I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to need to expand my Camera collection to include a D-SLR. On another thread a couple of members here suggested that the best way to go is to decide on which lenses you want before deciding on a Camera body. At the moment all my camera's are Point and shoots, 2 Sony's with Zeiss lenses and 2 Cannon's an 850 and a G-9.
I don't have any lenses now that I'd want to use on a new high-quality D-SLR so I like to figure out who makes the best lenses at reasonable prices.
Utah-lefty mentioned that the Sony's are a little limited in lens numbers but the one he is testing now certainly looks like an excellent (if expensive) one. I believe that I also saw that Zeiss is making a couple of lenses for Sony camera's I'm sure they are good but definately not cheap. I've really enjoyed the Zeiss lensed Sony Point and shoot camera's I've had so far and have gotten pretty good pictures out of them. \
Canon's I guess are one of the more popular D-SLR's. I like the colors etc. I've gotten from my Cannon's but my G-9 in particular has some barrel distortion in the lens I find quite disappointing. It was supposed to be the top end of point and shoots but though I really like the features of the camera the distortion has somewhat soured me on it. I guess this makes me wonder about the quality of Cannon lenses though I'm sure the D-SLR lenses are a different kettle of fish altogether. Any comments pro or con on Cannon lenses? I liked the in hand feel of the Cannon's I looked at over the Sony and Nikon body's.
I haven't owned a Nikon camera before but the name of course is famous. A couple of the Nikon's appealed to me, the D90 and D300 especially. These were on the upper end of what I was thinking of spending but if they are worth it I'd prefer to buy something I really want and love even if it's more than I originally thought of spending.
As far as what I'll be shooting it's varied. I like to take pics of my kids but the Point and shoots are probably best for them. I like taking pics of different knives and guns and recently bought a lighting system to improve those. I also like to do outdoor and wildlife photography so I would like a good all around zoom lens in addition to a Macro for closeups.
Thanks for any and all advice. Some of what you guys have said have already given me some good things to think about...................................DJ
