We do alot of traveling and I have been consistently dissatisfied with my point and shoots image quality (Canon A710). The camera bleeds the battery dry, the delay between button and taking the picture sometimes is rediculously long, and the flash recharge is terrible. Night images are atrocious. Anything that moves sucks. Shooting everything from light to dark, landscapes, action, kids birthday parties....... I know very little about DSLRs but am willing to learn!
We are going to Alaska and then the Grand Canyon this summer. I am looking at DSLR with zoom lenses, trying to keep it below $700. I like the idea of one lens that can go 18 to 200 to keep me from changing lenses during wet/dusty weather. None-the-less I have looked at a number of cameras such as:
Sony A330 - The swivel LCD is awesome but everyone tells me it is of very little use and in the outdoors, you can't see the LCD anyways. The wife needs an LCD though.
Canon Rebel XS - To use the LCD, you have to take it out of dummy mode which would be a huge problem for the wife.
Pentax K-X - This is the one I am most leening towards as the kit price with the second lens (55-300) is pretty good at Amazon. The LCD works well for the wife. Its got a poor mans video. Most reviews say the pics are as good anything in this price range.
Nikons - Know for great images but I haven't found one in my price range that the reviews are comprable to Pentax K-X. Maybe this will be my second camera when I choose to spend $2000.
Any comments? How about thumbs up on my choice? Anything?
