Digital cameras forum: DSLR recommendation

thanks for the suggestion

If you are serious about photo image quality, then D-SLR will be better.

Sony's NEX, Panasonic's GH1/GF1, Olympus' PEN 1/2/EPL1, Samsung's NX10 etc all have some serious drawbacks. The camera body is smaller but the lenses are still bulky, so its size and proportion to the lens are somewhat awkward. The autofocus (esp continuous AF) and speed (fps) are subpar even to the entry level D-SLR. But the most limiting problem is the lack of lens choice. Sure, there are lens mount adaptors for the regular line of lenses but these lenses are really out of proportion to the camera body, quite awkward to operate. It is like a toddler wearing XL clown shoes walking around. Furthermore the accessories are proprietary and hard to find compatible third party accessories. This type of camera is new and evolving fast, and holds promise of a true hybrid camera/camcorder. One day it may overtake D-SLR in the consumer market, but that day has not yet arrived. If you really like this type of cameras, then you should wait for the next few generations.

For today, the D-SLR still has the best performance and flexibility, though not portability.

Buying D-SLR is actually buying a system, usually the camera body, a few lenses, and a bunch of accessories depending on your needs.

So one should spend no more than half the budget on the camera body, so that there is money to spend on lenses, external bounce flash and other accessories. I spent less than 1/3 of the budget on the camera bodies.

For $1000, this is really not much for a D-SLR system. If your budget is flexible with possibility to spend more in the future to buy more lenses and accessories, then you can spend more on the camera body now but expect your final budget to be about double of what you spent on your current camera body. Some people may think that they only need one or two lenses, and just use the pop-up flash. Well, these people are not getting the most out of using a D-SLR. So it depends on what you need and want.

For the budget minded buyer, Pentax K-x has good values but its performance is not as fast as the higher end models of Canon and Nikon. But obviously you will spend a lot more on the higher end Canon and Nikon to get that better performance. The Pentax D-SLR has good image quality, on par with the Canon and Nikon entry level models. If you have plans to do some fast action or sports photography, then you may want to consider spending more money on a Canon or Nikon (but you may end up spending hundreds or thousands more). You can get the Pentax Kx with an 18-55mm kit lens for just a little over $500, with money left over to buy a tele, an external bounce flash and perhaps even a bright lens for low light photography.

Best analogy ever!

And I second the T2i suggestion above - Mark