I have a 4th 0 MP Olympus digital cam for the past year and I am ready to upgrade. I’m very fascinated with digital photography, and I hope for a decent prosumer type camera around 300-400 U.S. dollars to be found. Any ideas? I really want a camera with AA better zoom (my current is only 3x and needless to say, it sucks) and wonderful quality. Any advice what I should or consider personal recommendations would be awesome. Thanks.
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I’ve got a Canon EOS 350D. I think the’re called ‘Rebel’ in the States. It has been supersceded by the 400D which has 10.1 mp. Mine has only 8, but that’s plenty. It came with a 3 to 1 zoom which is wide enough but not long enough. It is a great camera with all the features you could want. The down side is that you have to look through the viewfinder to take the shot. The recorded image only appears on the LCD screen after the exposure. The screen is not very big either, compared to the cheaper consumer digitals, but that’s not a big issue.
The major plus is that there’s an infinite number of aftermarket Canon lenses out there (new and used) which click straight on. You should be able to pick up a Canon EOS body on Ebay easily (with the basic lens-18 to 55) and then when you’re familiar with the camera and your requirements, go looking for the lens which suits you. Good luck.
At your budget it wll be tough. Youre looking at a Nikon D40 or a second hand Nikon D50, D70s. If you want a strong zoom, you can check the Nikon 28-105mm but your D40 should come with a kit lens that could provide enough zoom.
As you may have gathered, your budget will not really reach into the better “Prosumer” market, but consider the better point and shoot cameras. Canon Powershot G7 or Leica D-LUX 3 come to mind, but they are a couple hundred over your budget.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=leica_dlux3%2Ccanon_g7&show=all
Look at the Canon Powershot S3-IS, which I’ve heard others call a prosumer camera, or the A640, which is one of the best P&S in your price range.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s3is%2Ccanon_a640&show=all
Some others to check out, although I’d rate the Canon’s above them are the Sony DSC H5 or Panasonic DMC-FZ7.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=panasonic_dmcfz7%2Csony_dsch5&show=all
Some refer to the Canon Powershot A710-IS as the “Poor Man’s G7″ and it’s a nice camera with 6X zoom (35-210 mm equiv.).
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a710is.asp