I will soon be in a position to buy a new camera so I want to know what people would get themselves if budget was more or less not a concern. I want a digital one, with a good zoom and macro capability, preferably that has an underwater housing available.

If price is absolutely of no concern, I'd buy the Hasselblad Digital:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0209/02092701kodakdcs645hsamp.asp

But if the sky's not the limit, and I were to buy a new camera right now, with good credentials underwater, this is the one I'd opt for:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_d1x.asp

and here's a review (one of 70):

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinion_text.asp?prodkey=nikon_d1x&opinion=19904

Do you know how much the Hasselblad costs? THe site didn't say, just described it as "unbeleivable" (not a good sign) :-)

There is the D1x "Powerup" which looks pretty good too. Checking it out now.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/hasselblad-h1.shtml

The above is a more comprehensive review. Best price I've found is B&H photo. I'll paste the info here.

$18,000 US huh? Hmmm maybe budget is a concern after all...

I am having trouble finding a price for the D1x in Australia, but I have several prices for the D100; I am assuming the D1x is a superior model. Do you know the main differences between the two?

Sorry, couldn't log back in for a while. The price you cite above is a tricked-out model, including the digital Kodak DCS Pro back. Anyway, here's the B&H price on the Hasselblad:

http://www1.shopping.com/xPO-Hasselblad_H1

The only thing about the D1x is I think the camera body is improved. Not sure. You should visit the dpreview site above. Expensewise, this level of slr digital makes more sense than the medium formats, although the latter are incredibly brilliant and sharp.

Good price on the D1xPro:

http://www.streetprices.com/x/search.cgi?query=nikon+d1x

How about the Canon EOS 10D? Not sure if there is a housing aailable?

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos10d/

This could be the one!

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0308/03082605johna10dhousing.asp

Checking it out Mayne. Interestingly the reveiw I just read about the D100 compared it to the EOS D60, which was apparantly replaced by the 10D; the D100 and D60 were evenly matched, so it will be interesting to see how the 10D compares.

Actually the 300d sounds like it might be a good bet, even though it doesn't have all the features of the 10D I doubt I would use them anyway. All I have at the moment is a full automatic ("point and click") so I don't want to get carried away and buy something with features that I don't know how to use. Do you know of any other differences in terms of quality etc?

I'm a big fan of nikon. I have a d100 and I love it The d70 is a equaly good camera with much of the same features at a lower cost. If you want a higher end consider mamya its resonable priced and can handle the the kodak backs also. I have a mamya 645 and I considerd a digital back, But at this point back kodak back is a litle high for me. you might even consider the new olympus E1 its resanable, has titanium body and can be seviced any where in the world. And they make a good pro product for a low cost. B&H has great deals and a great source for underwater cases, You might also want to look at focuscamera.com they have great pricing to. A good source for review and multiple pricing sight is dpreview.com. I go there to check out any equipement I buy.

Good luck and enjoy.

Thankyou PM, I will check them out.

Oh, wow. You people are gooooood. Not many sites like this.

D70 sounds like a good alternative to the 300d. That other site you mentioned has good prices but unfortanately very little info about shipping overseas. Anyway I will see if I can find anyone who has a good price here in Oz. Thanks again.

Sorry if this sounds dumb, but what are the main differences between digitals and digital SLR's? Is it mainly the ability to change lenses on the SLR's? Image quality? What? I did do some breif reading about it but couldn't really figure it out. I am looking at the Coolpix 8700.

SAVE UP AND GET THE CANNON DIGITAL REBEL, ITS A DIGITAL SLR, EOS camera, and the pics come in very high resolution, (3000,2500) something close to that...

The 300D is also called the rebel. That is one of the models I have been looking at. However I believe that the D70 sounds like a better buy, if I get an SLR.

One is point and shoot or line of sight. It either allows you to use a corner viewfinder or an lcd to see the image. The S.L.R. is thru the lens camera that allows you to see exactly, what you are capturing or framing, Either way they both have a L.C.D. on the camera to allow you to see the image as it would appear as a true in print. Example you can’t control dept of field on a point and shoot, but you can with The S.L.R. On most point and shoots you can’t exchange lenses, an S.L.R. you can.

Nice thing about the Coolpix 8700 is the image ratio, instant desktop images without any cropping! The D70 is a 3:2 ratio and the Coolpix is 4:3! The Coolpix also has great resolution for a SLR type camera and a good 8X zoom. Don't know if it is just advertising hype but the Rebel 300D seems to be the most popular choice. One feature that I would personally like is a lockable shutter for long exposure! If you want the ability to change lenses definately go with SLR!

Whichever you choose, make sure there's an (Ocean Brite) Systems Jonah Underwater Digital Camera Housing engineered for it.

Check out: www.digideep.com

I just bought a Minolta Dimage A1. I hesitated many with the Canon Rebel or Nikon 100D, but here are the reasons of my choice.
If you take a reflex with interchangeable lenses, you have to buy a 17/55 mm zoom lens. This is the only lens who gives you a true 28 mm in standard scale, but that's just a 3x optical zoom, like middle class cameras. And there is many problems if you want to put your old lenses on the Canon Rebel. (I don't know with the Nikon 100D)
With the Minolta, I have a true and excellent 28/200 mm zoom lens, with and 'anti-shake' system.
But it's a new camera for me...

Mayne: "The Coolpix also has great resolution for a SLR type camera"... I didn't think the Coolpix was an SLR... am I wrong? Also from what I have read the new D70 is superior to the rebel but it has only just been released (is'nt available in this country yet)

Pierre: Do you mena that you already had lenses for the Minolta? Or that the Minolta had a better range/cheaper lenses?

Sam-

I have the Minolta Dimage 7hi. It is not an SLR in the truest sense, in that the Nikon bayonet lenses and so forth will not fit on it. This hybrid SLR comes with a 28mm-200mm zoom, on which you can attach extra lenses, filters, etc. For example, I have a telephoto, super wide angle, and macro to go along with it. The downside, if any, is that the apperture reads a darker picture. The upside is that it is easy to correct, or can be done automatically. There is some irising, however, with the super-wide which necessitates cropping in PS.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/minoltadimage7hi/

Aargh! More choices... :-)

I have the Canon Powershot S50... it has 5 megapixels, and I don't know much else about it ;) since I just got it! So if you want... you can go to www.powershot.com and look at all the stuff about the S50. But I would recommend staying away from the G5... there is "talk" that it has a bug... something about it making the pictures bluish or something... I forget. My brother told me... so I don't know. But that's one of the reasons I chose the S50 instead of the G5. But there were other reasons too... such as the huge size of the G5! Too much of a hassle to carry everywhere. Happy camera-shopping!

It sounds as you have narrowed it down to an SLR in which you can change lenses! A very good choice in my opinion, Sam. An SLR type means you still can see as the lens sees when you are looking through the veiwfinder but you have a fixed lens that is not interchangeable.
Another feature to look for is a split screen plate for focusing the image manually through the veiwfinder. It is the focus screen that you look through in the viewfinder...this particular screen has a circle that is bisected with a diagonal line and an outer circle of triangles. If an object is out of focus the circle splits the image,,,when it is focused the two halves of the circle line up. Not sure if either the 300D or D70 has this screen. They don't usually provide this info in camera reviews:-)

The site the Tracy mentioned has excellent reveiws about 25 pages long, they are very in depth (alot of info I don't understand) Unfortunately they don't have reveiws of the D70 or the 8700 but that might be because they are new. I won't be buying until I sell my business in a few months so by then I should have more than enough info to make the right choice, I hope.

Pierre: Is your Minolta an SLR? I am presuming no. What were your reasons for buying it?

I said it above, Sam
I hesitated many with the Canon Rebel or Nikon 100D, but if you take a SLR (with interchangeable lenses), your only choice is to buy a 17/55 mm zoom lens. This is the only lens who gives you a true 28 mm in standard scale, but that's just a 3x optical zoom, like middle class numeric cameras. I saw on the web there is many problems if you want to put your old lenses on the Canon Rebel. (I don't know with the Nikon 100D)
With the Minolta, I have a true and excellent 28/200 mm zoom lens, with and 'anti-shake' system.
It's not too expensive (± 750 ? Euros -> you can find it at ± 700 $ in the USA, I think)
Did I answer your question?

PS: Look at this excellent website

Actually I am now interested in the A2. Can't seem to find much info on it though.

Which A2 ?

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Konica_Minolta/konicaminolta_dimagea2.asp

Hehe! Seems to be the big brother of the A1...
I saw a new Nikon coopix 8700 and a Sony DSC-F828 with 8 MP. Minolta & Sony have 28/200 mm zoom lens. Nikon is 35/280 mm. For me, no way: If you like to travel, you MUST have a 28 mm!!! Between Sony & Minolta, I choose Minolta.
Don't forget the cost of the CF cards. With a 8 MP, you'll have to buy expensive cards...

If you buy the A2, be sure to also buy the largest flash card you can -- at least the 256 megs or the 512. Perhaps the 1 gig if available. This allows for more pix at fine or very fine resolution (you won't need raw).

I take it that dpreview was help full the can get pritty detailed

Pierre: Why is a 28/200mm better than a 35/280mm? Thankyou for your advice guys, this is really helpful.

Sam, the only thing that hasn't been mentioned is the size of the camera's sensor. I don't mean magapixels. The physical size does make a differance ( the bigger the better). Just like film.

I'm using the Canon 330D, one of my lenses is 90mm - 300mm canon ultra, I don't have any problems using that one. The standard lenses behave like bigger one's by a factor of 1.6 so my 90 - 300 acts like 144 - 480.

Trsbert are you are oyu talking internal zoom or what they would call program zoom, or are you talking the zoom lens it self.

He is talking about the zoom lens itself. The old style lenses sit further from the sensor so you get a greater focal distance than the new lenses.

Well, the camera I'm considering saving up for is the Canon A70. Seems to have very nice features, and it might fit my budget. You can also have a look at the Canon A80, the newer version of the A70.

You can add some extra lenses, and there is a waterproof/underwater casing available. And most important it is affordable (at least anywhere but in SA...)

Sam: Here are the important focal lenghts:
For landscape: 20 -> 80 mm. But under 28 mm, you have many vertical deformations
For portraits: 70 -> 200 mm
For birds, ...: > 200 -> 600 mm
In the year 1978, the zoom lenses were only 3x optical. Then, I had a Canon AE1 with a 28>80 mm for landscape and 70>210 mm. (No money for a tele)
In the year 1998, I bought a Nikon F70 with a superb 28>200 Nikkor (but very heavy!) + a 100>300 mm with teleconverter giving 200>600 mm
Now, regarding this experience, I'm sure when you are in a town, in a mountain, at the see, you need a 28 mm to take landscapes with a large angle. It's more important to have a zoom lens beginning at 28 mm than ending at 280 mm.

Ah ok I understand now. I thought the two numbers "28" and "200" referred to different things; like it was 28 mm long with a 200 mm wide lens or something. Shows how much I know about cameras. But I understand you now.

prismmagic, I'm talking optical zoom. Nothing else does much for you.

I just bought the Canon 10D. Wanted to get the Kodak Professional 14, a 13 megapixel Digital SLR that takes Nikon lenses but just bought the Canon D10 instead. It is only a 6 Megapixel camera but I have a Canon EOS 10S 35mm SLR that I just love. I also have several Canon EOS Ultrasonic lenses, telephoto, wide angle, to go with the 35mm camera. Whille the Canon Digital rebel has many of the same features as the 10D, the 10D is studier and can shoot more frames per second for action sequences. I am using my old Canon EOS lenses without any problems so far...but I just got this camera. Quite an improvement over my old Kodak DC290 and Canon PowerShot G1. Am still figuring out how to use it. The downside to the Canon as opposed to the Kodak Professional is that with the Kodak, "what you see is what you get". With the Canon 10D and most other Digital SLR's, the CMOS sensor image coverage is smaller than the normal 35mm film format, so the lenses attached to the camera will have a telephoto effect equivalent to 1.6 times the marked focal length. So, your 300mm telephoto becomes a a 480mm telephoto. This is great for telephoto but not for wide angle. If you use much wide angle, you will need to get a extreme fisheye because most digital SLR's have this same problem. Again, the Kodak Pro14 does not. But is is more expensive (about $3,000) but not near as expensive as the Hasselblad Digital. The Canon Digital Rebel lists for about $999.00 and comes with a lens. The Canon 10D lists for about $1300 and DOES NOT come with a lens. Good Luck with whatever camera you decide to go with. Looking forward to your new uploads.

Judi: that's why I choosed a Minolta Dimage A1. It's a 5 MP (the A2 is 8 MP) and I've a high quality 28>200 mm. Actually, with a SLR, you can't have this lens.
I've also a Nikon F70 35 mm SLR with 28>200 mm Nikkor lens. Now I can wait. Later, I'll buy a Nikon. In a few years, maybe the CMOS sensor will have the same size than the 35 mm film...

From my understanding is is not the size of the CMOS censor but the distance the optics are from the sensor that changes the focal length of the lens. Canon has compensated for this with their new line of lenses designed for the digital SLR.

No Darryl. The 35 mm film has 36x24 mm size (1,5x1"). The CMOS captor of digital camera is smaller (2/3"). Then you've a physic difference for the lenses.
Some professional cameras have a CMOS captor with same dimensions of 35 mm films. But they are very expensive for now. That's why I'm waiting with my Dimage A1...
Did you decide to buy your new cam?

Darryl,

Agree with Pierre. It is the size of the sensor in most Digital SLR's that creates the 1.6 effective focal length effect of the lenses.

Have heard that the Sigma SD9 digital SLR has a great image sensor. It uses a Foveon X3 sensor, which has 3 layers: one for each of the primary colors. This way each pixel registers all three colors instead of the one color per pixel that is the norm. The Foveon is a 3.4 megapixel sensor and supposedly supplies the equivalent of 10 megapixels of data. The cost is reasonable ($1,100). Believe the lenses are purchased separately.

Can you point me to a good thread that explains this?

Pierre: I won't be doing anything for a few more months, after I sell my business...

Sam admit it you just want to site on Caedes like the rest of us mushrooms. HE’HE’

I am almost ready to part with my precious cash. Here is a link to amazon, this price is significantly lower than anything I can get in the shops. The included lens is 18-70mm, from what Pierre said I beleive this is suitable for landscapes, and I would need to buy other lenses for macro work and distant objects (eg birds). So I just wanted to get any final words of advice before I take the plunge. I am going to some camera stores this weekend to have another look at the "real thing" as well.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001LGDAO/103-4905630-9452644?v=glance&s=photo&n=502394&vi=reviews

There is another package on Ebay which includes an additional two lenses, a 28-80mm and a 70-300 mm. THe difference in price is about AU$400 (about 25% more). Is it worht the extra to get these lenses? I think it is, but would be interested to hear your opinions.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43456&item=3827103886

Buying photographic items on eBay can be dicey - can not ever be sure that the merchandise is in "new" condition. With lenses, the optics may be "off" from being dropped, etc. Better that you go to Amazon or another online camera source. I would be careful with a purchase of this type of equipment from ebay. Good luck and I am looking forward to seeing your new photos!

Hi Sam...I have also been looking serious at the D70. Do you know if the manual focusing screens are interchangeable? A split focus screen is very handy but I do not like some of the others. I am not sure what it comes with and didnot see that information in the link you provided above. Another question is whether it has a lockable shutter for extended exposures? A good lens will cost as much or more than the body;-)

Well I went ahead and got it in town yesterday. I was informed that the 18-70mm lens was much better quality than the 28-80 (about $600 retail apparantly). The 70-300 was about $450 retail. The best price I found on the camera body was just under $2000. The package I went for included both these lenses, plus an extra battery, Sandisk Ultra II 256mb CF card and a bag and cleaning kit for $2500, so I thought that was reasonable. I also ended up getting an extended 2 year warranty and a tripod for another $116. Darryl: I don't know if the focusing screens are interchangeable, that sounds a bit technical for me at this stage. The D70 allows up to 30 minutes extended exposure which will be more than enough for me. I have already tested that function on my water fountain and am quite pleased with the result. I went "shooting" today, I will upload some of the better results now. I have to get alot more practice with manual focusing, which I have never done before, and of course holding the camera steady now makes alot more difference than it did with the old one, especially with the 70-300mm lens. But for a first outing I think I did rather well. More soon!

Congratulations on your purchase! Sounds like an awesome camera, I can't wait to see the results. :c)

See here and here. I would have uploaded more but I can't (darn daily limit!! ;-)

Try this BJ;-)