EOS Versus Compact Point and Shoot

My budget is about $700 / roughly 500 euros. I was thinking of getting the body and then spending $200 on the lens. Not sure which one I want though. After being exposed to a slr camera in b/w photography, I don't really want to use PnS as much. I want to learn how to use a slr more. I can see advantages of having a PnS and advantages of having a slr. There are moments when I'm taking a picture and I wish I had a slr with me.

For $700 you will not get the SLR plus a lens that will satisfy you. The kit lens 18-55mm has its widest aperture at f3.5 at wide angle, in the slight tele it is f5.6, you will not get the shallow DOF you would like. This effect you will get with f2.8 or wider and this is far beyond your budget. And as a newbie, why not trying a P&S which allows you more manual settings than the average P&S like the Powwershot G9 (~$500)? Beside my EOS Bodies I have a Finepix F30 and I love it for the "light luggage trip", I was debating to get one of the Powershot series because they have more zooom-range but the quality of my F30 is good enough to keep it..

I got some great images with my A70, as long as it was in a totally controlled environment and I could make about 20 attempts. Snapshots, of course, were all fine. The deal-breaker for me ultimately was shutter lag: I'd press the shutter release, the camera would think about focus and exposure for a while ... then a while longer...then go out for coffee, read a magazine, think a bit more, then make the exposure. Just forget about taking images of anything at all dynamic under slightly marginal conditions, and you are fine. Almost as important was its frequent failure to focus correctly at very close range, and its propensity to overexpose close range flash images.

I'm not decrying the A70 really. It is a great little camera in its class, but there were things it just could not do that an SLR does easily: responsiveness, focus, exposure, lens choice, etc. and they frustrated me no end.

gjl711 wrote in post #4069331
So, is a DSLR a bike or a car?

A P&S is a Hyundai Excel. Perfectly adequate, and will get you there, reasonably quickly and reasonably comfortably. You can get stuff like spoilers if you want, and an aftermarket stereo, but the basic body/engine combination is constant.

A DSLR is a sports car. Manual, so it's a bit more complicated to learn to drive, but then you get into options:

Coupe or soft top? Stroked 4, V8, V12? Any colour you want. Stripped back or every luxury item you can add. Sports suspension or softer for touring? Anything from an Aston Martin to an Ariel Atom. You decide... But it will get you there in the most awesomely fun way imaginable.

Primm
(camera afficionado and sports car nut!)

I always like showing off the difference a DSLR can make when shooting concerts.

This was made with a P&S

ooo wrote in post #4071296
My budget is about $700 / roughly 500 euros.

Think about a body only and an EF 50mm f1.8. This lens is less than $100 and will be the best $100 you ever spend. It's a prime so no zoom (feet only) but will give you insane sharpness and DOF.

B&H (http://www.bhphotovide​o.com) sells the Rebel XT body with the kit lens new for $529. That gets you the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens. Get the 50mm f/1.8 on top of that and you'll be talking a little over $600 for the whole thing.

While the 18-55 kit lens doesn't have an amazingly short depth of field, f/5.6 is still a very narrow depth of field compared with what you'll get out of a point'n'shoot, especially if you're shooting relatively close subjects.

EDIT: The XTi with same kit lens is an additional $150, which is why I didn't suggest it. You might be able to get a good 20D setup for the kind of money you have available to you. Check the classified sell forum here. If I were in your shoes, a 20D setup is the way I'd go.

The portrait i posted is taken with kit lens, so it is possible to blur background with it. Can´t really say is it good or bad bokeh though.

Here in europe, with 500€ you best (and only) bet would be (gasp) Nikon D40 kit, but since there´s so outrageously cheap prices in USA, you might get more.

I wouldn´t shun the kit lens, but it will leave you wanting more pretty soon.

Just buy a used camera off of someone here on the forums with an established reputation. You'll get a better price and hopefully a used camera that was taken care of by someone who loved it.

The (GASP) suggestion of a Nikon D40 is a good compromise between a PnS and a more advanced SLR...it also has the advantage of taking ANY NIKON manual focus lens...most of which can be gotten for under $100. You don't get exposure control, but you can learn exposure without it...

You could also get a Canon XT/10D each for about $350-400 plus a couple of Nikkors (and adapters @ $30-40), such as the 135/2.8 and 200/4 (each under $100) that WOULD give you exposure control, and the Canon 35/2 and 50/1.8 primes are very good @ $150 each...the 18-55 kit is the only way you'll get a real wide angle lens for under $300.