(Last updated: 2aug2008)
Somehow or other, it always ends up taking me far too long to choose a new phone or a new camera.
After reading endless reviews and a lot of toing and froing, I end up back to square one!
Still, it must be fun (?) so I thought I'd share my findings with everybody.
I currently have an FZ20 (12x optical zoom, 5MP, non-DSLR) with a 2.2x teleconverter, a 0.50x wide angle and a macro lens.
It has served me well and still does, however for some of the more demanding shots, the tiny sensor hits its limits.
Being tiny meant that the size of the lens was correspondingly small; this is a bonus when lugging around a camera.
Using ISO above 200 (the camera only goes to 400) is not an option, as it introduces too much noise.
Also, given the nature of the shots (bird shots and other distance shots), i.e. at the extreme end of the zoom, all the lens's weakness are highlighted. Purple fringing and other chromatic aberrations start showing up.
The camera has some great features, such as an inbuilt stabiliser, however for my purposes, the current combo of camera and add-on lenses is starting to suffer.
So, I hope I have made a pretty good case for going out and spending money! :-)
(btw, I have absolutely no association with any of the companies linked to in this article!)
Here are the 3 DSLRs I am currently looking at:
Nikon D60- AU$999 RRP (expect to pay a lot less) body-only.
- CCD 10MP
- Lens-based stabiliser
- Dust-removal
- Shutter range: 1/4000sec - 30sec
- Exposure metering: 420 segment sensor
- Focusing: 3-point focus with AF-assist light. Single-, continuous- and auto-servo AF. Manual focus too.
- ISO: 100-1600 (can go to 3200). Has Auto-ISO
- Flash: inbuilt, GN12
- LCD: 2.5" with 230,000 pixels
- weight: 495g approx
UPDATE 2aug2008:I have just come across this site which is selling the D60, body-only for AU$629 inc. GST
http://www.shoppingsafari.com.au/product.php?id=1369Canon EOS450D (aka
Rebel XSi)
- AU$1,149 RRP (expect to pay a lot less) body-only.
- CMOS 12MP
- Lens-based stabiliser
- Dust-removal
- Shutter range: 1/4000sec - 30sec
- Exposure metering: 35 segment sensor
- Focusing: 9-point focus with AF-assist light. Single- and continuous-servo AF. Manual focus too.
- ISO: 100-800 (can go to 1600). Has Auto-ISO (100-400 only)
- Flash: inbuilt, GN13
- LCD: 3" with 230,000 pixels
- weight: 475g approx
UPDATE 2aug2008:I have also come across this site which is selling the 450D, body-only for AU$889 inc. GST
http://www.shoppingsafari.com.au/product.php?id=1361SONY A350- AU$1,399 RRP (expect to pay a lot less) body-only
- CCD 14MP
- Body-based, CCD-shift stabiliser
- Dust-removal
- Shutter range: 1/4000sec - 30sec
- Exposure metering: 35 segment sensor
- Focusing: 9-point focus with AF-assist light. Single and continuous AF. Manual focus too.
- ISO: 100-3200
- Flash: inbuilt, GN12
- LCD: 2.7" with 230,000 pixels
- weight: 582g approx
UPDATE 2aug2008:I have also come across this site which is selling the A350, body-only for AU$799 inc. GST
http://www.shoppingsafari.com.au/product.php?id=1409All of them are very nice but I need to choose just one!
I'll be taking a break from this for a while. Well, a day or so anyway :-)
As soon as I have more info on what camera I will (probably) be heading for, I'll post it all here.
(
psst! I've also been looking at the marvelous Nikon D300 but at AU$2,389 (
http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/category624_1.htm) or so
just for the body, I am not sure it's going to make it into my shopping list :-(
)
btw, for in-depth reviews of cameras, visit:
http://www.dpreview.com or
http://www.dcresource.com or
http://www.steves-digicams.comstay tuned...
UPDATE 2aug2008:Added links to sites offering cheapest deals, as of today and as found via a search on
http://www.myshopping.com.aufor a more extensive comparison of the latest DSLRs, visit
http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/5429/dslr-shootout-five-top-cameras-compared.htmlps: Comments and/or links to this article are most welcome!