Upgrade to a dSLR

Round-up reviews let you compare four related products and find out which one is best for you

Last updated: 08 May 2005

Two years ago digital SLRs were only for professional photographers and wealthy amateurs. Then Canon announced the EOS 300D in August 2003. Selling for under £800, it opened up the dSLR market to a whole new group of photographers: keen amateurs who wanted the convenience of digital at the price of a half-decent film SLR. Now there are several consumer-priced dSLRs to choose from.

In return for their bulk and weight, dSLRs give you much more flexibility than compact cameras. You can change the lens to suit your subject, fitting everything from a compact do-it-all zoom lens to specialist wide-angle, telephoto, macro, fish-eye and tilt-and-shift lenses. You can also use filters, external flash guns, remote releases and other add-ons to extend your photographic options. A dSLR can be a complete camera in itself, or it can be the heart of a system that expands and adapts as your photography develops.

Latest videos

Compare Products

	Canon EOS 350D	Nikon D70	Olympus Evolt E-300	Pentax *ist DS
Review date	5 May 05	13 Apr 04	21 Mar 05	5 May 05
Editors' rating	8.0	8.6	8.1	7.0
Price range		£700	£530	£540
Review summary	The EOS 350D is an exceptionally small and lightweight camera designed for amateur dSLR owners. Despite this, it has the responsiveness and image quality you'd expect from a semi-professional model Read full review	The Nikon D70 is a great enthusiast dSLR Read full review	This beauty-challenged Olympus offers unmatched build quality, snappy performance, and top resolution for its class, but low-light shooters and metering novices may prefer alternatives Read full review	A compact design, flexible power sources and a strong feature set make this a digital SLR for the on-the-move photo enthusiast Read full review
User rating	8.0	8.0		10.0
Form factor	Digital SLR	Digital SLR	Digital SLR	Digital SLR
Size (W x H x D)	127 x 94 x 64 mm	140 x 112 x 79 mm	145 x 84 x 64 mm	124 x 94 x 66 mm
Weight	485 g	595 g	581 g	505 g
Sensor resolution	8 megapixels	6.1 megapixels	8 megapixels	6.1 megapixels
Lens type	Zoom	Zoom	Zoom	Zoom
Focal length	18-55 mm	18-70 mm	14-45 mm	18-55 mm
Optical zoom	3 x	3.8 x	3.2 x	3 x
Flash type	Pop-up	Pop-up	Pop-up	Pop-up
Expansion slots	1 CompactFlash Card - Type I/II	1 CompactFlash Card - Type I/II	1 CompactFlash Card - Type I/II	1 SD Memory Card
Equivalent 35mm focal length	n/a	n/a	28-90 mm	n/a
	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification