Semi Pro DSLR which are cameras intended for more-experienced, advanced consumers/amateur photographers, but outfitted with enough features to make them attractive to professionals as a second camera body. Indeed, some pros who have light-duty shooting requirements (perhaps because their work is more contemplative and they don’t fire off thousands of shots a day) use them as primary cameras. In truth, of course, no hard-and-fast set of features makes a particular camera a pro camera. Professionals can get excellent photos from any model that they care to use.
These dSLRs start at about $1,200 (for the body only). These models are available from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Sony, Olympus, and others.
Like entry-level enthusiast cameras, these cameras trim a few features to achieve their affordable cost and may use plastic bodies rather than the almost-indestructible magnesium camera bodies found in the pro cameras. They might lack built-in vertical camera grips and easy plug-in remote controls that professionals require. They typically fire off fewer shots in burst mode, typically from 3 to 5 fps, whereas pro models usually have 8-to-11-fps capabilities.
Pro DSLR
Although some models are priced in the $3,000 range, most professional dSLRs set you back a bit more — up to five to eight grand. (See Figure 3-5.) If you’re selling your work, the camera is well worth the cost. Cameras in this class include the Sony Alpha DSLR-A900; Nikon D700, D3, and D3x; Canon EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark III, and EOS 5D Mark II. These models take you all the way from 12MP up to a lofty 25MP (or beyond) and can, arguably, meet or exceed the image quality of the best film cameras.
Pro dSLRs have metal bodies, excellent sealing against the elements, and rugged controls and components, such as shutters that can operate thousands of times without failing.
Pro cameras generally have the most advanced autofocus systems available from a vendor, so they can take pictures right now without delay or shutter lag. They have large internal memory buffers that suck up exposures as fast as you can take them. And the speedy digital image chips process the bits and bytes, and then write them to your memory card. Exposure systems, too, are top-notch, both in accuracy and speed. Professional dSLRs are veritable speed demons.
Whereas prosumer dSLRs are considered speedy if they can capture continuous-mode pictures at 3 fps, pro cameras typically can grab 4 to 11 fps without sweating. Those big memory buffers (to store images until they can be written to the memory card) and digital signal processing chips make this speed possible.
Pro cameras let you set up multiple sets of shooting parameters and recall them at the press of a button, so you can tailor your camera’s operation to particular environments. You might find other choices not available to lesser cameras, such as the ability to save images in compressed or uncompressed RAW format, TIFF, and multiple levels of JPEG quality.
Some pro cameras offer larger, full-frame sensors, which can be an advantage to pro shooters.
Source : DSLR for DUMMIES
