digital rebel, no questions asked.

Otherwise, spend $300 on a P&S POS.

 

The Canon PowerShot S1-IS has an assload of features, including 10x zoom. I'd give pictures quality a 7 out of 10, its 3.2MP. Its big brother the Canon Powershot S1 Pro is "only" 7x zoom but has 8MP. I'd give the pic quality a 9 out of 10. They all take CF 1 & 2. Lots automatic and manual SLR-style features, akes AAs. There's also the PowerShot G6 which seem slike the little brother of the S1 IS in regards to some features, except it has 7.1MP. I really like the newer line of PowerShots.

jason

 

oh...

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/con...categoryid=113

 

Dell had a special on Canon Digital Rebels a few days ago.... 15% off and you could probably use the $100 rebate that's direct from Canon.

Preston
Gruppe-S

 

Honestly, if you are a point and click guy, get one of the tiny canon's or something. I have the miniature Sony and we use that more than the digital rebel just because it's so easy to take everywhere. It's smaller than my cell phone.

 

nothing wrong with cameras that use AA batteries. just get some rechargable NiMHs and they last a ton longer than dispaoable alkalines and are cheaper than Li-ion. plus if you ever get stuck with dead batteries you can always just pick up some at the store for a couple bucks.

 

I'd reccommend the Canon 300d (digital rebel), but hey, that's just me.

 

Someone asked this same question on another forum so here's the answer I gave them...you have a significantly higher budget than them, and because of that, I highly suggest the same Sony I have, the Cybershot DSC F828....full manual features as well as an awsome automatic setting.

It really depends on what you are planning on using it for. If you just wanna take snap shots, then a good point and shoot will do just fine, and not break the bank at the same time. If you would like to get into this and really explore it, then you might want to look at the higher end. I am a photojournalism/documentary photography major and I personally have a Sony DSC-F828 Cyber Shot (8 mega pixel) and a Canon EOS Digital Rebel SLR (6.3 mega pixel) for my digital purposes, a Leica M3, old old school Speed Graphic, and a brand new on the cheaper side Canon Rebel T2 35mm.

Canons are very user friendly. Their new and improved meetering system is awsome. It is so easy to use. I love it. The whole camera is actually very easy to use to, placement of all the buttons, controls is very well chosen and fits the hand nicely and comfortably.

Nikon is, well, Nikon. Im sure you know of them at least. Nikon has been one of, if not THE big name for the last couple years, well, a good amount of time now, as Leica's are so unbelievably expensive, yes, WAY more expensive than Nikons. They are not too high priced that people will never be able to afford them, and the quality is definately there. The only thing I have against Nikons goes to their 35mm SLRs...they are very very very loud...even more so than other SLRs. All SLRs will be loud, as that is how the camera works, Single Lense Reflex....using mirrors, one of which has to move out of the way of the shudder in order to capture the picture, but they are very accurate and produce great images. That may or may not be a concern for you, again, depending on what you are going to use it for. I dont know much about Nikon's new stuff, but Im sure the quality is still there, if not better than ever, eventhough I dont care fore them personally.

One thing you REALLY REALLY REALLY must avoid is digital zoom. Optical zoom is infinitely better than digital, in that with digital, a lot of the interpretation of the incomming information has to be basically made up by the camera. It is called Interpolation. With optical zoom, the magnification comes from the inner workings of the lense and actually bending the light, which is SO SO SO SO much more accurate than the digital. Right there is proof that digital is not always better, even today.

I hope all my ranting helps. I love to hear about other people interested in photography. One thing I would suggest is going to say a Ritz or Wolf (same company) and talking to them. Ask them questions. They know what they are talking about because the people working there are enthusiasts. I did just this when buying my Canon Rebel T2, I talked to the guy and he said here, come back tomorrow if you can, and Ill bring in my camera, I did, we went over all the features, explained everything I didnt understand, and was extremely helpful. It is important to get ur hands on the cameras before you buy them. I know, that sounds stupid, but if the camera is not comfortable in your hand, ur pictures will show that. Here is a helpful link so you can check out some of these cameras.

Patrick

http://www.wolfcamera.com/webapp/wc...opCategory=1003

 

I love the Canon Digital Rebel (300d) it's pretty hard to use if you don't know what your doing.. and even on AUTO mode the picture doesn't come out too great. My friend owns one and I love it!! Pretty much all the canon cameras are great quality, I understand you don't want to take photos to be viewed on a 10' x 12' poster... so i would recomend the Canon Powershot series or the G series. (plus it doesn't burn as big of a hole in your wallet) I own a Canon G5 myself, and i love it I can also purchase and mount lense attachments like wide angle, close-up, or even ring-lite's. --Much more user friendly than the D series-- but not as great the quality

 

Simple and easy are the tiny *** canon's =) There is one about 300-400 bux, but with more money you can supe that up toO! =P

 

canon digital rebel is below $1k. s410 p&s is $280.

i'm saving up for the d70 though.

 

I love my digital rebel. Get one of those and a tamron 28-300mm lens, a few filters, and a good sized CF card(I have a 1gb sandisk ultra II, and a hitachi 4gb, I never use the hitachi, too slow) and you're set.

Here's a few pics from it. Beware, I compressed them a bit(15% compression) but they're still a hair over a meg each(these were all handheld so they aren't perfect, next is a stabilizing lens for me). Also I like to use big aperature setting so I get a small depth of field.

http://www.igd4u.com/pics/bird.jpg

http://www.igd4u.com/pics/bird1.jpg

http://www.igd4u.com/pics/donkey.jpg (this one shows the quality very well, note the hairs)