Advanced Point and Shoot Cameras Have Distinct Advantages

An Advanced Point and Shoot camera offers some of the same features as a Digital SLR camera with some unique benefits, especially for those who want to keep it simple most of the time. A majority of camera owners use the Auto settings most or all of the time. Some of them like to have the option of manually adjusting the camera's settings and for this segment, the Advanced "Prosumer" camera is a good solution.

First, let's review the biggest advantages and disadvantages of the Advanced Point and shoot versus a full-fledged DSLR: 

Advantages

• Light and easy to use
  
  
• High optical zoom
  
  
• No need to change lenses to go from wide angle to telephoto
  
  
• Option to use manual settings to extend capabilities
  
  

Disadvantages / Limitations

• Bulkier than a compact "Point and Shoot"
   
• Smaller CCD (picture capture device) = lower quality pictures than a DSLR
  
  
• No options for external flash or external mic
  
  
• Not as good as a DSLR in low light
  
  
• Lower specs / capabilities compared to a DSLR
  

Even though a Prosumer camera isn't quite as good as a DSLR, that doesn't mean that they don't take good pictures because they do. It is a matter of degree. The more demanding photographer won't be satisfied with the limitations of a Prosumer camera but for the average photographer, it is just fine.

One of the biggest advantages of the Advanced Point and Shoot camera is that it is a complete package. Virtually everything that it can do is built in and immediately available. There is no need to carry anything extra. The second related advantage is the very large optical zoom factor that you can get on these cameras (up to 35x on some). To get the equivalent zoom factor on a DSLR, you need a very large and expensive lens. It may seem ironic that the lower cost camera has this advantage but the fact is that the smaller CCD on the Advanced Point and Shoot makes it possible to use a smaller lens to achieve these high zoom factors. For the everyday photographer who may want to take some zoom shots for kids sports or nature, this is a pretty big advantage.