DSLR cameras

Get the entry level Nikon or Canon body, but only buy the kit lens if it's decent. Nikon used to have a nice kit lens with the D70, but I don't know anymore.

If you want browse in Japan, go to Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku. Then come back (assuming you're in the US) and buy it from B&H.

Belgian sales tax may make it marginally cheaper in japan. I bought mine in Singapore (lens in Hong Kong) and the saving was a little more than the UK's 17.5% VAT.

belgium have high taxes + parents live in japan and haven't bought me a present yet = very eager to get one in japan. :-)

At least when I was last in the market for a camera body (which was 2 yrs ago now) the consensus seemed to be that Nikon and Canon both made fine cameras with lots of lenses to choose from. I just picked up the low end models from both companies, and I liked how Nikon felt. It seems increasingly hard to buy a bad DSLR these days.

(btw, Debito, are you 有道出人?)

So far, so good - still getting used to it. Came with the (widely-derided) EF-S 18-55mm kit lens, which seems OK to me. Only criticisms so far: this lens really manage macro, at least not as easily as the Ixus; pentamirror rather than pentaprism, so viewfinder's a little dark; LCD screen about as big as they came in 2003, but not big by today's standards.

Fast startup, fast AF, fast everything. There's a default parameter set which jazzes JPGs up a little (contrast, sharpness, saturation), which is very moreish, but can be turned off/customised.

This is a shot of Ava in quite a dark cafe; manual focus, f/5.6, ISO 800, 1/15th sec. Not brilliant, but the sort of shot I couldn't possibly get with the Ixus i:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/335516259_cbf3a55ef2_m.jpg

Canon's lens lineup is preferable, IMO. More image-stabilized lenses, more fast primes for low $$$, and their USM system (quiet, fast autofocus) is wonderful.

The best of all worlds are the full-frame Canon dSLRs (5d, 1d something). Access to the lens line I prefer, usable images past ISO 3200, but expensive and the 5d has issues with collecting dust on the sensor and viewfinder.

Haha. God no. I have mixed feelings about that guy, and I am def not him.

The new EOS 400D is good value and produces great images. I'd get one if I were to buy a DSLR today.

http://www.flickr.com/cameras/

http://www.pentaximaging.com/products/product_details/digital_camera--K110D/reqID--7717497/subsection--digital_slr

It seems realy good so far - when I was looking, it came down to that, the Canon rebel, the D50 or the new D40. However new D40 is crap for upgrading the lense.

I bought it in the US at something like a 40% saving - I can almost imagine that with the dollar where it is right now it could be worth flying over just to buy something like this.

(Do you see what I did, there?)

I had a sigma lens on my old 35mm Canon which hasn't transferred to the digital--it just won't work--but I keep not getting around to sending it for reprogramming.

I drove a Belgian friend of mine to Germany last year to go shop for a Canon 350D (after weeks of online comparisons on sites like http://www.dpreview.com/ ). Why? Taxes are only 6% in Germany (Belgium: 21%) AND the warranty was valid in the whole of Europe.

As for Canon/Nikon: far as I know, it's like the Mac/PC thing: it doesn't actually matter what you use, but most people are either a fan of one or the other.

I've been trying to get hold of a filter for my D50, but the company I've tried keep on sending me the wrong sizes. I gave up after three attempts..

Yes, BUT... (and this doesn't rly apply in this case, but it's goood to know)

...Nikon works the smaller (23.6 x 15.8mm) sensor size whereas canon has full-frame (36.0 x 24.0mm) sensors @ the higher-cost models. Nikon has NO plans to go to full-framefor whatever reason. So if you were considering the ULTIMATE UPGRADE then you'd have to go canon. I think nikon makes vg entry-level cameras.

In the US, B&H Photo is a popular camera-only store (www.bhphoto.com), but Amazon generally has prices that are just as good on lenses from Canon and Nikon as well as free shipping.