The nearest thing to a DSLR without actually being one is the Panasonic FZ50.Joel Orlinsky.
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A Nikon D40 with a general purpose zoom (18-55 or a bit heavier 18-135 or 18-75) lens is hardly bigger or heavier than the SLR-like cameras, and offers a big performance increment...
Take alook at Canon G9,This is powerful and very versatile camera that will cover most of your needs. Next step will be DSLR + multiple lenses.http://www.stan-pustylnik.smugmug.com..
Stefanr wrote:.
I have been looking at the Canon S5 IS and the cheaper S3 IS which(according to a lot of forum members) may be a better alternative.The only thing which concerns me is all this talk of it having a verysmall sensor..
Those cameras carry immense noise with them. Fuji F30, F31, F40, F50 are extremely good in terms of noise and image quality.http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf31fd/page17.asp.
And the S-series from fuji makes one of the best cameras with good field of view coverage. In your price range S9100, S8000, S6000 are also superb, with larger focal lengths..
BUT if you look at the D40 + kit, you will find one perfect camera for 99% of the time...
I am actually now looking at the d40 as it seems like an attractive alternative and it seems like I can find a used one for around my price range, but still have some conerns..
Mainly the fact that I will not be able to zoom with the regular 18-55 mm lens .... right?.
Will that one lens be enough in most daily situations?.
Again I am not looking for anything that I will put in magazine covers, just looking to take high quality photos that I can sit down later on and enjoy...
The 18-55 is a 3x zoom. Roughly 27mm-82mm on a full frame 35. If that's what you used as a walk around on your film SLRs then you'll do fine..
On the other hand in the days of film I never left home without at least a 250mm in my bag (and probaly on one body) so I find the 400mm+ equiv. of my Kodak Z612 very handy..
Back to your question. Both the S5 and the S3 will deliver excellent results under normal conditions. The advantage of the newer S5 is a hot shoe which integrates most of Canon's external flashes and higher ISO capability. You have to decide if those features are worth the difference in price. Other cameras that will deliver comparable performance include the Sony H2/H5, Sony H7H9, Panasonic FZ7/FZ8/FZ50, Kodak Z612/Z712/Z812, Olympus SP510UZ and the Fuji S6000fd/S6500fd. The Fuji is the pick if you're into available darkness photography otherwise they'll all do a fine job..
I'd suggest handling as many of these camera as you can. Get a feel for ergonomics including control location, menu operation and both the LCD and EVF. Above all don't fret to much, you really can't go wrong with any of listed cameras...