Best camera for an a beginning enthusiast?

[sasguru]

Right done a bit of reading and now know what an SLR is.
Seems to me that's the way to go as its WYSIWYG if I understand correctly?
Now just need to find the right one

[Moscow Mule]

Right done a bit of reading and now know what an SLR is.
Seems to me that's the way to go as its WYSIWYG if I understand correctly?
Now just need to find the right one

If you want "less bulky" look at the new micro four thirds format.

[NickNick]

SLR = Self Loading Rifle IIRC

I never understood what this had to do with photography

Depends what you're shooting

[sasguru]

Have virtually decided on a Sony A200K. Although well under my budget, it seems one needs to invest in a good lens kit, so will spend some money on that

[bogeyman]

Have virtually decided on a Sony A200K. Although well under my budget, it seems one needs to invest in a good lens kit, so will spend some money on that

That's the right way to approach it. Camera bodies come and go so fast these days. It's the overall camera system that matters: lenses, flash system etc.

Cheap body + best lenses you can afford will give better opportunities and results than expensive body + cheap lenses.

I've always been a Nikon user myself, but you can't really go wrong with any of the major camera systems. If I were starting from scratch I'd be quite intrigued by Olympus's 4/3 system for it's compactness and price/performance.

[bogeyman]

Saw a nice Cannon F1 in a 2nd hand shop the other day...

That was a tad expensive in its day...

They make good doorstops. Like my F3HPs.

[NickNick]

Having previously owned Olympus and Sony Kit it was always the memory cards that caused me headaches on that front. On a photog trip round Latin America with Olympus's XD format cards, I was banging my head against the wall more often than not in trying to get back up copies made.

[realityhack]

Have virtually decided on a Sony A200K. Although well under my budget, it seems one needs to invest in a good lens kit, so will spend some money on that

Same price range: Nikon D40 starter kit. Beter IMHO.

[sasguru]

Same price range: Nikon D40 starter kit. Beter IMHO.

I did look at that. But the Sony has:

1. More megapixels
2. Some kind of stability control (anti-shake).

Why is the D40 better? Aplogies for naivety and thanks for advice.

[bogeyman]

I did look at that. But the Sony has:

1. More megapixels
2. Some kind of stability control (anti-shake).

Why is the D40 better? Aplogies for naivety and thanks for advice.

Consider the newly annouced Olympus E-620:

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympuse620/

If I were starting out, I would certainly be looking at that. The Olympus Zuiko lenses are exceptional optically, and cheaper, smaller and lighter than the equivalent Canon/Nikon/Sony/Pentax offerings - and usually have better build quality for the same price bracket.

Don't get sucked into the 'more magapixels == better' marketing bull.

If you actually want to learn about the craft of photography, you could do worse than pick up a good second-hand manual camera (e.g. Nikon FM2, Olympus OM1, Pentax K1000) and a standard 50mm lens and shoot film.