What's a good entry level SLR camera that's not too advanced, but takes better pictures than a point and shoot? I don't know much about cameras, but my wife wants a new one before our vacation. She wants an "in between" camera that's better than a point and shoot, but still easy to use for a photography novice.

What kind of price range?

Pretty much any entry level SLR will generally take better pictures than a point-and-shoot, even when left in full Auto mode where they're not really any more difficult to use than P&S's.

I happen to think highly of my own camera system, Micro Four Thirds, which isn't an SLR, in that it doesn't have a reflex mirror directing light to the viewfinder that flips up when you press the shutter so as to admit the light to the sensor. Rather, it's a fully electronic system, designed to be used with the rear LCD (as are nearly all point and shoots) or with an electronic viewfinder. These have a couple of advantages vs. true SLRs - they're more compact, because eliminating the mirror makes the body smaller, and also (for technical reasons that I'll get into if you're interested), allows for smaller lenses as well; also, the fully digital design allows for some things that SLRs can't do, such as real-time exposure preview and other stuff which may not interest a novice but sure comes in handy when you get more proficient. The system has disadvantages vs. SLRs too, though - the focus isn't generally as fast (though it's still much faster than most point-and-shoots), particularly with moving subjects; also, it has a somewhat smaller sensor than most SLRs (though much larger than even the biggest point-and-shoot cameras) which means that low-light performance can't be as good; and also that it's not capable of as shallow depth-of-field, which is nice in portraiture and other types of photography.

If you're interested, check out the Panasonic GF3 or Olympus E-PL3, both modeled after point-and-shoot cameras, but with interchangeable lenses; or the Panasonic G3 or GH2 for SLR-style cameras with a little fuller feature set.

I guess something in the 200-400 price range. I'll take a look at what you recommended.

Also, she suggested the Sony Alpha A200. http://entry-level-dslr-camera-review.t ... eview.html

The $200-400 range is a bit below the typical entry-level SLR, so that's going to be tough. Some higher-end point-and-shoots fit into that budget though.

If she has her mind set on a DSLR than an important thing to remember is that you are buying a system and the most important thing is the lenses and the ability to find them for you camera. You will see plenty of debate on which is the best, Nikon or Canon. They are both great as I am sure the Sony is. I have bought into the Nikon system and love. It. They have an entry level camera, d3100 for $449 at B&H. But you might get the best value for your money with a high end P&S.

If you don't want to worry about different lenses then I would recommend the Canon Powershot G series. One main disadvantage is that you can't really "build" on it as a base camera if photography becomes a bigger hobby (which I guess is the flip side of not fiddling around with different lenses). The camera is basically a super point and shoot.

If you only want to spend $200-$400 look into used ones. I sold my first dSLR a few weeks ago for $225 to a friend of mine. I sold him the body and one of the lenses that came with it. Him and his wife love it and it didn't cost them a ton. It was 8 megapixel so you still get pretty nice pics if you want to print larger sizes. Look on photography forums as opposed to ebay or craigslist. People on forums seem a lot more honest. Plus if use paypal you get extra protection from being jipped.

I like them. Dig the way their cropped.

Youseff wrote:I like them. Dig the way their cropped.

Thanks ... It's weird, pics I'm not overly happy with, others seem like! Though I like wider crops over the usual 8x10's.

So, I'm wondering--I have an 35 mm Minolta and a bunch of nice lenses. Is there a digital SLR that is compatible with those old lenses? According to one interweb site, the answer in my case appears to be no.

TenuredVulture wrote:So, I'm wondering--I have an 35 mm Minolta and a bunch of nice lenses. Is there a digital SLR that is compatible with those old lenses? According to one interweb site, the answer in my case appears to be no.

Possibly with Sony's dSLR's. You may need to buy a mount.

edit:

http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/faq.php#lens_a100

Headed out surfing today in Brigantine. Brought the camera along. I hadn't done much in Photoshop recently so I decided to play around a bit...

Is that 3D moma?

Nope ... Just a 3 exposure HDR. The guitar pic is HDR as well.

It's possible the next version of photoshop will remove blur from images

hard to see, but listen to the crowd reaction

wow, and to think I've deleted a ton of blurred photos over the years.

/kicking myself

shaolin monk in training. not my pic