Outdoor shots to webpage

[jspix]

Budget

* What budget - under $1000.00

Size

* What size - I like traditional SLR style, with removable lenses

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 6+

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) - I want to take wildlife pictures for website, so bigger is better, at least 10x

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) 8 - really important

Do you care for manual controls? yes but not if it sacrifices automatic ones

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Scenic veiws and wildlife shots

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? webpage for sure, will sacrifice large prints for price < 6 megapix

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? mix of both

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? YES

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? Do not like olympus, owned two of them and had bad experience.

Are there particular models you already have in mind? Pentax D100

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD) Image Stabailzation and would like to swap lenses, although I know nothing about swapping lenses or which to buy.

[SpecialK]

I'm happy with my K100D. I got the body only, then got a much better mid- range zoom, a fisheye/super wide and a decent long zoom for a very reasonable price, especially after $150 in rebates.

Pentax makes a 50-200 that has very good reviews and is only about $170 with rebate. It is light and compact, and should do most of your wildlife shots. The Sigma I got has a bit longer range overall, and it is not what I would call compact. It is considered a "budget" lens and can be had for about $219. Note there are a few subtle versions of it and the "APO DG Macro" version is considered the only "good" one.

The kit 18-50 is average at best, but if you are really on a budget you might just stick with it. It goes down to a moderate wide angle that is suitable for "scenics".

The fisheye creates a lot of "wow" shots, but also zooms out enough to be a "normal" looking wide angle. Perhaps my favorite lens, and pretty cheap as far and lenses go.

The K100D does not have large buffer so after you take just a few quick shots in a row, the camera pauses to write to the card. No big deal for landscape, architecture, general people shots or wildlife. It would only be an issue for continuous sports/action.

Though they are available, I would avoid a "10x" zoom such as an 18-200 as generally they are not the best performers at one end or another. However, they are tempting and perhaps it can suit your needs.

You also may be able to find used lenses as Pentax has been making them forever, and they will all fit the K100D, though you might lose a little convenience items (no auto focus for the most part).

I looked at the Canon XTi (kind of pricey, as are Canon lenses for the most part), the Nikon D50 (the body is closer to the K100D, but again their lenses kill you) and the Olympus 2 lens set (the 2x crop factor makes a really wide angle pricey). The K100D has all the basic features, plus shake reduction that helps with long lenses and/or low light.

Hope that helps.

[SpecialK]

I'm happy with my Pentax K100D. I got the body only, then got a much better mid-range zoom, a fisheye/super wide and a decent long zoom for a very reasonable price, especially after $150 in rebates.

Pentax makes a 50-200 that has very good reviews and is only about $170 with rebate. It is light and compact, and should do most of your wildlife shots. The Sigma I got has a bit longer range overall, and it is not what I would call compact. It is considered a "budget" lens and can be had for about $219. Note there are a few subtle versions of it and the "APO DG Macro" version is considered the only "good" one.

The kit 18-50 is average at best, but if you are really on a budget you might just stick with it. It goes down to a moderate wide angle that is suitable for "scenics".

The fisheye creates a lot of "wow" shots, but also zooms out enough to be a "normal" looking wide angle. Perhaps my favorite lens, and pretty cheap as far and lenses go.

The K100D does not have large buffer so after you take just a few quick shots in a row, the camera pauses to write to the card. No big deal for landscape, architecture, general people shots or wildlife. It would only be an issue for continuous sports/action.

Though they are available, I would avoid a "10x" zoom such as an 18-200 as generally they are not the best performers at one end or another. However, they are tempting and perhaps it can suit your needs.

You also may be able to find used lenses as Pentax has been making them forever, and they will all fit the K100D, though you might lose a little convenience items (no auto focus for the most part).

I looked at the Canon XTi (kind of pricey, as are Canon lenses for the most part), the Nikon D50 (the body is closer to the K100D, but again their lenses kill you) and the Olympus 2 lens set (the 2x crop factor makes a really wide angle pricey). The K100D has all the basic features, plus shake reduction that helps with long lenses and/or low light.


Hope that helps.