Format

You need one of these - don't argue


In this day and age, you can type in the name of the camera you want to know more about into Google (or Wikipedia) and you'll find all you need, and sometimes more... see 'Medium Format explained' by someone with too much time on their hands

The main point about digital SLRs is how much a smaller chip has the effect of magnifying the image:

The same lens on different cameras gives a wider or narrower angle of view, depending on the size of the chip.

A Canon 1DS MkII (or MkIII) and Canon 5D are full frame digital cameras - allowing you to see and photograph the image indicated by the red outline.

Other cameras - Canon 20D, 30D, 300 & 400D, Nikon D70, D80, D2 & D200 - would give you an image indicated by the yellow or blue outline - because they have smaller chips inside.

We'll return to this subject again - so do some reading.