Ole Timer wrote:
You're talking about technical things, and missing my point altogether. I don't disagree that the DSLR is the better tool, but scads of people take average photos with them because they haven't any idea how to compose an interesting photo.
I would rather look at well composed photos taken with a camera phone than boring photos taken with a several thousand dollar Nikon...
Unfortunately you missed the part where I said I agree with you to a large extent.
Just because you saw a bunch of tourists taking crap pictures with a DSLR doesn't mean he should get a point and shoot.
Composition is everything, and a point and shoot with a zoom lens and limited depth of field and shutter speed can limit your range of composition. You are talking about one type of photograph. There is fast action, animal, portrait, macro, telephoto, time lapse, low light, high dynamic range, landscapes, etc. The dslr lets you do a good job of trying all of these. Lenses keep their value well and so you can just move on if you want to try something new.
A desire to learn with a dslr with a prime lens (50mm Canon 1.8 is the best starter lens) is the best tool to think about composition. Every starting photography student gets this basic set up because it is fundamental. You can't zoom in. You need to see the image in your mind before you shoot, rather than just zooming in. You know that your photos will have a certain level of compression (telephoto vs wide angle makes for very different images). You can control aperature and depth of field. I can freeze action (sports, animals) shots (about 3 per second) instantly without waiting a long time to focus. I can also take photos in a very dark room. The lower aperature makes the depth of field very narrow so you need to start thinking about where you want your focal point. Usually it is one of the person's pupils in portraits.
My point is this. If you really want to enjoy photography, then you can get a superior experience with a used dlsr and one or two inexpensive lenses IMO. Like I said, the kit 18mm-55 allows you very wide angle shots that point and shoots can't match. The 50mm prime takes incredible portraits and has very smooth bokeh. Each are very cheap.
The poster who said shoot often and experiment is 100% correct. The camera is the tool. That said, the digital slr brings us so many options as consumers it is amazing. If you get a point and shoot, you are just limiting your potential experience.