Thinking of getting a DSLR

the_syco

Hello all,

Was in BH yesterday, and saw some nice cameras, most of which cost a lot, but some that seemed to be cheap (ish). Saw one for $380 (€266), which had a 20 optical zoom, and was 8megapixel. It was an SP-570 UZ Digital Camera (Black) but I'm wondering would I be able to upgrade it at a later date? Oh, and I'm pretty sure the price was $350 for the above camera in the shop.

I'm looking for a DSLR camera with about 20 optiical zoom, 8megapixel, and an "upgradeable" lens, so that a year or so down the road, if I wanted to upgrade the lens, I could do so (or should I just plan to buy a new camera in 2 years?). My budget would be €210/$300 but I could stretch that a little.

I'd be mainly taking holiday snaps with it, but also snaps in general. I'd be wanting to take pictures of stuff far away (example: planes, helicopters, buildings, old cars, etc), with decent enough quality to use as a 1024*768 desktop, or maybe higher.

I'd also want something not big. Not as in compact small, but not as in big like camera + hugemuthaf**kinglensasbigasyourshow either, so that it's easy to carry around.

Will be going in again tomorrow. Would have posted this earlier, but wireless in this hotel sucks.

projectmayhem

the_syco wrote: »

Hello all,

Was in BH yesterday, and saw some nice cameras, most of which cost a lot, but some that seemed to be cheap (ish). Saw one for $380 (€266), which had a 20 optical zoom, and was 8megapixel. It was an SP-570 UZ Digital Camera (Black) but I'm wondering would I be able to upgrade it at a later date? Oh, and I'm pretty sure the price was $350 for the above camera in the shop.

I'm looking for a DSLR camera with about 20 optiical zoom, 8megapixel, and an "upgradeable" lens, so that a year or so down the road, if I wanted to upgrade the lens, I could do so (or should I just plan to buy a new camera in 2 years?). My budget would be €210/$300 but I could stretch that a little.

I'd be mainly taking holiday snaps with it, but also snaps in general. I'd be wanting to take pictures of stuff far away (example: planes, helicopters, buildings, old cars, etc), with decent enough quality to use as a 1024*768 desktop, or maybe higher.

I'd also want something not big. Not as in compact small, but not as in big like camera + hugemuthaf**kinglensasbigasyourshow either, so that it's easy to carry around.

Will be going in again tomorrow. Would have posted this earlier, but wireless in this hotel sucks.

The camera you linked is a bridge (bridging the gap between compacts and DSLRs). I believe there are a good few bridge cameras on the market that have upgradable lenses, but they won't really do the job long-term the same way a "proper" DSLR would. If you want, you'll pick up a 400D cheap enough these days.

The zoom on a DSLR is entirely up to you, as it depends on what lenses you buy/strap to the body. Most bridge cameras are built with 10x optical zoom, and some then go further with a bit of extra digital zoom..

5uspect

And if you get a cheap body you still have to fork out for lenses. And good glass is expensive.

Also bear in mind a telephoto lens is not exactly compact.

I'd say you're better off with a good bridge camera for your needs, you can't change the lens but they're generally more compact

Here's an example:
The OLY you gave above is $379.95
a decent entry level SLR like a Nikon 60D, Canon 40D or OLY E520 will knock you back $600~$700 possibly including a kit lens
A half decent telephoto lens will cost around half as much and a serious lens way, way more.

20X optical zoom means nothing really, its only the zoom ratio of the lens, so for that bridge its 26 - 520mm equivalent (520/26 = 20x)

So you'll need around a 500mm equivalent to match the bridge. For the Canon the sensor crop is 1.6 so you need a (520/1.6) 325mm lens

So just for the Canon you could get one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/373747-REG/Sigma_777101_18_200mm_f_3_5_6_3_DC_Lens.html
Its a little short (only 200mm) but its also quite wide (18mm, 11X in total).
Consequently it won't be a great performer as its a compromise lens so it will be soft but its compact and cheap(ish).
(Review of Sigma lens:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=332&sort=7&cat=37&page=1)

If you want to splash out you could get one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/319784-GREY/Canon_9322A002AA_28_300mm_f_3_5_5_6L_IS_USM.html
but it would be big and heavy and expensive.

With an SLR and the Sigma Lens (you can get it for Canon or Nikon, not sure about OLY) you should be able to match the bridge camera because the SLR should have superior resolution and image quality.

Eric Cartman

if you want something semi-compact i reccomend a canon G9 , its a pretty good compact camera with some pro features, itll even take the big external flashes,

if you want an SLR i reccomend getting a canon eos 400d or 450d, decent cameras for starting in the slr world

5uspect

+1 for the G9, forgot about that.