would be half the size, no a quarter the size!

Fast forward to today and we can see that this did not happen. Tiny camera remain in the same class as the compact 35mm cameras they replaced, and Digital SLRs have firmly staked out the territory once occupied by their film ancestors. Why did this happen? Physics. Digital sensors, like film, are just better when they’re bigger. So why should you ditch that compact digital for big and bulky SLR?

1. Image quality is king! No matter what, manufacturers will always be bound by the laws of physics. If you cram more pixels onto a tiny sensor, you don’t capture as much light. If you don’t capture as much light then you need to amplify the signal to compensate. This produces digital noise, and the noise reduction that has to be applied to these images means smeared details and softer images overall at best, and a blotchy mess when you use higher ISO settings. SLRs have big sensors that let in more light, so while your compact struggles to produce a clean image at ISO 100, an SLR still looks great at ISO 800, and more than acceptable even at ISO 1600 or more!
2. Speed is king! Compacts have come along way, but they are still no match for an SLR when it comes to speed. You might get two frames a second out of a compact these days, but that won’t help you if your trying to photograph action and the rudimentary autofocus system can’t lock on in time. Even the cheapest SLRs can focus and take the picture nearly instantly, while a compact might take two or three seconds just to lock focus!
3. Flexibility is king! Your compact may be convenient, but it’s not very flexible. You’ve got one lens and you’re stuck with it. Sure this might not be a big deal on some of the new superzoom cameras, but this style of compact is often close in size to a small SLR. With smaller compacts you are stuck using clumsy add-on lenses which are expensive, inconvenient and bulky, so you might as well have an SLR anyway.
4. Versatility is king! Want to take pictures of your kids on Christmas morning with your compact? Well be prepared to dark, or noisy or blurry photos, probably all three. Sure you could use the flash, but that would spoil the mood and wash out the Christmas lights in the room. You need an SLR if you want to get good indoor shots without a flash, especially if you are photographing things that move, like people.
5. Viewfinders are king! There is no way any LCD screen can ever compare to a real through the lens glass optical viewfinder on an SLR. No amount of resolution will ever approach the clarity offered by an SLR’s viewfinder. Sure LCDs are improving, but the best ones are still reserved for SLRs anyway.