Steve_P

You give me far too much credit AX a lot of mine is luck.

I saw some very good pictures from your African trip and I still have your lighthouse shot as my desktop wallpaper.

The Digital Rebel sold in the UK as the EOS 300D and I really liked mine. I am still getting used to the 40D but I'll get there someday.

The latest iteration in the series is the Digital Rebel XSi and is 12 megapixel, currently you can get a package of the XSi with the new 18-55mm IS lens plus the 70-300mm telephoto for $1280 at Future Shop. I don't know if that's a great deal or not.

Cheers
Steve

Novocastrian

In a previous thread along these lines about a year ago, it turned out that dbd33 and myself had both bought identical Canon A560 Powershot 7.1 Mp cameras at different branches of Future shop on the same day.

It's not in the league of others mentioned here, but I'm quite pleased with it a year on.

Mountain Girl

I am quiet pleased with my Nikon D60 digital SLR. So far it has been really easy to use. I think it falls in at around the 400 quid range and has 10.2 megapixels.

Surrey Expat

Don't get hung up on gizmos or mega pixels, for the most part they don't mean didley. A 6mp is generally good enough for most users and pics up to 10 x 8in. Many users won't use a fraction of the features their camera offers. Nikon or Canon, both are top of the pile. I use an 8mp and a 12mp and almost always the 8 is good enough for most print jobs (magazines & posters).

With digital, the processor and sensor are the key to the image interpretation, however, the lens is the most important part of the whole set-up. This is what will determine the image quality. Buy the camera based on your preference/need for lenses.

With most digital camera bodies, digital lenses give a 100% reproduction, whereas full frame lenses will give a 1:6 (ish) ratio, unless the camera is also full frame (Canon EOS 5 for example). More camera bodies will go over to full frame in the fullness of time. The camera body can be changed fairly inexpensively, however if you have a collection of lenses it is quite costly to change brands.

Don't make the mistake of spending big on the camera body and then cheaping out on the lens. If budget is an issue, get the best lens you can afford and a camera body with whats left (some good deals on used ones around).

Long zooms are not always the way to go (never for me). Short zooms, such as 17-40, 24-70, 70-200, these give very good image quality and a reasonably good speed for the price.

Novocastrian

Exactly like buying a stereo (dates me that). Spend all you can afford on speakers and worry about the rest after that.

YYZlover

Bill_S has some good advice.

I'd like to add my 2 cents.

I used to be Nikon am now Canon. I would suggest that you go to a store and have a play with the nikons, canons, lumixes, pentaxes etc to find out which one fits your hands and which one feels like it is a natural extension to your hand and eye. That is more important than brand.

I was never happy with the Nikon. Great camera but wasn't my friend. After 6 months I still couldn't do changes on the fly but with the Canon I changed settings without looking, within days.

dpreview is a great place to compare cameras.

I have my heart set on a new camera but can't decide between the XSi (450D) or 40D from Canon. I love the size of the X models. I'll wait until I see some test shots in high ISO on the XSi before I push the button. At the same time, I like my trusty old 350D so may just stick with it and buy better lenses.

Decisions decisions.

Novocastrian

BTW if there on any vintage collectors on here, I have an ~40 year old Olympus FTL with a large collection lenses, ranging from 350 mm telephoto, through a 70-180 mm zoom, standard 55 mm and 28-45 mm wide angle zoom.

Any interest?

mjanovitz

I have the Rebel XTi, it is my first SLR and I am more than happy with it. I would have obviously preferred a more expensive camera but couldn't justify the cost until i knew it was something that would keep my interest.

We have some nice black and white shots of the kids i took, framed and on the wall, they look almost professional. My next purchase will probably be a macro lens.

The newest version is the Rebel XSi, I believe it is a little faster, more pixels and some additional features.

I would also consider a tripod of some kind, I just got one of the gorilapod ones that you can wrap around things, it's not exactly professional but it works.

Happy snapping

Mark

ann m

Slightly off topic re purchasing a new camera - but maybe someone locally to me can help?

We bought a Panasonic DMC-FZ8 fixed lens camera last year - it's done us well so far - right up until the point where my 8 yr old dropped it. :curse:

The lens no longer comes out when you turn it on. It wasn't that expensive ($300-$400 range I think?), but I've never seen a dedicated 'camera' shop here in Calgary to see if it can be fixed. Anyone know of a camera place? ie, not Future Shop, etc (who are not interested).

(The excess on our home insurance is already high so it's not worth going that route ! )

Steve_P

Saneal Camera
1402 - 11 Ave SW
228-1865

Vistek
1231 - 10 Ave SW
244-0333

Don's Photo
1206 - 17 Ave SW
244-3383

Cheers
Steve

ann m

Thanks Steve - think I'll send hubby off to work with a broken camera tucked behind his sarnies !! They all look near his patch

Cassie 10000

I am such a big fan of taking photos and Neil just recently bought a new one that I always use

Its a Panasonic Lumix DMC - FX33 and I think it is very easy to use and also comes with easy to use software.

You can take sound video clips with it and they will last for quite a long time. I was going to get a camcorder but having this camera I decided against the idea.

There is probally one that has superseed this one now but just pop into curry's or a camera shop and have a feel and play with them yourself.

Look at my gallery under my avator, nearly all of these picture were taken with the Panasonic

TheCanes

I have a Canon 20D (had it for over 2 years now) and many lenses, ranging from a Macro lens all the way up to a 500mm zoom. It really depends what you want to achieve.

A tripod is also a must in my opinion, to make sure your shots are sharp.

I also have a pocket size digital camera, which I always carry with me.

There are so many cameras on the market, I'd suggest you go to a shop and try some. Also do some research on the Internet. Price can also be a great factor.

Have a look at my website (below), to see what I get up to (if you like).