What to buy ASAP - need before July 20th.

[Billgolfer]

My key needs are:
NEED TO PURCHASE ASAP - for a big trip starting August 3rd.
Budget: Under $1,000.00
Size: Not a factor.
Features:
Megapixels: This is a KEY issue! MUST be able to occasionally make a 20" x 30" print. These would be scenic type shots.
Optics: Want at least 6x. Image stabilization is important. Really want to start at 28mm (in 35mm equivalency), but would accept a wide angle lens as an add-on. If I have a choice, I'd take a 28mm to xx lens and be more happy by adding a telephoto when I need it.
Image quality: VERY important - at least through ASA 400.
Manual controls: Required.
General Usage: General picture taking. Lots of travel pictures.
Big Prints: Yes - up to 20" x 30"
Indoor/Low Light: Yes.
Sports/Action photos: Yes. Snap-to-capture time is very important. (New Kodak P712 time of 0.07 seconds would be great but the camera is not available yet.)

[truflip]

the Panasonic FZ30 fits your needs. Im pretty sure if you find the right stores you can get a whole kit for $1000 taxes included.

[Telecorder]

The FZ30 is a great digi for outdoors but wouldn't be the best for low light/indoors. If you don't have prior digital imaging experience, a dSLR might be problematic on such a short fused time frame to learn in.

I purchased my FZ30 for $472, it uses SD cards (~$40/1-GB) and a spare battery (~$20) + Case (~$35)...

Check out Genece's wife's photos from their Alaskan Vacation and see if her images taken in a 'point & shoot' approach would satisfy your needs...

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21403

[Jason25]

I hate to say it, but you might be looking at a dSLR for all those features, especially for speedy shooting and low light. For everything you want, however, it would probably be above that 1k budget. You could, however, get a low-end SLR and a fast (f/2.8) 18-50mm (about 27-75 equivalent) range lens for around that budget with a memory card, then add a telephoto later on as you mentioned. The only caveat with that setup is that it would take some tweaking on the images from a low-end SLR to get that big of a print.

You might have use for the Sony R1, as it starts fairly wide (24mm). Focusing is slow in low light though, and it has a small buffer. It's a big camera as well, though not nearly as big as a bag full of SLR gear ;)

[Billgolfer]

I hate to say it, but you might be looking at a dSLR for all those features, especially for speedy shooting and low light. For everything you want, however, it would probably be above that 1k budget. You could, however, get a low-end SLR and a fast (f/2.8) 18-50mm (about 27-75 equivalent) range lens for around that budget with a memory card, then add a telephoto later on as you mentioned. The only caveat with that setup is that it would take some tweaking on the images from a low-end SLR to get that big of a print.

You might have use for the Sony R1, as it starts fairly wide (24mm). Focusing is slow in low light though, and it has a small buffer. It's a big camera as well, though not nearly as big as a bag full of SLR gear ;)

I have been looking hard at the Sony R1. Also like the specs for the Konoca-Minolta DiMage A200. What do you think about buying a Konica-Minolta since they are out of business?

[MindBender]

It sounds like what you are asking for is a DSLR. Something like:

the Nikon D50, you could get the whole package with an 18-50 and 50-200 lenses for under 800 bucks

the Nikon D70s, a suped up version of the D50 with more features but very similar body style and sensor

the canon Rebel XT, too small to fit comfortably in my hands, but the images are decent

the pentax *istDL, decent performance for very cheap... the body is about $300-$350 online right now (after $100 rebate from pentax) and with a couple lenses would be a good introductory DSLR. Body was similar to the Rebel XT though.. a little small for my hands

Olympus EVOLT 500. This should give you anti-dust and OIS (I believe) while still being in your price range.

The Sony Alpha will have built in OIS and some nice features, but you aren't going to find good prices for a while. Premieres at $900 or more for the body... wouldn't probably get much zoom for $100.

There are a lot of others in the sub $1,000 range, but those are the main ones that I've been hearing a lot about from people. There are some really good deals out there these days for some pretty powerful equipment.