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Any assistance in choosing my first digital camera gratefully
accepted. I have been using the same SLR camera for nearly 30 years
and looking to change to digital.

My priorities are:
very good resolution pictures (family shots, cars)
able to take actions shots (football, motor sport)
good zoom capabilities
I like the idea of having a burst mode option

My personal choice is the Canon EOS 10D from the reviews, but at
£1000+ is at the very limit of my budget (would probably wait for it
to come down in price). However as I'm more a casual picture taker,
rather than a serious photographer, I'm wondering if there are any
other excellent choices (even discontiuned models)which would fit the
bill. I suspect many of the features on the 10D would be unused, but
I'm reluctant to choose a cheaper camera if it means a reduction in
performance on my priorities.

Andy

"Andy Munnis" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> Any assistance in choosing my first digital camera gratefully
> accepted. I have been using the same SLR camera for nearly 30 years
> and looking to change to digital.
>
> My priorities are:
> very good resolution pictures (family shots, cars)
> able to take actions shots (football, motor sport)
> good zoom capabilities
> I like the idea of having a burst mode option
>
> My personal choice is the Canon EOS 10D from the reviews, but at
> £1000+ is at the very limit of my budget (would probably wait for it
> to come down in price). However as I'm more a casual picture taker,
> rather than a serious photographer, I'm wondering if there are any
> other excellent choices (even discontiuned models)which would fit the
> bill. I suspect many of the features on the 10D would be unused, but
> I'm reluctant to choose a cheaper camera if it means a reduction in
> performance on my priorities.
>
> Andy

If 1000GBP is your upper limit, and you want a dSLR, look at the Canon 300D,
which goes for around 850GBP in the UK, including lens. Look at
http://tinyurl.com/pv92 for example.

HMc

Andy Munnis wrote:
> Any assistance in choosing my first digital camera gratefully
> accepted. I have been using the same SLR camera for nearly 30 years
> and looking to change to digital.
>
> My priorities are:
> very good resolution pictures (family shots, cars)
> able to take actions shots (football, motor sport)
> good zoom capabilities
> I like the idea of having a burst mode option
>
> My personal choice is the Canon EOS 10D from the reviews, but at
> £1000+ is at the very limit of my budget (would probably wait for it
> to come down in price). However as I'm more a casual picture taker,
> rather than a serious photographer, I'm wondering if there are any
> other excellent choices (even discontiuned models)which would fit the
> bill. I suspect many of the features on the 10D would be unused, but
> I'm reluctant to choose a cheaper camera if it means a reduction in
> performance on my priorities.

This is a good opportunity for you to consider a much smaller camera that
you can take with you more places. One example is the Minolta F300:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/F300/F30A.HTM

I haven't used this camera yet myself, but people have been raving about it.
The one thing that might scare you off in that review is the comment about
the autofocus speed--but it's easy to work around that, either by pressing
and holding the shutter halfway, or by turning on full-time autofocus mode.
If it doesn't sound like the zoom goes long enough, keep in mind that with
five megapixels, you've got room to do quite a bit of cropping and still get
nice prints.

The little Canons are also very nice. I have a two-year-old Canon S300 that
I take just about everywhere. It's so small that I hardly notice it hanging
from my belt. I also have my old Nikon FE SLR with some very nice lenses,
and there's no doubt it's capable of taking better pictures than the S300.
But in two years with the S300, I've taken *many* more good pictures with
the S300 than I took in 20 years with the SLR.

If you're taking pictures for fun, I think you'll have a lot more fun with a
small camera--I know I do. Also, a camera like this will cost you a lot
less, so you'll have room in your budget for a nice big flash card and a
good photo printer.

-Mike

> This is a good opportunity for you to consider a much smaller camera that
> you can take with you more places. One example is the Minolta F300:
>
> http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/F300/F30A.HTM

I just noticed on the forums at www.dpreview.com that this model is
discontinued, although it's still available from a few vendors such as
www.bhphoto.com. Minolta's replacement for it is the G500. I'd also suggest
looking at the Canon S400. (Not sure what it's called in the UK--Canon uses
different model numbers in the UK and USA.)

The main point is that you can probably satisfy all of your photographic
needs with a much smaller, less expensive camera than you were considering.
Since you're shooting for fun, you'll have more fun with a camera that you
can take with you more places.

-Mike