S.L.R. Camera recommendations??

A Nikon D90 would be a very good setup Gives high res and has a good movie mode as well Will be a bit more than $700 though.

I have a Tamron zoom lens that goes from 18-270 which is the 35mm equiv aof 28mm- 400mm.

This cost $950 on its own but I dislike changing lens in dusty areas so bought this instead of the 18-135 and the 70-300 I had

The Nikon 3000 or 5000 are cheaper but have plastic bodies against the 90's metal frame.

You really need to handle a camera for feel and ease of using the controls.

I bought the Nikon because I have long fingers and found the Canon range awkward to use as they are generally smaller.

Its all up to personal preference but most cameras are good quality now days

The DSLR's are much better for taking shots of movement as they take the shot a lot faster than a digital ordinary.

I had a Nikon 5700 and got a lot of shots of whales disappearing because the shutter was too slow.

Cheers

Signman,

I know where you are coming from, I have had many small compact and SLR style compacts and really wanted to go back to an SLR (like I had, and still have, in the good old film days).

I also didn't want to spend thousands of bucks on somethig that may not be fully used, lost ord damaged when 4WD'ing or out in the scrub.

I stumbled on the Sony a230 at a Clive Peters on the Central Coast some time back and picked up the SLR camera kit for $349.95.
This kit contains the Sony Alpha A230 + Sony 18-55mm SAM + Sony 55-200mm Lens.

This is the bottom of the range but does everything I want and I have found it to be exceptionally good for what I do and need.

The price is now higher than I paid but the 2 lens offer is still available at places like Getprice (click here) or Digital Camera warehouse (click here)

It won't be everyones choice, but worth a look at..

Good luck...

Hullo David,

I have had two Canon DSLRs with a 300mm zoom lens and they certainly do the job.

However, things electronic are changing quite quickly and this would be my choice now for travelling:

Have a look at the Panasonic TZ10

Panasonic TZ10

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OK, it's not an SLR but it does have a zoom equivalent to 300mm on a 35mm camera. It does other things like HD video as well.

But here is the thing that appeals to me: It is one of the currently small number of (but increasing) cameras that takes a picture with a 16X9 aspect ratio. This is the same aspect ratio of all flat panel LCD and plasma tellies.

Nikon and Canon DSLRs have an aspect ratio of 3X2.

The new wave of these tellies have a USB socket on the side. If you load your pictures onto a USB thumbdrive and stick it in the USB port the TVs are intelligent enough to allow you to operate a slideshow with the remote control and, of course, 16X9 means full screen, no black borders on either side.

And the whole family can see them on a big screen without crowding around a computer.

Sony DSLRs also have a 16X9 aspect ratio if you want to go SLR but they will blow your budget.

One I am keeping my eye on is a new release and I expect will feature in Xmas sales is this one:

Sony SLT-A55 DSLR

although it appears that the model due for Australian release will not have the built in GPS (not that I'm bothered there).

That review is very positive.

Good luck with your decision.

Check out the Canon G11.

I have a canon 40D and love it but it will cost you over $1000 just for the body. The canon 550 and 1000D are both good entry level DSLR's I doubt you'd find a 550D for under a grand but you should pick up a 1000D for less than $1000. In your price range, to get a decent DSLR, you would have to go 2nd hand with standard lens kit. I sold a 3 year old 2nd hand Nikon on ebay with standard lens kit and ended up getting $650 for it...I only wanted $300.

Personally I would not stray too far away from Canon or Nikon. Particularly if at a later date you want to upgrade the lens

Are you planning on doing any editing of your pics? If so look for a camera that can shoot RAW images. Makes post shoot editing a lot easier, and results better.

Luke

I have an Olympus 410 and very happy. It can be fully automatic or you can manually override all options quite simply. I found it to be one of the faster startup SLR I tried which suited me. My biggest PO with a happy snap camera was trying to focus on what I wanted not what the camera wanted. Mine now does that.
Best thing is to identify what you want and try some SLRs until you find what does it best.
Not sure if I made the right decision but I am happy and the other half is happy that I can get all her wildflowers as she wants. I have found out I can check the photo quality easy by viewing on the camera on the zoomed views. Any errors look much worse.

Neil

Hi David
One camera that is very good for its money and is often underrated for the features that is has is the range of Pentax DSL that are out there.

They are a dam good camera and great value for their money.

Cheers

Stephen

I have a Nikon D40 with a 18-250mm zoom lens for sale if you want to look let me know

have a look at the olympus SP-800UZ , it has 14 meg pics, 30 x zoom hdmi etc and it is around $600

We up graded to the Canon 50D last year, it is a great camera.

I recently bought a Nikon D5000 as my first foray into DLSR photography. After using a typical digital camaera for many years and thinking I had great shots, well I was suprised just how much better a DSLR can be for those special shots.

I have a 18-55 and 55-200 lens and find this great. I am still getting up to speed with DSLR and have found a "Nikon D5000 for Dummies" book specifically for my model. Certainly helps me understand things like white balance, F rating, film speed etc... and how it all comes together.

The D5000 has a few nice features like Live View - a DSLR does not display a picture on the screen before you take it like a "normal" digital camera. The HD video is great, but memory hungry.

I tossed up between the D5000 and the equivalent Canon and reckon either of them would be fine. As others have said, keeping to the big brands enables re-use of lens down the track if the shutter bug bites :)

Cheers

Captain

Hi

I have been a photographer for many years and just want to say that a SLR does not take better photo's the person behind it does. I recommend that you go to a large camera shop, Camera Action in Melbourne is one and try as many as possible and ask lots of questions and listen to their advice they are there to help.

IMHO $600 to $700 will not even get you a *decent* 300mm lens new.

Remember when you are buying an SLR you arn't buying a camera, your buying to a whole system of accessories, lenses, flashes...

If you do not want to buy into a system and have a bag of leses then don't get an SLR. You are paying a lot extra so that the camera is capable of changing lenses etc... (having interchangeable lenses puts a lot of design constraints on the engineers)

If you do want an SLR check that the system your getting into caters for what you want in the future.

Just cos its an "SLR" doesn't guarantee goodness... there are quite a few 300mm SLR lenses which are crap, and will take worse pictures than a good quality single lens camera.

With SLR everything costs more for the equivalent.. a decent 300mm lens will set you back $1000 new and for a pro equivalent well over $2000

D

Wow..thanks to all and sundry for replies , suggestions and input.
And we thought buying a car fridge or a set of tyres was a conundrum !!
Anyhow, we have weighed up our needs as opposed to our 'wants'- and have purchased a Fuji HS10. It's sorta like a compact camera on steroids with a lot of features of an SLR.
TTL-tele lens-idiot auto shoot, but with the facilities to be a bit more techo-even can taked HD video with stereo sound !!

Cheers to all- on the road next Friday !!

David ,

Why have you not contacted me about the job you promised to do on my car in return for the roof rack I gave you ?

Maybe you would like to send me the $100 instead.

It has now been over 12 months and I have contacted you a number of times about this .

Mike.