Gars made some good points.

The T1i/T2i cameras to me are a bit small - there is no room for my pinky on the handgrip. Of course people with small hands will find it fine - my missus likes the size. The 40D/50D bodies are bigger and are more comfortable to hold for most guys though.

For used DSLR's, shutter count is important, but it's not possible to find out the total shutter count on consumer level DSLR's, unfortunately. The good thing is that the shutters are quite durable now, so they should last at least for 100,000 to 150,000 clicks. That's many years of shooting. I would avoid any cameras sold by pros though, as they tend to rack up the shots, especially wedding shooters and photojournalists.

Another thing you may want to consider is that the T1i has the 50D's 15MP sensor in it which is noticeably noisier compared to the 40D's 10MP sensor. If it's in your budget, I would buy the T2i, as its noise is very well controlled, but at 18MP, the RAW files are a massive 25MB each.

I just took some photos showing the size difference between the T2i & my 5DmkII.
T2i
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...p/IMG_0712.jpg

5DmkII
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...p/IMG_0883.jpg

Wow, the wide angle shots make my hand look extra-pudgy! :p

hey guys, im about to take photography as a new hobby.
first off i dont know anything about photography at all.

Q1: What camera should i get as my first digital slr? im a student on a low budget so i cant go over 800$ on a camera. im looking at around $500 for a camera though. many people told me to go for the d40/d60/d90 or a canon rebel..

Q2: what is the price for the camera you are recommending? new and used price?

Q3: The only lens im going to get is probably a 50mm lens. what is the price range for one? im a noob so whats the best bang for the buck?

thanks if you can help guys.

General rule of thumb: get the cheaper body, and spend the dollars on a lens. That way, you can upgrade the body later but still get good image quality.

Anybody have experience with the panasonic lx2? Thinking of picking one up..

The LX2? It was a good camera in its day, and still is a decent camera, but I would get a LX5 or Canon S95.

I'd probably pickup something better sometime down the line, but as a newbie I think the lx2 would work decently as a pocket camera. Do you have another suggestions? I want a decently small camera with at least shutter/aperature control and at least 28mm wide.

Planning to upgrade to the D90. Was at a local camera store, I was told that Nikon will be doing an upgrade to the Nikon D90 and will be known Nikon D7000(Rumored). I'm thinking if I should wait or go a head with the D90. The D90 is at a really good price right now. Thoughts anyone please?

Okay quick question: D60x or D5000? Video isn't that important, but it would come in handy nowadays.

what you recommend, budget around 800

^If you don't mind buying used, go for a D40/D60 you can probably get one for around $200-250 for the body and then you'll have a whole $600 to spend on a couple lenses! Keep in mind though, the D40/D60 does not have autofocus on the body so you'll be manual focusing the whole time with lenses that don't have a built in focusing motor thing. Also, when buying used try to get the shutter count of the camera. I believe the lower end Nikons have about 75k-100k shots until the shutter starts to wear?

D40/D60 + 18-55mm + 50mm 1.8 and you should be good to go! I shot with a kit like that for about 2.5 years. Should be good enough to introduce you to all of the basics. A 50mm 1.4 is double the price of the 1.8 but well worth it imo.

ok i actually changed my mine and gonna look for a advanced digital camera. What do you guys recommend 400-500$ max. looking for a camera that has hd video recording abilities

There are only 2 that I would consider if brand new: canon s95 or panasonic lx5. If you want to spend less and get used then the lx3. I saw a used one on craigslist for $250 yesterday and it was sold today before I could pick it up.. fuuu

The new Nikon P7000 looks interesting too. It just might actually be a good P&S by Nikon.

Wow it sure looks like a copy of the G10/G11

What's your guy's stand on third party batteries? I have some gift certs from Best Buy that are expiring in about a month and they have these:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...eplacementl-en

I know in the camera equipment world you get what you pay for but I was wondering if any of you have horror stories or if I should just pony up the difference and buy genuine Nikon batteries.

i've only used 3rd party batteries through my 3 dslr's and 3 P&S's. my equipment wasn't expensive though.

the most important point is if one catches on fire or ruins your camera in any way, your warranty won't cover it. if you have a 350D or D40 i wouldn't spend $60 on a genuine battery. but if you have a 5D or similar that's such a negligible amount for peace of mind.

ps. the 3rd party ones last just as long or longer than OEM's. i got all of mine from dealextreme.

Some of the 3rd party batteries have a higher mAh rating which translates to more shots, but I don't know...I would never use one myself.

i have a 3rd party battery i bought from maxsaver. it seems to work just as long, but i find it shows 1 bar of battery left really quickly, but then just lasts forever from there. but at that price, i don't really care.

Ive got a couple from sterlingtek that I have been using for years, no problems. They last longer than the factory canon batteries.

Does anybody know of a better local price for the Panasonic Lumix LX3 than $350?

I was debating between the LX3, DMC-ZS7K, or Canon G11 but after the LX3's price drop I think it's the best priced for what I need it for, a point and shoot for when I can't bring my DSLR (ex. concerts.)

I don't think you can get a new LX3 anymore can you?

I had one put on hold at Kerrisdale and they have it on clearance for $350.

That's way less than dealer net. I'd buy it if I had the chance.

I got a pre-production P7000 on loan from Nikon for a few days. The JPEG quality is pretty good so far. I can't open the RAW files though, as the camera hasn't been released yet. The AF is a bit slow though.

Hmm LX5 is 499USD. Maybe I should swap out my G11 for this.