craig_cosby

<p>One fourth option is the Oympus Pen Mini E-PM2 for $250, not sure about inclusion of a lenses yet or not. </p>

<p>So many well thought out answers here. I am so impressed. Thanks, everyone. so i have come down to three choices:<br> 1. Olympus Pen E-PM2 with M. Zuiko 14-42 f3.5-5.6 (kit lens) and M. Zuiko 40-150 mm f4.0-5.6 R lenses for $400 cnd<br> 2. Olympus E-PL2 with 14-42 and 40-150 lenses for $350 cnd<br> 3. Olympus EPL-1, 14-42 lense, 40-150 lense, 355 mm lenses, 52 shade hood, clear filter and bag -$500 cnd<br> Keep in mind Canadian dollars here, so prices may seem a tad higher than what they might go for in the USA for USA dollars, but no tax and wont have to pay shipping on these. <br> Seems the E-PM2 would be the best choice on list above. There also seem to be a lot of PL1's for between $250 $350 ish. <br> I looked at the various NIkons mentioned above by Stephen but would add at least $150 - 200 onto the cost depending on which one and who is selling it. </p>

Thanks very good suggestion after looking it up. Not great at high iso but good for its class. I particularly like the up to 60 second shutter and and dual raw+jpg shooting mode. Reviews indicate a decent auto focus and list lots of the other features I was looking for but no view finder. I see some in my area for sale used within my budget. Great suggestions. I am strongly considering. Any other suggestion out there?

<p>So I want to buy a real camera. Currently using Lumina 1020 phone.<br> I am interested in probably and all round performer. My budget is limited to about $500 cnd.give or take a bit. I don't care if it is new or used as long as will suite my curiosities.<br> SO areas I can compromise:<br />- would like full size sensor, but not likely to happen at the budget. So I can go to any level here as long as other features are ideal<br />- I don't care if it is D SLR or mirrorless, but I would like to have a an eye viewfinder.<br />- MP count, obviously want a good count here, but will definitely go low in this area, particularly if I can only get the features I want and the price I want, and I can only get it in a older used model. <br />- don't care about video mode or quality of such<br />- don't care about build in mice,<br />- NPC or GPS, WiFi would be nice but can without any or all of them. <br />- articulated screen while nice, can live without.<br> Should have:<br />- changes lenses - non fixed<br />- bracketing<br />- decent for long exposure, night shooting, time lapse, and perhaps sport, double exposure <br />- decent quality at higher ISO<br />- image stabilization <br />- good picture quality<br />- can shoot in RAW.<br> -black and white capable<br />- I will be able to use lenses I buy in upgraded camera, should I decide to upgrade at some point.<br> Basically I don't want my learning to be limited by the feature set and overall picture quality. I don't mind being limited by frame size and MP count. I am technically minded so I don't need an "easy to use" camera dial setup. I mean if a can get that great but not worried about it.</p>