Consumer Model Cameras with Advanced Settings

These cameras are generally larger and more expensive than the point and shoot cameras. The reason to use the advanced cameras over a point and shoot is they allow the photographer to change some key settings:
• Aperture
• Shutter Speed
• White balance

As you become more advanced with your photography, you will begin to use these settings to get the desired effects from lighting, focus, and color. The Consumer Models let you change these settings (although they are buried in the menus of the camera). A great example is the Canon PowerShot A720IS (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona720is/). It allows the user to shoot in Manual mode (set both aperture and shutter speed) to have more control over the images.

The difference between these cameras and their D-SLR counterparts are interchangeable lenses, and on-camera controls for adjusting aperture and shutter speed. If you are shooting a lot of pictures in changing light conditions, it is pretty annoying to have to keep navigating through menus to update these settings.

All in all, these are great for cost conscious photographers who want to learn photography, but don’t want to invest in an expensive D-SLR.