After years of dealing with crummy point and shoot digital cameras with what seems like 30+ seconds wait time between shots we’re considering purchasing a SLR camera. And with the latest Consumer Reports doing a rundown on 20+ SLRs it really has me close to making a decision now. (It’s funny how Consumer Reports always seems to sense things that I’m considering purchasing and drops a review in the next issue. It’s almost like they’re reading my minds…. scary.)
While I don’t think the Digital SLR will completely fill all of our photography needs I think it will slowly become the better option as the kids (two of which will be 3 here in June) get into more activities which will require their own personal sports illustrated (or whatever they do) photographer. I still see us throwing the crappy old battery hungry point and shoot into the van for occasional use where we may not feel like lugging around a bigger camera.
The one model I’m seriously considering is a basic/entry level SLR from Canon. Consumer Reports recommended it and my main dilemma now is to decide if I should get a kit where they bundle in a basic lens or get the body and my own lens separately. For simplicity sake here’s a link to the Canon EOS Rebel XSi from Amazon.
As you can see from that link you can buy the camera body only or the standard bundle with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (Image Stabilization) Lens. If you go by Amazon you’ll see that there’s about a $100 difference between the two models. And while not a big deal, the standard lens is only about the same as a 3x magnification range and is about what I’d have with my standard point and shoot. While I realize the quality difference would be massive when compared to the point and shoot I feel like not having the ability for distance shots may just have me reaching for the smaller one a lot of the time.
I wonder if it would just be better to get the body by itself and find a full range lens (18-200mm) and carry around 1 lens vs. having two in the bag. I guess I’ll really have to consider what the majority of the shots will be. Maybe having standard zoom (the one you get with the bundle) will be what I use most of the time and I could pickup a telephoto lens (50-250mm) for when the kids start soccer or whatever. Or, you can find other places like B&H Photo that sell kits with both the standard zoom and telephoto bundled together.
Hmmm… decisions, decisions. If any of you guys have any suggestions I’d love to hear them. With two vacations coming up in the next few months I think pulling the trigger soon will result in lots of nice pictures when we’re on the beach in the Outer Banks this summer and down in Florida conquering Disney this fall.
