Canon SL1 vs SX230 Dilema

Rudy61 wrote:

Arkie,

Sounds like you have already decided, but nonetheless I wanted to add a couple of thoughts.

The key word here is "Alaska." You are going to want to come back (I would hazard a guess) with some memorable shots of the landscape. For that purpose, your small-sensored sx230 provides an often overlooked advantage, which is its deep depth of field or capability of having a lot in the photo in sharp focus.

the compact has no advantage with deep DOF  with a compact the analogy in the link below is floored and i quote

4. My compact camera, as is common with many, has a high quality lens with a fast aperture of f/2.0. This allows me to achieve very sharp images even when the lens is wide open at f/2.0. The advantage is a fast shutter speed which allows me to handhold shots where I would need a tripod for my DSLR. This is because I would need to shoot with a much smaller aperture to achieve the same depth of field. My favourite low light setting for my compact is f/2.8 at ISO200. This provides a fast enough shutter speed to handhold without flash and limits noise because the ISO is still quite low. At 24mm this combination provides a depth of field that runs from around 4 feet to infinity.

if a APS-c camer is set at F 11 with a 24mm lens will have a DOF from 4.5 feet to infinity..all good ..but he say the compact will retain a high shutter speed  as its at F2, yes but  as you use a bigger sensor for every stop of DOF you lose you gain 1 stop of ISO performance so you can still get fast enough shutter speeds and have no more noise than the compact

But in realty you probably not going to use such a deep DOF as 24mm @ F8 will still give 6.5 feet to infinity  (if you use hyperfocal distance all explained here )

The other thing, not that i have ever been to Alaska so i am guessing that you have snow and dark trees etc...this will push the limits of the SL1 sensor dynamic range  abilities never mind the compact

Here are a couple of good articles on this subject for your consideration:

https://www.ephotozine.com/article/shooting-professional-looking-landscapes-with-compact-cameras-16293

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/locations/north-america/the-timeless-moment.html#.Vt9O-owrJGE

I have the SL1 and it is a GREAT little camera. I think of it as my "people camera," because besides being small and unobtrusive, with its APS-C sized sensor and an appropriate lens with a reasonably wide aperture, I can get very nice de-focused backgrounds with the subject of the shot, usually a person/people, highlighted in the foreground. This is not, GENERALLY speaking, what you want for landscape photography. I also recommend against changing lenses while traveling, if you can avoid it. FOR ME, this tends to distract from absorbing the moment/experience you are having.

If you want a fuller-featured camera, I would suggest the SX50. Look up the reviews and see how well regarded it is. It has sold for as little as $150 on the Canon refurbished site. It goes wider, to 24mm compared to the sx230's 28mm....just enough more for a more dramatic, sweeping wide landscape shot now and then. It also goes to 1200mm, which is about as much telephoto as any reasonable person needs. (I wouldn't use it at the ultimate long end, but even at 600mm, 800mm...you may be able to get some good shots of distant wildlife, especially if you use a monopod for additional stabilization. Also, take a look at the Manfrotto Off-Road walking stick set, which has an integrated monopod head on one of them (and your wife could use the other). Most crucially, the SX50 has raw capability, and since you said you already do some post processing, this would give you even greater latitude to work on processing your shots, after the trip is over. And there would be little if any learning curve.

Have a great trip.

Rudy