Regular camera vs. a digital slr camera?

short answer - digital SLR is better than a "regular" (point and shoot) digital camera

long answer - There are several reasons an SLR is better:

1. Like someone said, the SLR has a physically larger sensor so it collects more light and has less noise.

2. SLRs give the user more control over important settings.

3. Also like someone already said, with an SLR you can get better lenses. For one thing, you can get larger aperture lenses for better low light performance and for shallow field of depth effects.

Also, ignore megapixels. More megapixels result in a more detailed picture but can results in worse image quality due to more noise.

Personally, I think the best camera upgrade is a tripod. If you have a compact digital camera, you can get a $20 Targus tripod and it will greatly improve the quality of many of your shots.

Be careful - one of the points that allowed digital cameras to kill off film was size! The fact is that most people just do not want a large camera slung round their neck every time they go out, where as a digital compact not much larger than their mobile slips easily into a pocket or purse. A digital SLR will probably give better results but i can almost guarantee that you will not take it out as often as a compact. Take a look at a Panasonic's LX1, LX2 or LX3 you will find that the results from their leica lens' is pretty close to DSLR level and whilst not ultra compact they are small enough to carry around all the time. They are also very well built and reliable.

Go with the SLR it's faster and has higher mega pixels and you can click it as fast as a film camera and you can save up for the lens, it's a good Camera, I bought a digital and wish I had spent the $500.00 on the DSLR with the features, it will take standard lens extensions if its a Cannon or nikon you will not regret it the quality is super fine and the speed at which you can shoot high speed pictures is worth it.

Ok this is gonna be a good one lol. Ok most people will never use over 5mp. Why? Because a 8x10 about the equvilant of a 5mp picture. Now a slr will always have better quality no doubt, but they are expensive and you will eventually need to get a lense that is better then what they give you, because it does not have the ablity to zoom very far at all. Keep in mind that you can easliy spend over a 1000 dollars on a SLR camera very fast or even more. Also its not just about mega pixels. Its also the quality of your sensor.

Heres how i rate the brand of cameras:

Canon

Sony

Panasonic

Nikon

Slow down there,take a photography course or 2. Buy the camera the teacher recommends.A basic DSLR or something that isn't like $5,000. Don't listen to people who trash Sony,Many of the internals in Canon and Nikon are made by Sony.Sony bought the Konica-Minolta line and is selling what amounts to a Konica_Minolta camera as a Sony. As I said, take a class before you jump in!!

If you want to manually set apertures and shutter speeds and possibly change lenses; a digital SLR may be for you. They start about $450-

Many point and shoots today will give an excellent 8X10 photos and very acceptable 11X14s.

SLRs will have bigger sensors giving better quality for the same pixel count. Plus they will have better lenses, which is the REALLY important bit.

Sensors of DSLR are larger than the sensors on point and shoot cameras that make picture quality of the cheapest DSLR far better than best point and shoot

If you plan to go professional I think you ought to go with a DLSR but if you are just a novice i suggest you go with a point and shoot