Your question: Can anyone actually explain in laymans terms the benefits if any of purchasing Poser and its capablilities vs DS as far as scene creation, lighting and rendering etc.

Poser has a different interface, that comes from it's roots when Bryce, Poser and Carrara were owned by the same company (MetaCreations) Some of the interface elements are still somewhat similar in those 3 apps. The interface can be a bit intimidating at first, but like anything else, you will get used to it (it hasn't changed much in all the years since V1 of Poser)

Scene Creation:
As to scene creation, they are both somewhat similar. You import a figure or prop and move it into place where you want it. Only the tools to do this are slightly different (but not that much)

I personally have found D|S to be easier to work with in terms of scene creation and it's interface is much more straight forward (similar to other 3D apps)

Lighting:
Both similar in the creation of lights. You place them, you move (or translate) them, set intensity, spread, etc.  Poser and Daz both have similar lighting models.

Rendering:
Firefly vs 3Delite - both good. D|S 3 has more potential in that area. Depends on what you're trying to do.  Rendering times for me are better in Daz than Poser.  Your mileage may very depending on what you are rendering, how many lights you have, what is in your scene, etc.

Animation:
Both are good, but when you add a plug-in like AniMate Plus to D|S, you have the ability to use pre-made animations that can be modified or you can roll your own.  (This plus the render speed is what moved me to using D|S over poser)

Get the trial version of Poser and see if you like it.

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