682 replies to this topic

[badtaya77]

panasonic gf1 is great, have the same and it makes great pics.

[petesie]

I'm just in the process of upgrading my camera gear.....

The Nikon D90 gets shunted out by a new D300s and my Canon SX200 gets replaced with the SX210.....

Anyone any reports on these?

[rxpharm]

Don't get caught up in the never ending cycle of upgrades unless you can actually see a difference in the photos you take.

As far as the quality difference goes, you probably wouldn't see much difference between your D90 and the D300s and the same with the Canons unless you plan on printing wall size photos. Also remember if you zoom in a photo on a computer screen, that is not the natural way to look at photos.

The only other compelling reason to upgrade would be if there are some enhancements to the function side that you cannot live without.

I am still shooting with my Konica/Minolta 5D a 6mp APSC DSLR which produces fine photos for my purposes. My point and shoot is a Panasonic TZ5. I have no plans on upgrading unless it is to acquire more lenses. Better lenses make a bigger difference to the photo quality than upgrading to the next model of DSLR.

[petesie]

I get what you mean RX.....I'm upgrading the D90 which is a consumer DSLR to the D300s which brings it into their professional range.....it's a good deal I'm getting on the Nikon as the Canon SX210 actually comes free with it.......!

This is because rather than give you cash they are offering me goods, comes at the right time as my son has been burgled at university and among the stuff lost was his camera.....so he gets my SX200.....

I am currently looking at what lens to buy which will suit my use......I currently use the 18-105mm "bundled" lens for my holiday stuff and have started to use my 35mm and 50mm a bit more....anybody any suggestions?

[rxpharm]

petesie, review what photos you took that you liked the most. Once you've done that you can determine what lenses (if any) you would buy.

Your kit lens is good for the holiday photos with a reasonable zoom range. If you find you like more "portrait" type photos the 50mm you have is something you could experiment more with. If you like the landscape photos more you could look into a fixed focal length in the wide angle range - 16-24 mm (not a zoom). The fixed focal length lens generally have better optics than a zoom lens since there is no need to compromise across a zoom range. Also they need to have larger maximum apertures, so are better for low light photos.

I travel with a Sony 18-250 zoom, which I use a lot of the time. While it is a compromise the image quality is pretty good considering the utility. Another side benefit is not needing to change the lens often which attracts dust to collect on the sensor. I also pack a 50 mm f1.4 lens for taking portraits of my favorite ladies, and is very handy in low light situations.

I think our resident glamor photographer prefers the wide angle fixed focus lens - something in the range of 20 mm - but he is shooting a full frame DSLR, which will give more angle of view than on our APSC cameras.

Don't restrict yourself only to Nikon lenses - Tamron and Sigma also produce good lens - and Tamron makes an 18-270mm image stabilized zoom for Nikon - it is pricey, but I believe you can also get the standard non-stabilized zoom for much less.

I also have a few other lenses for specialized work a Tamron 90 mm macro, a Minolta 500 mm autofocus mirror telephoto (good for safaris and airshows).

Sorry to hear about your son's loss - you're quite generous to give him your old SX210.

I am assuming you are keeping your D90? That opens more possibilities if you are willing to lug around 2 DSLRs.

[petesie]

Thanks for the info RX...I shall certainly bear it all in mind...

The D90 goes and the SX200 is a "gizitt" to my lad.......

[petesie]

The D90 went within 10 minutes of me puting my ad on the local notice board......so I nipped downtown and bought the replacements.....

Here's a snap of my new toys before the D90 went....

As well as the free sx210 they gave me a new Lowepro backpack, an 8gb Sansdisk extreme compact flash, a 16gb Sansdisk extreme SD card, a regular 4gb SD and a small Lowepro case for the Canon....just need to figure out how to use it now.......!

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[petesie]

I'll be glad when you go to LoS..........

[Hoot]

Love to hear what you think of the SX210 once you've had a chance to use it. I've had my eye on it the last couple of weeks myself.

[petesie]

I've had the sx200 for only 4 months and I'm impressed with the features so the chance of the 210 sealed the deal.....

If you have a look on Pocket-lint.com it gets 8/10 on there......it's slimmer and more ergonomic than it's predecessor.....have you broke another one...?