low-end camera recommendation?

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I would just save my money and get a digital SLR if you have lenses for your old 35 mm then this would be the way to go.

It has been said that the best camera you can buy is the one you will have with you when you need it. Will you always be willing to go into the house, fetch the digital SLR and bring it outside?

I have a Casio Exilim 5MP pocket camera and a Canon Digital SLR (Rebel XT so just an entry level model). I use the Exilim for quick shots and I am most likely to have it with me. The Canon, it's always in the office, so I have to go retrieve it. If I only had the Canon, there are many things I would not have photographed because either I didn't have it with me, or I did not want the excess bulk.

Also, digital SLRs still run about $400 and are generally more complex to use than a point-and-shoot.


Also, I would add that many folks push their camera to the limit of its focus ability trying to get a macro shot. By putting the camera right on top of the subject in a low light situation, you are going to need a $2,000 camera to take that shot. Instead, pull the camera back, zoom it almost all the way out, so it's just barely zoomed in (to prevent barrel distortion), and then put the camera about 1 foot from the subject. If necessary, hold your hand, or a white piece of paper with some text on it at roughly the same distance from the camera, get the camera focus locked on your hand or the paper, and then without losing the lock, pointthe camera at your tomatoes or whatever you need a macro shot of and squeeze the trigger.