Digital Camera Evaluation Needed Before Purchase

There ya go.

dwight

Steve's is a GREAT resource! I prefer that over dpreview...

Now as for me... I really like my new Canon S5is.. it does a GREAT job taking pictures of MUSTANGS!!! Here are a few samples from my last trip to the track:

Kind of makes me want to leap into one of the SLRs though :)

IMO, anyone looking to spend close to $400 on a camera should take a hard look at the DSLRs out now.

Not only that, but before I got the S1IS an SLR seemed like too much of a hand full, (to learn) but now I see the light :)

The DSLRs have all the automatic settings of most P&S cameras. The big advantage of the long zoom P&S is that many come with image stabilization. To get this feature on most DSLRs is somewhat pricey. The one big advantage of DSLRs, besides lens flexibility, is their low noise at high ISO performance. Canon DSLRs currently has a decent sized advantage in this area due to their image sensor design.

Here's another window into the visible spectum:

Unless you plan to do a LOT more than car portraits and other such "record" photography, there is almost NO good reason to go deeper than "the S1IS". With that type of camera you have 90% of your needs in a small, efficient package that turns out excellent product sufficient for 99% of most folks' requirements.

dSLRs are magnificent machines, but very few people need their ability to fill that 1% difference. The original cost of a dSLR and a lens is just the opening shot in a war between "needs" and "wants", and the "wants" invariably win, to the tune of multiple thousands of dollars per minuscule increment in product quality.

Take it from one who knows: that first "why not?" step into dSLR-dom is an irretrievable launch onto a slippery slope.

On the other hand, maybe you need another time- and money-hog hobby. At least you'll have something to show for it, and share, unlike golf, where all you have is a great excuse to lie.

Canon is the leader, they are always First On Race Day...

Happy owner of : Canon EOS 30D, 8.2 Megapixel, SLR, with EF 100-400mm Zoom Telephoto f/4.5-5.6L IS (Image Stabilizer) USM Autofocus Lens (nearly 15,000 photos taken & the film is "almost" free) Canon HV20 HDTV (1920 x 1080) Camcorder

I'm still plodding along with the 300D I bought when they came out several years ago. I still get fantastic photos from it. Here's one I took a few weeks ago from the front yard. It has very little post processing.

I have been VERY tempted by the 5D. That is one fine camera for the money. The 40D is a very good crop camera too.

Not really. There are plenty of budget lenses that take very good photographs. Many people will spend thousands of dollars on lenses and still never get good quality photos. A good photographer isn't a result of high dollar equipment. Some of the best photos I have taken are using the Sigma 18-200mm super zoom budget lens. The Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens is wonderful and is sold for around $60. A person can take fantastic photos with only the kit lens that comes with most DSLR cameras. The "slippery slope" you speak of is purely a self inflicted phenomenon suffered by people that buy into the hype of other amateur photographers. Unless you get a paycheck from taking photos, all this expensive glass and other equipment is a waste of money, IMO.

Any DSLR will give a person the ability to make photography a hobby or to be as creative as they desire. With the price of some DSLRs dipping near the $400 range there isn't a reason to not consider one anymore.

That was probably me. I loved my S1, which was only my second digital but a fantastic performer. I had to send it back to Canon for a service bulletin, but they couldn't fix it.

So they sent me a refurbished S3. Can't argue with that!

I also have the Rebel XT and a few lenses, with many more to buy. I think if you look around, you can find either an XT leftover or an XTi at a good price, but be careful - you're going to want to spend thousands of dollars on lenses, and that's a pursuit that's never finished. Be forewarned.

dwight

Here are a few taken with the Rebel XT and the kit lens and the 70-200 F4 L

they are on topic :-) Dave

Actually I do have a Canon DSLR... I've got a a 20D... but sometimes when I just don't feel like hauling the 20D around the S5is does a nice job! The S5 is just a very nice handy camera... the trick is to keep the ISO as low as possible!

And I agree with you as you point out in your other post... The Canon DSLR's really shine when it comes to the higher ISO's!!! With the 20D i can shoot at ISO 3200, run it through Neat Image and still have a very usable image!!! And when you are shooting gymnastics, (a NO FLASH sport!!) in a very dark gym, you have no choice but to use ISO

3200!!!

ISO 3200 sample:

The Canon 50mm f1.8 is like the most incredible lens deal around!!! Sure it's a lot of plastic and feels a bit cheap... But it still takes some nice pictures in ambient light! LOL!

Here's a nice example of the 50mm f1.8.... This is my daughter... ISO3200 and wide open at f1.8...

I have since stepped up the the 50mm f1.4... here's a sample:

Michael Johnson wrote in news:59adnbOENZgXvaPanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Nice Picture.

Have you ever entered the monthly contest on Steve's? This months 1st prize is a 10MP Olympus EVOLT E-410. Win, sell on Ebay, buy 5D. :)

I was ignoring this thread, looks like there are a few photo bugs in here, eh?

I haven't entered any contests. I'll stick with th 300D for awhile longer.

Photo bugs are everywhere.

The twins are the most photographed automobiles in my neighborhood, certainly. I was going to ask Dave if he could set me up for a shoot with one of those P51's, but I'd have to polish and wax the car first. Too much trouble.

When TFrog was brand new, I was taking pictures of it with my Pentax K1000 film camera. I think I still have a couple of shots of my new car on a Kodak PhotoCD somewhere... How cool was it, to have photographs digitized and stored on CD?!? Wow.

Then an Olympus 1.3megapixel digital (which, at the time, was incredible, but now is pure crap). Then came the S1 and now the Rebel XT, and I'm still taking bad photos of an aging Fox-body Mustang.

Technology has come a fair distance since 1993, but the basic idea is the same. Camera. Car. Take pictures.

dwight

For some reason I haven't taken many pictures of my Mustang. I will shoot quite a few at cars shows. Most of my best stuff is of nature and people. Here is one I took at a friend's wedding. It was a spur of the moment shot with no posing involved.