Wrong starting point..

You first need to decide what ( and how ) you want to take photos of and work from there..

Some questions to ask yourself ( and give typical usage, not extreme ) are :.

- Do you want to take shots to make normal prints from or to print at a large size, like A4..

- Do you want to shoot in low light ( like dim interiors or late evening/night )..

- Do you shoot mainly in daylight..

- Do you want to carry a lot of weight or very little. DSLRs and lenses can quickly become heavy..

- Do you want to use AAs or are you OK with proprietary Lithium-Ions.

- Do you need a big zoom - how big ? .

- Do you plan to use a tripod or do you think you need image stabilization.

- Do you need a wide angle - shooting scenes that fill your view.

- Do you need to shoot fast action, like sports.

- Do you want to do macro work - close ups on flowers ? insects ? whatever ? These require specific lenses and/or converters to achieve good results..

I'd suggest you then consider other forum responses and see what you can work out yourself. By answering these questions you can identify appropriate lenses and minimize the amount of switching you need to do..

Bare in mind than lenses are designed for specific tasks and if you choose incorrectly you may be disappointed. Lens designs are usually compromises between what is possible physically and what is practical in terms of the intended price point or the lens and the targeted use..

Generally for a first DSLR a 6Mp camera is fine. Consider saving on the budget by getting a D40 or K100D or similar, unless something specific in the D40x is of interest. The extra resolution will be of limited value starting out, I think..

Manual focusing is not an essential skill to start with. Learning good exposure is..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

Basically I will be taking pictures of my children at their sporting events, or at the zoo, or on vacation. I will be taking inside pictures at birthday parties and christmas morning. I want a better zoom than the 3x on my cybershot (which is 5mp) I wanted to be able to print up to 8 1/2 x 11 , because I don't think I will be making larger pictures..

I like the feeling of the slr's but having compactness is nice when traveling. I also wanted to learn how to take better pictures, which is why I wanted a camera with manual features..

One concern I have is that on my cybershot, I go to take a picture, and before the "click" my kids move out of the way. it seems like a long time between when I press the button until the shot takes. what camera's are fast..

I have heard a lot about Leica, and they also have the Dlux3 I think , but that is only 4x zoom, and I wanted more zoom which is why I am looking at the vlux 1..

Well I would consider canon rebel xti/ 400D it's a great camera and you can do all the things you mentioned..it has manual features and also sport mode ...great picture quality..

Dell has the canon rebel xti for $ 679.15 (body only) you can buy the kit lense from ebay for less than 80 dollar.

Http://accessories.us.dell.com/...p;l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A0726001.

Or you can buy a zoom lens which is also a good choice..

Yeah, and so will just about every other DSLR on the current market. Problem with canon is that it has a crappy kit lens so, except for a more expensive body you'll also have to budget for a decent lens.Don't wait for the Nikon D-whatever, have fun now!http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_wijnands/..

You could also get a D40 if your budget is tight. D40(x) is a nice compact DSLR with quite a bit of room for growth.Don't wait for the Nikon D-whatever, have fun now!http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_wijnands/..

Apart from the speed issue it does not sound like you need a DSLR at all..

Consider a Canon A710 IS or a Panasonic TZ3. They're compact and sound like they have all you really need. In addition they take movies. A DSLR will not do that - no DSLR will..

The "what if the kids move" thing crops up a lot. Frankly I am skeptical a DSLR will help anyone with this. Unless you're actually pointing at the kids when they're moving and have the camera on and ready to go it simply won't happen that quickly. A book on photography might be more useful with a decent compact. Under these conditions a decent compact would actually do as good a job once you're used to it..

I'd suggest you try a few shots in a shop to get an idea. My opinion would be that, if you absolutely must have as best a performance as you can a Canon 400D ( or the older 350D ) would be best - the switch on time is practically instant. The Nikon D40 ( probably more than enough ) has a good continuous mode which might be useful..

To get really good quality shots you basically need to be a really good photographer - there's no two ways about it. A great camera won't make this happen..

I doubt you would manually focus better than an autofocus system in those circumstances. Manual controls commonly used are the PASM modes and the white balance and ISO settings. These are more important..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

A photo magazine did 2 month ago a test on all kit lenses... the found that most major brands are almost similar.. canon scored 7.8(kit lense while others I think nikon scored 8.. so the difference is not significant... for a better quality lens with zoom ..macro or wide ..you need to pay higher price..but this is not a problem with canon.. all major brand are charging a high price...



Actually the kit lens will do a good job for day to day shooting with good results unless you are doing specific things like wild animals photos or low light photos etc..kit lens is ok..

I know I can shoot very decent pics with my kit lens. So can most nikon users. Canon users seem to shoot very soft pics with it. The few I've handled totally failed to imrpess. PErhaps that magazine had a good copy or Canon has finally improved.Don't wait for the Nikon D-whatever, have fun now!http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_wijnands/..

One concern I have is that on my cybershot, I go to take a picture,and before the "click" my kids move out of the way. it seems likea long time between when I press the button until the shot takes.what camera's are fast..

The trick here is to pre-focus. Point the camera at your kids; press the shutter button half way; the camera will focus and set the exposure. Then wait (with the button half-pressed) until they are smiling nicely and press the button - the picture will take instantly because the focus and exposure are already set..

Doing this (I learnt this trick on a compact) has become second nature and I always do it even on my DSLR. It has the advantage that you can pre-focus on the important part of the picture (e.g. the face) and then move the camera slightly so that the face is off-centre, if you want to compose the picture that way..

Learning how to do this is much more important than getting a new camera because you will have the same problem on any camera - autofocussing takes time and ideally needs to be done before you take the picture..

BTW the D40x with 18-135mm lens is like a great combinationMike..