SLR camera recommendation About This Page:

[nght10gale]

After all suggestions and hands on I went with t2i Canon. Took me about 3 weekends to get use to it, much larger than my point and shoot canon. Do not regret my purchase. Will be trying it over next 2 weeks at Disney ...woo hoo

[SHawk]

yay for you!! I just need to really focus on what I need and see what the best camera will be for that! I hope you have a wonderful time trying it out at Disney!!! Aren't you relieved to not have to wonder about it anymore?!

[Akrobby]

I too was looking to upgrade our current camera. We have a Cannon S5IS. I was all set to go with the Cannon SX40HS. I've always been partial to Cannon products from the 35 mm days ( AE1). After much back and forth, I decided on the Panasonic FZ150K. I was seriously considering going up to the Rebel DSLR type, but my wife and I decided to save that for another day, and stick with the "bridge" model, the segment between the point and shoots and the SLRs. I liked the continuos shooting specs of the FZ. Most websites had it as a toss up between the SX and FZ. Now I'm just waiting for that box from Amazon to show up at the office. Our trip to WDW isn't until August, show that should give me ample time to learn all the functions. These super zoom cameras are pretty cool. The SX has a bigger zoom range, but I think the 600mm equivalent will suffice.

[disneyfan2000]

lenses are important. And learning how to use lenses is even more important. And then, learning how to use lenses with flashes or speedlites is probably even more important. I'm still learning how to use lenses, but I want to start learning how to use lenses with flashes properly to get the most out of my camera. I have the T2i. Love it. I got the nifty fifty (50mm 1.8).

Remember, for portrait shots (head and shoulders or just head) 50mm and higher will give you the best results by far. Of course, if you can go 85mm or even 100mm and back up far enough, I've heard that will look even better.

For me, personally, I like shooting (video and photos) with wider angles. the 17-55mm is probably a perfact walk around lens for me. the 16-35mm, would probably be an even better walk around lesn for me if I could afford it and the full frame camera to go with it. Its nice to be right next to the people you are with, bend down and capture them and the entire epcot globe all in one shot. With a 17mm or 16mm, I can probably do that.

But remember, when you want a good portrait (head or head and shoulders...or heck, even a full body) zoom in as much as you can.

The lower the focal length, the more distortion. So, if you want faces to look their best and most accurate, zoom in. 50mm is they say closest to the human eye, although, they say higher than 50mm, like 85 and 100mm make faces look even better.