What Can You Accomplish With a Barebones DSLR?

Professional photography gear has become good enough to handle almost any situation you can throw at it. But how about budget gear? This great video takes a look at how far you can push a basic DSLR and kit lens and if it can stand up to the demands of a professional photographer. 

Coming to you from DP Review and featuring Nigel Danson, this awesome video follows Danson as he works with a Canon SL3 DSLR and kit lens. The SL3 is a barebones DSLR, but it still houses a modern sensor and features that one would never dream of even just 20 years ago. Personally, I think the lens is much more important. Any modern camera will have a sensor with enough dynamic range to create decent photos, but it's up to the lens to render those images with enough sharpness to take advantage of the sensor's resolution. Of course, there are certain limitations that make some genres more difficult than others to shoot without more specialized equipment, but you might be surprised by just how much you can do with budget equipment as long as your technique is sound. Check out the video above for the full rundown. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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7 Comments

"What Can You Accomplish With an Barebones DSLR?"

Being smug and showing people that it's not about the gear.

100% agree.

Today's entry level DSLRs are exceptional. If a person cannot obtain great images with one, it is not the fault of the camera.

As an aside, there was a video, not so long ago, where the guy shot the same images on entry level and pro cameras; the differences were negligible.

Now, if you start talking about things like build quality, then we have a different conversation.

"What Can You Accomplish With a Professional Camera?"

Bludgeoning an attacker and taking a picture of their unconscious body.

Only if it's a Canon.

You can get great images on any camera. I still think you need decent glass though. When it comes upgrading It is nice to have a few extra custom buttons. Once you know your settings you'll want to get to them quickly by a preset or atleast have enough separate buttons so you're not fiddling with menus. Having a better sensor is just a bonus at that point.

Hmm try that again with the 2000d and the 4000 ... really the cheapest dslr out there.