hai you guys!!! camera choice :)

[osman]

HAIII UU GUYYZZ!!!

I'm new to this forum and just had a couple of questions to ask, so here goes;

1) Since photography has become so much more accessible in recent years, particularly with the advent of decent cameras on not so decent mobile phones, has photography become more difficult to get into?

What I mean by this is, has it become harder to stand out, since there are so many more people taking pictures every second of every day?

2) I'm shopping for my first proper camera. I'm not serious about photography in the same way as someone who does it professionally would be, but I like to take the odd picture and I'd like to take it as well as possible. I'd like a camera that gives me as much manual control as possible, but also has a decent automatic mode for the lazy snaps. I've been looking at the Sigma DP-1, Leica D-Lux 3 and the Panasonic Lumix LX3/LX4. They're all priced about the same on places like Amazon and eBay but I'm leaning toward the Sigma DP-1 at the moment because from what I've seen and read about it, it gives good manual controls and doesn't weigh a ton or look like it weighs a ton (Canon G9/10).

I look forward to what you guys have to say!

 

[c0ps]

Sounds like you want a little more than a point and shoot, but yet not a full DSLR where you can change lenses and stuff. In that case, My oold man (He would kill me If I call him that to his face) purchased the canon G10. I played with it for a day or so and I was very impressed with it. It also has good reviews. check it out.

 

[photogincollege]

If it was me, I'd go with the leica. Great brand, great products, and the camera looks like its got some pretty nice features.