Which Digital Camera

[n5gooner]

OK, so I'm off to Vietnam for 12 days in May and Mexico / Peru for 14 days in the summer, I currently have a Finepix 5mega pixle camera with 4 optical zoom but want to upgrade.

So I'm considering a digital SLR, what would people recomend ? or would I be better with something much smaller ?? I do need to be able to hold lots of pictures as I won't be able to download onto a PC.

Price is not such an issue....

 

[Spacecadet]

OK, so I'm off to Vietnam for 12 days in May and Mexico / Peru for 14 days in the summer, I currently have a Finepix 5mega pixle camera with 4 optical zoom but want to upgrade.

So I'm considering a digital SLR, what would people recomend ? or would I be better with something much smaller ?? I do need to be able to hold lots of pictures as I won't be able to download onto a PC.

Price is not such an issue....

Digital SLRs have come down in price and I seriously recommend getting one rather than a compact camera.

The Nikon D40 gets good reviews and is a pretty good price, if your willing to spend more then go ahead.
And get the camera as soon as possible so you can get used to it before you go!

 

[Sockpuppet]

EOS 400D combined with a SIGMA 18-125mm lens. Can't beat it.

 

[MrsGoof]

avforums.com

 

[foritisme]

I have two DSLRs Both canon 10d/300d. Excellent cameras, excellent quality (depending upon lens of course !)

The only thing I would say against them in your circumstance is that they can be inconvenient, in that which lenses to buy and which lenses to take. I usually take both out with me (one with a wide lens the other telephoto) - but would be a pain for a holiday trip.

If you are after shots that look good on the PC and are not too interested at getting A3 prints from them then I would suggest you look at the sigma lenses (28-300mm), these are not top quality but the newer ones are more than adequate and will give better results than a compact. This way you will have one lens that should cover nearly all your needs.

 

[foritisme]

ps you will get around 200 photos in fine jpeg mode from a 6MP camera on a 1Gig compact flash card.

 

[GeorgeGregan]

If you don't want to go all the way for a digital SLR I bought myself a Panasonic LX1 recently and am very happy with it. It's a compact camera with most SLR features (ability to set exposure manually, change metering modes etc). I think it is the only camera of any type that shoots natively in 16:9 format.

 

[foritisme]

The panasonics have excellent lenses !

 

[n5gooner]

I have two DSLRs Both canon 10d/300d. Excellent cameras, excellent quality (depending upon lens of course !)

The only thing I would say against them in your circumstance is that they can be inconvenient, in that which lenses to buy and which lenses to take. I usually take both out with me (one with a wide lens the other telephoto) - but would be a pain for a holiday trip.

If you are after shots that look good on the PC and are not too interested at getting A3 prints from them then I would suggest you look at the sigma lenses (28-300mm), these are not top quality but the newer ones are more than adequate and will give better results than a compact. This way you will have one lens that should cover nearly all your needs.

mmm yes I would be looking to get prints for some shots on A4/A3 paper. so is it Nikkon or Canon ?? and would you recomend shotting in jpeg or raw ?? physically how big is a 28-300mm lense?

 

[Sockpuppet]

Depends on the lens. For A3 prints the 400d @ 10mpixel will see you right.

I use this 28-300mm lens - http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/tests/testdetail.cfm?test_id=493

Also this for shorter range work - http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/tests/testdetail.cfm?test_id=377

Both have a inner focus so can be used with filters (you'll want a uv filter on there (£10) just to protect the lens glass and reduce haze on photos).

Bear in mind that the 400d is a cropped sensor (1.6 factor) so you have to times the lens focal lengths by 1.6 so the 28-300 zoon could see you getting somewhere close to 16-17x zoom (45-480mm)

Most dSLRs that are not stupid money are cropped sensor.