What is a DSLR camera?

Hey there! Welcome to my photography blog! Since this is the first post, let me explain what an SLR camera is and how it is different from a compact camera.
SLR is short for Single Lens Reflex. Today, we have DSLRs which are nothing but Digital SLRs.
This blog is for everyone out there and i do not want to get into the dirty technical details of how these things work. There's this place for that! And it will scare half the people reading this and will put the other half to sleep!! So, here's what you should know. How is it different from a compact camera (also called Point and Shoot or P&S)?
Firstly, everyone should know that the camera does not matter. The camera does not make pictures. Its the photographer who makes pictures. The camera is just a tool. And is usually quite expensive and equally useful!

1. DSLRs are made for rugged use (Not the base models). Compacts are not. You can take a DSLR into the wild, get it wet, bang it around (not intentionally!) and it will not only work, but will still help you take the picture of that subject you were looking for.
2. DSLRs are heavy and big. They are not portable nor pocket-able like compact cameras. This is quite obvious if you have seen a DSLR.
3. You can change lenses on a DSLR depending on what you want to shoot or the kind of photography you do and you zoom manually. Compacts have a fixed lens and you zoom them with buttons, usually labelled "W" and "T" (will tell you what they mean later).
4. DSLRs make colorfully rich pictures, full of detail and sharpness. Compacts fail to do so due to other convinience compromises.
5. DSLRs have a high sensitivity to light. This means you can shoot at low light without tripods at conviniently high shutterspeeds. P&S cameras cant do this well. Some do, but the pictures are too noisy ("Noisy" in photography means "dirty" or "grainy").
6. DSLRs last long and the lenses last even longer. The lenses that your dad bought can be used today if you have the right camera. Compacts last a very short time and they are easily spoilt.
7. Compacts have a live view of the lens. That is you just have to look into the LCD screen at the back of the camera and shoot. But, in older DSLRs (whatever they made before 2008) you have to look through the viewfinder. This actually helps you concentrate on composition and also makes you look PRO! ;) You use the LCD screen only for reviewing the images that you have shot.
   
8. Finally, SLR cameras are much more expensive. The cameras used by journalists today cost around $8000. But you can get a basic DSLR for a tenth of that amount.

Thats all i can think of for now. But remember, just like a golfer does not improve as soon as he buys the most expensive golf kit out there, a photographer does not make awe-inspiring pictures as soon as he gets the best camera out there. DSLRs are the way to go PRO, no doubt. But if you cant make great shots with your Sony Cybershot or a Canon PowerShot, chances are that you will not get great shots with a DSLR. Be it a Nikon, Canon or this camera that costs as much as a brand new Mercedes Benz.

Happy Clicking!