What DSLR camera should *I* buy?

[DynamoHum]

Interesting shots with the F10. The Pentax pic is ISO 800 according PSP 9. Also the last is from a Canon 20D. What's up?

[marsha7]

Sarah Joyce:

I encountered you on another site, wanted to ask you, but could not find you again, found you here...

I, too, have been asking about various d-SLRs, as I intend to move up soon...also considering KM 5D/7D, Nikon D70s/D50, Canon 20D, Oly E300...never considered a Pentax until I saw your posts, nice, clear, well done...

I am concerned about weight (esp if one carries the camera all day), so KM 7D, Canon 20D, while great cameras, may approach 3 pounds with lens, and that can be considerable weight after 8 hours of "vacation touring"

Considering the (excuse me) "nonpopularity" of Pentax (I do not know if many stores stock any Pentax, hardly anyone stocks Oly), compared to the others above, how did you decide to purchase the *istDS???...and, are you familiar with the new *istDL, and, if so, is it a "step-up" (improvement?) or a "step-down" (de-contenting) from the DS?

Thank you for your time and expertise, and keep posting those photos...I can only learn from those who are willing to answer...

[Hards80]

marsha..

it wasn't directed towards me, but i will throw in my 2 cents as well...

if size/weight is a major concern.. the smallest dlsrs available today are the *stds the nikon d50 and the rebel xt from canon.. i am part and partial to canon, so my recomendation would be on the rebelxt.. i have had the chance to use this on a few shoots and honestly it does everything my 20d does.. its not quite as rugged and i prefer the 20ds layout, but image quality and useability is really quite close..

but in the long run, you should buy the one that feels best to you.. as with the current generation of dslrs you really can't go wrong, any of them will serve you well..

i would be less enthusiastic about the oly 300.. there are a lot of ppl happy with theirs and thats good.. but the fact is, the smaller sensor on the 4/3 format introduces too much noise for me and their range of lenses and accessories is limited when compared to the competition..

as for the pentaxes.. the DL is a step down version of the DS.. it does offer a .5 inch larger LCD screen.. but only had 3 focus points as compared to 11 and is missing some of the features.. the DS would be my choice..

best of luck to ya, dustin