Which camera should I buy?

[Sagnarelle]

Hello, I'm new to photography and I'm looking for a good and versatile camera. I had a Sony DSC-S90 but I sold it to get a better one.
Now as far as I've seen I got 2 options: A used Canon EOS 300D and a new Canon S3 IS. Which one should I buy and why?

I hope you can guide me.

Thanks in advance and sorry about my pour english. v_v

[zacker]

what do you plan on doing? ... photography wise that is.

[canoflan]

The 300 will provide the most versatility for high quality images and for shooting action, however, my wife has the SD700 for parties and the point and shooter style and it works fine.;)

[gjl711]

And whats you budget? And what are your expectations for future growth?

[Sagnarelle]

Basically I want to get into photography and lear more about it.
I want a camera to take landscape pictures (I'm going to Patagonia soon), potraits, action shots, and I'm going to mount a little studio with some lights in my house just to experiment. So I need a camera that would let me take any kind of shots.

About the budget... I have like US 500, but I live in Chile, south america, and here cameras are very expensive.
And about future growth.. I'm a graphic design student and I'll have photography lessons soon so I'm planning to get this camera just for this year and (if its necessary) get a better one next year.

Thanks for your answers and again.. sorry about my english.

[gjl711]

For versatility the S2 is a great camera. It has all the manual controls which allow one to learn just about all aspects of photography with the exception of how to change lenses or clean sensors, and takes outstanding pics as well. There are other options, the Nikon 8800, the Panasonic DMC-FZ30 or FZ-50 are also in that price range and similar in feature set. They are all considered SLR-like cameras and either will take outstanding quality pics. All have lenses which will cover the macro, and from 35mm on to 400 plus.

However, they have a downside as well. Their startup times tend to be much longer usually measured in seconds. At high ISO the noise gets bad. The Nikon at 400 is worse than a Rebel at 1600. Neither cover the wide angle shot well.

Anyway, if this is a first camera, go for the SLR-like for its flexibility, all in one coverage and great quality and you cant go wrong.

[gjl711]

P.S. Check out this link (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_s3is%2Cpanasonic_dmcfz30%2Cpanasonic _dmcfz50%2Cnikon_cp8800&show=all)for all of them side by side.

[picturecrazy]

If you want to get a little more serious that the average shooter, then just go for the 300D. Because if you get the S3, you'll likely hit a wall and end up buying the 300D anyways. We hear about it over and over on these forums.

[jr_senator]

If you want to use external flash, maybe consider the G7 or a good used G5 (I think the G6 sucks).

[Jman13]

A 300D is a great starter camera. Mine served me quite well for some time, until I got my 30D, so I'm selling my 300D. A used 300D or XT, or if you have the cash, a new XTi...all would be great cameras to start with.

[ray_lam5]

300D no comparison, but it will cost you more in the long run...