Camera recommendations?

Thanks so much for all your well thought out responses! I really, really appreciate it. You guys have given me many things to think about.

It looks like we will be shopping locally on Tuesday (birthday shopping, birthday lunch and then Avatar in IMAX 3D...all the day BEFORE my birthday!), so I have a few days to do some more research.

I had no idea that there were adapters for the lenses, so that is a huge plus. It opens up a whole world of possibilities for me! I really need to think about when my camera will get the most use to help me determine which type to get first (I agree that I'll eventually have to have both!). Most of my photo ops are occurring around our farm or on the bike. Since most of my biking is pretty casual, I could easily get away with carrying a DSLR with a 50mm lens in a handlebar bag and be covered. And of course, around home, size doesn't matter at all. I never go on vacation or travel (or rarely, anyway), so that's not really something I should worry about right now. Water resistance is probably somewhat of a concern, but I can work around it.

And yeah, I think POS was a slip of the keys! ;) But perhaps an appropriate one! ;)

I kinda fell in love with the Olympus EP-1 cuz of it's old school looks but if I were to spend the cash, I'd probably go for the Panasonic GF-1 or GF-2.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicGF1/

I just love the old school looks with all the modern tech.

I would never carry my good camera attached to the bike but I would carry it attached to me.
The bike gets too much vibration.

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Originally Posted by Zen

You could probably buy any adapter from the well known sellers like B&H Photo, Adorama, Broadway Photo,etc.

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Thanks for the recommendation for Adorama Camera (& even B&H!), but please, always check the feedback at www.reselleratings.com when dealing with ANY other seller that is unknown to you!!!

So where's my gift certificate? :D

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Originally Posted by HelenOster

Thanks for the recommendation for Adorama Camera (& even B&H!), but please, always check the feedback at www.reselleratings.com when dealing with ANY other seller that is unknown to you!!!

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Definitely! There is a LOT of bait-and-switch in that industry (if the price sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is)! Adorama, B&H, Calumet, and Etronics were always reputable when I was purchasing a lot of photo gear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zen

So where's my gift certificate? :D

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In the mail? But it might be until APRIL before the mailman can make it to your mailbox! ;)

Tell me about it. I'm still waiting on tax paperwork :(

I hope I am not too late here!

In terms of a point and shoot or something cheap you can kinda throw around, there are plenty of choices. What is great is that nowadays most point and shoots can take great pictures, and it is really up to your skill rather then how much money your camera is. Two consistently solid lines are the

Canon Powershot: http://www.cameta.com/Canon-PowerSho...ange-40902.cfm

Nikon Coolpix: http://www.cameta.com/Nikon-Coolpix-...lack-43249.cfm

Both are feature laden, sturdy and come in various priced varieties from $100 to $300

So we visited a bunch of camera shops and talked to a bunch of people. I came to the conclusion that I really just don't have the time or energy to devote to getting back into photography. I like to dable in it, but there is absolutely no point in my investing lots of money into something that will never truly be more than an 'accessory' to the rest of my life.

With that in mind, I opted for a 'super zoom' camera instead of a DSLR. It's a point and shoot with many manual features. The only thing it doesn't do that and SLR would is let me switch out lenses and really, I don't want to be carrying around extra lenses anyway. I opted for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35. It's amazingly light, takes great photos, takes HD video, has an 18x zoom and it has many, many manual and programmable custom settings. It was also a great deal! Now that I have a new camera, I'll have to start writing in my blog again so that I have a place to post all my gorgeous photos. :p

Thanks so much to everyone for all your help...I really appreciate it!

http://base1.googlehosted.com/base_m...ec4f8877&hl=en

That looks like a great choice. I've got an earlier version of that (fz20) from several years back that still takes beautiful pictures.

Would that fit in a bento box?
Where did you buy it?

eta-http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-came...-33765520.htmlNever mind about the fit. That lens look huge. I would still like to know where you bought it, though.

That is very cool! And you are right...being able to swap out lenses isn't necessarily that big a selling point. I have one favorite zoom lens on my DSLR...I could probably sell my other 2 primes and not miss them. The Lumix looks cool!

Zen - I bought it at a local Ritz/Wolff camera shop. I have 10 days to return it and 30 to exchange it, if I change my mind.

It won't fit in a bento box, but when the lens is retracted, it's pretty small. It's WAY lighter than the Sony Cybershot or the Nikon Coolpix that I compared it to. Ultimately, while I liked some of the Sony & Nikon features, I liked how this one fit in my hand the best. The controls seemed the most natural to me and honestly, I liked the look of it (kind of retro with the metal lens band and textured camera body). The Sony was super ackward, actually.

I switch lenses all the time on my dslr, my prime lenses are so much higher quality than my zooms (for comparable prices), that I tend to use the primes the most.

HOwever, you do run the risk of dust on your sensor everytime you change, I've heard people say never ever change the lens on a dslr - but I guess those are ones who've gotten some dust that they can't get rid of.

THe leica lens on my fz20k was 12x and maintained f3 or something like that across the range of the zoom, which was just awesome.