New camera... Help!

[helenjenkins]

<p>I'm a very lucky person - my lovely husband has just done some freelance work and told me last night that he wants to upgrade my camera for me with the fees he'll receive. I now have a bit of a dilemma and I was hoping for your thoughts which may help me make the final decision.</p>

<p>I have about £500 ($800 - but please bear in mind electronics are more expensive in England) to spend. My initial inclination was to upgrade the Canon I have now to an SX1 IS (or something along those lines). Or would I be better getting an entry level DSLR? My personal feeling about that is that I wouldn't then have the money to get any more lenses for a fair while (as lovely as Dan is he doesn't get gigs like this that often!) so I would just have the kit lens - and this is what puts me off.</p>

<p>Any thoughts welcome - I genuinely don't know the right way to go and I would appreciate advice from people who have more experience in these matters.</p>

<p>Thanks Helen</p>

[Brian]

<p>Jessops are currently offering the Olympus E-420 with the 14-42 and 40-150mm lenses for £379, or the same kit with the E-520 (image-stabilised) body for £459. The 14-42 is a super lens and the tele zoom is not bad either. You could do a lot with this set-up before thinking you need more lenses.<br>

Image quality is definitely a step up from the P&S standard. High-ISO performance with these bodies is OK up to 800 and there is also a 1600 option -- not as good as the Canon dSLRs but streets ahead of most P&S. Also the shutter lag is a lot shorter. Both bodies have live view so if you like seeing your shot on the screen on the back of the camera you can do this (though most dSLR shooters end up using the viewfinder).</p>

[michaeljlawson]

<p>The new kit lenses on models like the Canon XSi and T1i are pretty decent. I wouldn't be to worried about "Only having the kit lens". If the kit lens covers the focal lengths you normally shoot at, I would go for the entry level DSLR.</p>

[helenjenkins]

<p>Thanks Guys. Much appreciated. Will be researching over the weekend, I can tell!</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Brian beat me to it. Right now the Olympus E-420 may be the single best value in a dSLR, regardless of manufacturer. If I was starting out myself right now I'd seriously consider it. In fact, even tho' I'm a Nikonista, I have seriously considered the E-420 because I could use a much smaller, lighter camera than my Nikon D2H. However it would demand rethinking my entire system since I'm not inclined to use more than one system again - done that before with 35mm. For me, a smaller Nikon would make better sense because I'm fairly deeply invested in the system. Otherwise, Olympus and Pentax both offer some excellent values.</p>

[charlesheckel]

<p>Check out dpreview.com on the E-420--they have concerns about resolution of fine detail, and you've got to be happy with performance as it's your one DSLR.</p>

[bobcossar]

<p>I'd recommend the XS10IS........it has a very sharp, and long zoom range lens. I have made excellent 16x20 inch prints from mine, and unless you propose even larger prints, I think you would be happier with the SX10IS than a dslr.....cheers...Bob</p>

[helenjenkins]

<p>And again... Thanks to everyone for their input - it's much appreciated. A lot of thinking is forecast over the next few days!</p>

[John Sully]

<p>I have the SX10 IS and have been extremely happy with it. Haven't tried any huge prints yet since my friend with the Epson 9900 printer is currently out of town working of shots for his next book, but I am looking forward to see how well it works. 8 x 10 prints are fine.</p>

<p>If you don't need RAW images or HD video capture, the SX10 IS is probably a better choice than the SX1 IS. The SX10 has lower noise and costs about $100 US less, other than that the cameras share the same feature set and lens. If you want a smaller camera than the SX series, you should look at the Canon G10.</p>

<p>The G10 has higher resolution than the SX1 or SX10 and higher build quality. It is also an easier camera to use since the two most used functions, for most photographers at least, ISO and exposure compensation are located on real live knobs. If you want a really long lens though, the G10 only has a 5x zoom (28-140) vs. the 20x zoom (28-560) of the SX series.</p>

<p>For me the SX10 IS replaces almost an entire DSLR kit (don't ask why, I didn't have a choice) and it is nice to have a do anything camera which is easy to carry around and can make almost any image the DSLR kit would. I did keep my external flash from the DSLR because the in camera flashes are notoriously inadequate and it is nice that these cameras have an external hotshoe and work with most (all?) of the dedicated Canon E-TTL flashes. All in all this is a nice camera if you are not looking for the ultimate in image quality; this camera does have very good image quality, just not professional level image quality.</p>

[mark_loader]

<p>Those Olympus deals seem irresistable, Helen. Now, where are your lovely husband's pipe and slippers?</p>

[peter_ferling]

<p>Helen, I did try out the Oly e-420 (the same two lens deal), and it is a capable system. I'm used to canons and it put me off in regards to control arrangements. I've heard that the detail smearing can be resolved by turning off some automatic noise reduction settings in the menu. I returned it, but would accept it for pro work if given the choice between a P&S and having some pro features and money was tight.<br>

That set will give you two lenses and good range for the 'long while' you may encounter. When you do find an extra something, you can buy additional lenses.<br>

Also, don't rule out Ebay, I've found some deals there from reputable vendors, and retiring pros alike.<br>

Finally, don't rule out sites like this one. When you make a selection, do some research and see what other have to say about camera X vs camera Y, etc.</p>

[John Sully]

<p>Here is a link to a full size image (no cropping, just the jpg as it came out of the camera). <a href="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00T/00TuZU-153685584.jpg">http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00T/00TuZU-153685584.jpg</a></p>

<p>This shot was taken with an external flash, a full tele zoom (100mm / 560mm equivalent) at 1/60th with IS turned on. This is of Michael Doucet of the Cajun band Beausoleil at the National Folk Festival in Butte, MT (USA). I take back the slur on the image quality I gave to the SX10 IS, the quality of this image is more than acceptable. Please note that I am used to shooting with a Canon D30 w/Canon L glass or top of the line Sigma EX lenses. This image is not quite as sharp as that, but on the other hand, it would have been very difficult to get this image using a DSLR.</p>

<p>To get this image I used the tilting LCD screen and tilted it down towards my face so that I could hold the camera above my head and still see the screen to compose. I pre-focused on the face and then kept the image framed while waiting for the "decisive moment". When he began to sing, I snapped the shutter, resulting in this shot. The result speaks for itself.</p>

<p>If you want one of the Canon SX series cameras, get it. You won't be disappointed.</p>

[helenjenkins]

<p>Hi Guys</p>

<p>Thanks again for the invaluable advice. It's definitely come down to the SX10 or the Olympus, but am wavering greatly between the 2. At least it's a couple of weeks before I'll actually be able to buy it, so plenty of time for dithering yet...</p>

<p>Can't get Dan his pipe and slippers just yet - he's still got to work! I am making his favourite chilli for tonight when he gets back, though...</p>

<p>Great shot John, by the way!</p>

<p>Cheers Helen</p>

[John Sully]

<p>Thanks for the shout out Helen, I'll probably post a gallery once I've had a chance to work over the shots in Photoshop. I've only had the camera for a couple of weeks, but I think I fell in love with the thing today. It is such a versatile camera, as responsive as a DSLR, but much easier to use in situations like this. I could get shots like this, but at the same time just zoom out to a wideangle and get shots which emphasized the crowd reaction w/o having to change lenses, another thing which would have been difficult on a packed dance floor. I am really impressed with the abilities of these superzoom cameras, but like they say: "horses for courses", this horse just seems to run well on a lot more courses than most.</p>