Steve'sDigicams

pboerger · Jul 20, 2006, 12:49 AM

Since no camera maker will make at least a 10x zoom point and shoot with decent high ISO (a thread that would would take thousands of posts to argue), I decided on a DSLR. Don't ask which one, I am exhausted from looking at reviews and getting advice from friends. For those of you thinking of a DSLR, if you think the camera body is a decision, think again! You have to choose a lens, or should I say many lenses, or should I say that opinions of lenses far exceeds the opinions of which body to buy and could, at the least, double or triple your camera cost. Those reviewers who say that high level point and shoots are close to the cost of DSLR must either be rich or haven't looked at the cost of special batteries, new memory cards and LENSES! I'm thinking of just keeping my old Dimage Z3, with IS and horrible ISO above 100, and getting the Fuji F30 to get the high ISO. Thanks for listening.

ennacac · Jul 20, 2006, 1:05 AM

The list does end if you want it to. Get a Pentax DSLR, the kit lens (18-55) and their 50-200mm lens and you should be good to go for quite a while for a very reasonable price. The new K100 even has image stabilization in camera, so all your lenses will have IS and the camera is very good up to ISO 1600.

Tom

meanstreak · Jul 20, 2006, 1:40 AM

pboerger wrote:

Quote:

Since no camera maker will make at least a 10x zoom point and shoot with decent high ISO (a thread that would would take thousands of posts to argue), I decided on a DSLR. Don't ask which one, I am exhausted from looking at reviews and getting advice from friends. For those of you thinking of a DSLR, if you think the camera body is a decision, think again! You have to choose a lens, or should I say many lenses, or should I say that opinions of lenses far exceeds the opinions of which body to buy and could, at the least, double or triple your camera cost. Those reviewers who say that high level point and shoots are close to the cost of DSLR must either be rich or haven't looked at the cost of special batteries, new memory cards and LENSES! I'm thinking of just keeping my old Dimage Z3, with IS and horrible ISO above 100, and getting the Fuji F30 to get the high ISO. Thanks for listening.

There are lenses out there that cover a decent range

techaide2 · Jul 20, 2006, 7:30 AM

pboerger wrote:

Quote:

Since no camera maker will make at least a 10x zoom point and shoot with decent high ISO (a thread that would would take thousands of posts to argue), I decided on a DSLR. Don't ask which one, I am exhausted from looking at reviews and getting advice from friends. For those of you thinking of a DSLR, if you think the camera body is a decision, think again! You have to choose a lens, or should I say many lenses, or should I say that opinions of lenses far exceeds the opinions of which body to buy and could, at the least, double or triple your camera cost. Those reviewers who say that high level point and shoots are close to the cost of DSLR must either be rich or haven't looked at the cost of special batteries, new memory cards and LENSES! I'm thinking of just keeping my old Dimage Z3, with IS and horrible ISO above 100, and getting the Fuji F30 to get the high ISO. Thanks for listening.

I completely understand what you're saying. I spent the last few weeks going through the exact same process. I thought I'd go crazy comparing cameras and searching through forums for info. I also understand your point about the cost of a high level point and shoot vs. an entry level DSLR. The cost is closeonlyif you can be satisfied with the kit lens --which you probably won't be if you've spent the last few years with an ultra zoom point and shoot camera. Yep, I know where you're coming from and I feel your pain. Good luck with your decision!

milrodpxpx · Jul 20, 2006, 9:02 AM

yeah, well...i had a panny fz30, sold it and bought the pentax ist dl bought a tamron 80-210 lens and have a pentax 28-80 on the way - in addition to the kit lens. all for under $500. even if that tamron lens is the crappiest zoom lens you can find (i got it for $43 shipped on keh by the way). us casual amateurs probably aren't going to notice much of a difference. as it happens, i'm very happy with the pictures it is taking so far, very clean, sharp focus images. now, when i want the pentax 10-17mm super wide for $400, thats another story - but that is also one of their top of the line lenses - and you cant get that versatility with any prosumer camera either, so when the time comes i'll pay for it and i'll like it. for the time being, i'm having a blast and taking great pictures with 'crap' lenses (they're still better than a prosumer - the camera sensitivity trumps any prosumer, no matter what - a prosumer, in its element, will at best match any dslr).

take it for what its worth.

techaide2 · Jul 20, 2006, 9:13 AM

Nice to hear you like your "crap" lens :lol:. I ordered one last night. Let the fun begin!

style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000"

zygh · Jul 20, 2006, 9:13 AM

Yeah, well the thing is, pboerge, that it's where you wanna go with your camera and not go where your camera wants to take you. That's what dSLR is all about. Ofcourse, you can have a bag of lenses but you may still have only one lens that covers a wide range (e.g. 18-200mm, 28-300mm) and you'll still have a better camera than any point&shoot out there. A compact camera is great, especially the F30, but if you are looking for more than pointing and shooting then a dSLR is what you need.

milrodpxpx · Jul 20, 2006, 10:38 AM

techaide2 wrote:

Quote:

Nice to hear you like your "crap" lens :lol:. I ordered one last night. Let the fun begin!

style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000"

i hope you know i was kidding! i'm nothing short of thrilled with the kit and zoom lens i have so far!

i ordered a camera backpack as i can quickly see the LBA is taking over

i got this one off ebay -

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apollo-Camera-Ba...QQcmdZViewItem

its pretty much the same size as similar offerings from lowepro and tamrac (same wicth/height, an inch deeper i found - kinda funny, if you go to like b+h and check the difference between a lowepro for $100 and one for $150, its like maybe 1-2 inches wider/higher, maybe half an inch deeper), for at least30-40% less. it was designed by a pro skateboarding photographer that works for Transworld sports skate magazine. if anyone is interested i'll post a review of it - i also like the look of it much more, and it doesn't scream 'i have thousands of dollars of camera equipment with me'!

techaide2 · Jul 20, 2006, 11:08 AM

milrodpxpx wrote:

Quote:

i hope you know i was kidding! i'm nothing short of thrilled with the kit and zoom lens i have so far!

Yes, I knew you were kidding. I'm a complete amateur. At my level I think I will love this lens. I ordered the camera and lens yesterday. Now it seems I may have to order a backpack, too! This is so much fun!

milrodpxpx · Jul 20, 2006, 11:19 AM

i asked if anyone had that apollo bag in the pentax dslr forum - its under a thread titled something like 'which of these 2 bags should i get?' - someone posted there about the bag, said it is great, so now i'm really excited to get it! that tamron lens is pretty sweet - i got it on keh for $43 shipped, it had the lens hood too (which b+h charges $18 for that alone!) - with the hood at full zoom its about 8-10" long! alittle intimidating, but very cool - i mean, i don't buy stuff for looks, it takes a good picture!

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Jul 20, 2006, 12:49 AM	#1
pboerger Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mount Shasta, California Posts: 1,525	Since no camera maker will make at least a 10x zoom point and shoot with decent high ISO (a thread that would would take thousands of posts to argue), I decided on a DSLR. Don't ask which one, I am exhausted from looking at reviews and getting advice from friends. For those of you thinking of a DSLR, if you think the camera body is a decision, think again! You have to choose a lens, or should I say many lenses, or should I say that opinions of lenses far exceeds the opinions of which body to buy and could, at the least, double or triple your camera cost. Those reviewers who say that high level point and shoots are close to the cost of DSLR must either be rich or haven't looked at the cost of special batteries, new memory cards and LENSES! I'm thinking of just keeping my old Dimage Z3, with IS and horrible ISO above 100, and getting the Fuji F30 to get the high ISO. Thanks for listening.

Jul 20, 2006, 1:05 AM	#2
ennacac Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4,198	The list does end if you want it to. Get a Pentax DSLR, the kit lens (18-55) and their 50-200mm lens and you should be good to go for quite a while for a very reasonable price. The new K100 even has image stabilization in camera, so all your lenses will have IS and the camera is very good up to ISO 1600. Tom

Jul 20, 2006, 9:02 AM	#5
milrodpxpx Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 284	yeah, well...i had a panny fz30, sold it and bought the pentax ist dl bought a tamron 80-210 lens and have a pentax 28-80 on the way - in addition to the kit lens. all for under $500. even if that tamron lens is the crappiest zoom lens you can find (i got it for $43 shipped on keh by the way). us casual amateurs probably aren't going to notice much of a difference. as it happens, i'm very happy with the pictures it is taking so far, very clean, sharp focus images. now, when i want the pentax 10-17mm super wide for $400, thats another story - but that is also one of their top of the line lenses - and you cant get that versatility with any prosumer camera either, so when the time comes i'll pay for it and i'll like it. for the time being, i'm having a blast and taking great pictures with 'crap' lenses (they're still better than a prosumer - the camera sensitivity trumps any prosumer, no matter what - a prosumer, in its element, will at best match any dslr). take it for what its worth.

Jul 20, 2006, 9:13 AM	#6
techaide2 Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 49	Nice to hear you like your "crap" lens :lol:. I ordered one last night. Let the fun begin! style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #000000"

Jul 20, 2006, 9:13 AM	#7
zygh Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 531	Yeah, well the thing is, pboerge, that it's where you wanna go with your camera and not go where your camera wants to take you. That's what dSLR is all about. Ofcourse, you can have a bag of lenses but you may still have only one lens that covers a wide range (e.g. 18-200mm, 28-300mm) and you'll still have a better camera than any point&shoot out there. A compact camera is great, especially the F30, but if you are looking for more than pointing and shooting then a dSLR is what you need.

Jul 20, 2006, 11:19 AM	#10
milrodpxpx Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 284	i asked if anyone had that apollo bag in the pentax dslr forum - its under a thread titled something like 'which of these 2 bags should i get?' - someone posted there about the bag, said it is great, so now i'm really excited to get it! that tamron lens is pretty sweet - i got it on keh for $43 shipped, it had the lens hood too (which b+h charges $18 for that alone!) - with the hood at full zoom its about 8-10" long! alittle intimidating, but very cool - i mean, i don't buy stuff for looks, it takes a good picture!