Round 1: Night Shots
The first round we share two of my favorite photos from all of my travels. The Eiffel Tower at night and Luxor Temple at night. The beautiful Parisian monument was taken with the Point and Shoot and the Egyptian temple was captured by my SLR.
The reason this round is a tricky pick is because both images are without any form of blur. Both were taken on a tripod, and the exposure for each was set manually based on the cameras' available settings. As both of these low-light shots were taken outside, one of the major issues cameras have in regards to man-made light sources is removed.
Round 2: Macro Modes
Close-up photos are another one of my favorite styles to shoot, and you'll often find me up close and personal with a number of flowers in any park you may find me in. The ultra-close photo taken in Ohio (which is printed on a 30" x 40" canvas in my living room) was taken on a Point and Shoot while the exotic Singapore flower was taken with my trusty SLR.
Macro mode is one element that I think Point and Shoot cameras have an advantage over their SLR counterparts. Without needing an extra lens, Point and Shoot cameras are often designed to get closer to objects than the standard lenses your SLR may have. In fact, I owned one camera for a few years that could get as close as 2 centimeters to an object with some amazing results. An SLR with a non-Macro lens can be tricked to get great close-up photos, but can be difficult at times.
Round 3: Sunsets
The colors a camera captures in Auto mode may not always be what your eyes see. Sunsets are a perfect example of these as most Point and Shoot cameras now offer several sunset modes that manually change the colors you capture to make a sunset appear more beautiful. I try to avoid using these modes as best I can, but sometimes the images look too good to pass up. In this round I took two photos of the same sunset taken in Railay Beach, Thailand to show how this difference presents itself. The SLR is the photo with the large rock coming out of the water, and the Point and Shoot is the one of the two yachts with the sun in the background.
Round 4: Portraits
We stayed in Thailand for the fourth round of this quiz with one of the more difficult photo styles to take: Portraits. The image of Angie and myself overlooking Koh Phi Phi, Thailand on a high lookout was taken by the SLR and the image of us on an island off the coast of Krabi was taken by the Point and Shoot.
The images in this set were not chosen so much for their technical merit of camera type but by the fact that the manner in which the photos were taken made the image. In both of these the person who took the photo kneeled down or got above us in a different vantage point to make the scene pop a bit more. It just so happens that the camera types were not the same, even if both images looked equally impressive.
We have to admit, this quiz was stacked against everyone from the start. Without giving more information on how the photo was taken, it is almost impossible to tell the difference, and that was the point. Too often we concern ourselves with having the right camera when in reality most any camera can produce great images as long as you know how to use it.
There are no arguments that an expensive SLR will get great photos, however most Point and Shoots now offer great features that mimic some of the most popular modes their SLR counterparts have. When in the right hands, you can be sure no one will be able to tell the difference.