Which, makes me wonder?....why did each of you have the cam u have and lens's and why? I chose my Canon 1D Mk ii (with the L series lens's) carefully as it does what I want it to do!...very fast (8 and 1/2 frames a second)...to capture wildlife, action etc shots...and the Canon L series lens for quality and clarity. I call it all my second wife :) The first wife understands :)

At the time I purchased my Sony F717, I was looking at the best value I could get for the price. I spent a few weeks reading reviews and chose this cam as a fairly educated amatuer. Now.....after hangin out in here with all you (Third Eye) aficionados, I'm jones'n for more. Muhahaha

I have my Canon 300D with a 28-135 mm IS tele ... because it is what I can afford now.
It is like a walk around cam :)

Carlos.

P.S.- My dream is a much better (too expensive) Canon cam ...

I based my purchase of a Canon Powershot Pro1 on budget alone. Thats all i could afford at the moment...and it still was rather expensive. Im hoping to get my cousin to buy me a Canon 20D tax-free....hooooping....praaayyinnnnng!!!! Or if you ever feel like donating your equipment Jim, i suppose i could take it off your hands. #;O)

Andreas....bad news...just cannot divorce the second wife :)

#:o( ....how about lending her as a mistress?

I have to echo Andreas comments here!It all had to do with budget at the time! Last year before Christmas, I was looking for an upgrade for my Olympus c700! I was able to try out the Panasonic FZ20, but decided that the Canon g6 was the best choice for me! I have since found out that for the stuff I like to photograph, the G6 has many limitations. I've learned to work around some of them, but there are time when I wish I had more ZOOM or LOW LIGHT capability. This is WHY I am now seriously considering the DSLR route! I'm still concerned about what I hear is called "LENS ENVY", that constant need to have an arsenal of lenses and the expense involved! The info out there regarding lenses in general is overwhelming to say the least! I read about those "L" lenses and have to wonder how some people can afford them! (WHOA!) If you're making money as a photographer then I can see it, but the whole thing still has me hesitant! Just have to wait and see...when and IF I'm ready to make the DSLR move and what brand I will choose!

Message edited on: 11/07/2005 20:55

LOL @ Andreas. I got my cam because I had Olympus' before I was happy with their quality and controls. For a prosumer, non-SLR, the C8080WZ has an amazing amount of control options. And, it was one of the few 8MP cams in my budget. I did a lot of research and was satisfied with what I read. I like the idea of, and will eventually upgrade, to a DSLR, but having a 1 lens camera also makes it easier to lug around and that works for me right now.

The shot of the D70 was done with the second digital cam..a Minolta DImage F100 and it cost a lot at the time. I got it to do shots for eBay stuff then found out how I yearned for photography all over again. The first cam was a "contained memory" one from my ISP, with plastic lens and curvy image edges and all. I got the level of Nikon for budget reasons and went with Sigma lenses for the same reason. The tele shown is f/4 all the way and one of the better Sigmas..it does a wonderful job. The choice of Nikon was based on personal experience, like many folks choose automobiles, etc. Had one, it did fine, will get another. Research showed it to be a pretty good DSLR and that has proven true. The little Minolta accounts for all my gallery images up to the second month of 2005. My latest gallery image is a redo of an image taken with the little camera which is great for carry anywhere.

I'm happy with Olympus too, had excellent reviews & was considered a very good value.. (& don't care to see that chart again when compared to Nikon & Canon, ty) started with the 4000, dropped it, got the 5050.. & for the price of those 2, could've had a DSLR.. have the Oly accessories & will continue to upgrade when budget allows do enjoy using film too & have a couple of nice Nikons with lens that were my father's anyway, for me, a camera is only another medium/tool to use to create art

I wanted the 20D for it's renowned speed!! Since I mainly shot candids I needed a fast cam and was SO frustrated with the Sony! I missed lots of shots with that one, so bloody slow!!! And I also wanted to have bigger zoom options and so all this screamed SLR! Then I browsed like mad, reading tones of reviews and the cam that always came back first was the Canon 20D! So, after saving for 3 months, I got my dream cam! :D

Oh and, do I have to say that I'm NOT disappointed AT ALL?! ;)

Pascale, I thought you would like it..fits your style. Tom.

Jimbo, missed the original Simon but here my pennies worth. Budget mainly less 1000 for every thing for a DSLR to replace my Fuji 602. I really like the Fuji but it so slow, missed a lot of shots. It took me about six weeks to decide between Nikon and Canon. Finally decided on Canon and then the Canon 20D. But, big but, the 20D was so expensive with no lens. so i looked a good secondhand cameras on e-bay. Finally after 2 weeks got a 10 month old Canon 10D with 28-70mm lens for real good price, just over 400. The bought 2 more lens and a new speedlite 550, also on e-bay. Still in budget. This camera will hopefully last me for yonks, PLEASE!! but hopefully will replace the lens with 'L' series in time. If you ever get tired of your 500mm L, I will pay for the postage to Scotland, Mmmm thinks not maybe...... Steve

we chose our Sony DSC-F717 based on reviews. we also liked this cam because we didn't want to mess with having to buy lenses and change lenses. the body of the camera is able to swivel and we liked that for taking difficult shots. it also fit our budget.

we chose our Sony DSC-F828 based again on reviews and based on our very positive experience with the 717.
Again, the body of the camera fits like a glove...just like the 717. Hard to explain but we just love both of those cams.

the 828 was to be specificially my cam. i wanted a cam that would be easy for me to learn. the buttons and features were pretty much the same. Again, the body of the camera was very important to me. I love how it swivels and i can maneuver it. I wanted to keep that feature.

Basically i figured since i loved the 717 i would love the 828. and i DO!!!!! and reviews were great! and it fit our budget too!

i tried out other cams before deciding on the 828. i didn't like any of them. there was a different reason for each cam.

We'll probably buy another cam in Jan. It will probably be the Sony DSC-R1. Why? i'll tell you a little, then you can check out the link if you want to learn more. It's a 10 megapixel cam with CMOS image sensor. This cam has the same image quality as most DSLR cameras. The advantage: no changing of lenses! no buying lenses! you get LIVE preview (unlike DSLR), and the camera LCD can swivel 180 degrees!!!! Now that's AWESOME for taking self-portraits! and it moves in other directions too!!!

Oh...and the price fits our budget too!!! :)

That one will be kemal's cam, but i'll be getting the next model after that!!!

here's the link if anyone's interested in seeing the specs on the Sony DSC-R1.

Click Here!

interesting thread, Jim. Neat to hear people's reasons for buying the cams they do. :)

Message edited on: 11/07/2005 23:54

l bought the canon 20d..purely so when visiting your self steph and bryon...l could save money by using your lens and equipment..come to that your second wife... Bought canon 20d and l glass lens, plus sigma thats really rocking at the moment, because of my budget.. but still had to work loads of overtime..:( so much so completely washed my self out for 2 months..:)..6 months of hard work... Nikki

I bought my Fuji S-9500 because I really wanted an S-series camera, and it's about as high up as you can go. It's literally one step down from an entry-level DSLR. The only thing that stopped me making that extra step is price. I have other things that are more important for me to spend money on (or not as the case may be) right now than what sis to me at this stage only a hobby. I also got a VERY excellent price on my camera ($6 more than wholesale), so that really clinched it for me. My other camera is a Canon T-70 which was given (!!) to me a few years ago and doesn't get used nearly as often as it should. I have to say I'm addicted to all the advantages that straight-to-digital imaging offers. I've only owned my S-9500 for 4 days, but I love it allready.

Camera: Canon G6 I wanted a camera that fits in the pocket, something to fill the hole left by the money, full manual controls, good build quality. It could just as easily have been one from a whole range of the top makers, but this one felt very comfortable to handle and use. A camera that I would keep even if I finally decided they have built a DSLR worth buying. I believe there is little to chose between the top makes other than this, they are all producing results that would have been perfectly acceptable a few years ago in a 35mm film slr. I am not into the 'machine gunner' approach and prefer to go for one shot where I have decided at the time the parameters of the image, speed means nothing to me. Burst mode is to photography like the word processor is to illuminated manuscripts imho. It has it's place for photo journalists and professionals who need to get an image quick. I will one day buy a DSLR because the quality in some specific situations is higher. They have not yet built the one where I can feel comfortable that it has all that I want and I will not want the next one down the line, that does have those things all in one camera. The Nikon D200 looks close in spec. but I will wait see how it performs and what the rivals bring out. With prices falling almost daily must admit my plastic card has been very tempted by the Minolta 5D as a stop gap. My philosophy: as cindy has said the camera is a tool to produce the image.

This is really interesting, reading what you all based your choices on. I keep telling myself that the cam i have is good enough for my purposes, but then im also such a gadget-freak.....hey, at least i admit it! So buying a 20D is top priority for me now...unfortunatly its the lowest priority for my wife...siiiiigh!!! Speaking of wives....are you sure you should be calling your Canon a wife Jim? Didnt it come with a "tri-pod". ...sigh...i know...horrible lame joke. Im just gonna head for work i think. See yall later!!!! #:O)

I didn't post any pics of my cams in the original Simon says but I thought I'd share as well. I got a HP Photosmart 2.1 MP cam right around when I first became a member here over two yrs ago. Earlier this year I got a Panasonic Lumix FZ20. Then I got a Konica-Minolta Maxxum70 35mm. Most recently I got a Konica-Minolta 5D. Why did I get all these cams? Mainly because they are cool. Aside from that I got the HP because I had a desire to try digital photography. I got the Panasonic because I wanted more control over the exposure, the 12x zooms by leica, anti-shake, and recomendation. I got the film slr after reading about it in Photographic Magazine, and same with the digital SLR. They both got excellent reviews, and fit my budget. They can even share with each other. Also the 5D has anti shake built into the cam, and this is one thing I love w/my Panasonic. Interesting thing though I just noticed...I was looking through my gallery the other day and I was thinking that most of my best photos were made with my HP back when I didn't know what an slr was or what the word "composition" meant. Another interesting thing...I am nearly broke now.

LOL @ Jeff. Addictions will do that to you my man. But at least you have some cool cams out of it. Really cool thread...I wish I had thought of it. These kind of topics are the real "meat" of the photo forum.

At least with this addiction I don't get hangovers, but I must be careful to refrain from shooting and driving. :-)