Looking to get an SLR camera, any suggestions?

[Harris]

Nikon D40 - $450 new at Best Buy

Nikon - 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera - Black - D40

 

[CW Jones]

Then again, it can't shoot in RAW

There is aftermarket CHDK "firmware" you can load onto the Canon Powershots (most of them) that allow RAW, amongst many other features not made available by the manufacture. I use it on my Powershot. Awesome!

really??? any idea if it can be done on a powershot SX110is? would love to add that to my point and shoot...

I also read he didnt want a used one... so there goes that idea of a 30D or a used XSi..... very limiting with a $450 budget... maybe an advanced point and shoot is a good idea...

 

[musicaleCA]

Then again, it can't shoot in RAW

There is aftermarket CHDK "firmware" you can load onto the Canon Powershots (most of them) that allow RAW, amongst many other features not made available by the manufacture. I use it on my Powershot. Awesome!

OH SWEET! Good to know. If I have the money down the road to buy a Powershot, I'll keep that in mind. Right now I'm just trying to make myself more flexible with lighting equipment and another lens (the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM will have me set for portraiture, and then I'll have a lens for just about every occassion ).

The D40 seems to be quite a compromise in resolution for the price. One can easily get a canon body for the same price with a 12MP resolution.

Edit: And of course with the D40 above you get a lens too, not just the body. My bad. *headdesk*

Agreed, an advanced camera like the Powershot might be a good idea, as long as you don't/won't need to change lenses.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

really??? any idea if it can be done on a powershot SX110is? would love to add that to my point and shoot...

CHDK Wiki

To my PowerShot 750, it adds histogram, time lapse (script), a battery meter (instead of it suddenly telling you it is low, I hated that). I mainly loaded it up for Kite Aerial Photography, to run the unlimited timed shots script. So I could send it up on a kite and take shots every xSeconds for xTime. Check out the link.

 

[CW Jones]

hmm thats pretty sweet... dont know how safe it seems lol but I am still looking over all of it

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

There is plenty of info about safety, it isn't firmware, per se, it loads off your SD card each time you turn the camera on. You can have it auto load, or manually load it. Take the card out, and use a different one...Bam, back to the original camera options.

Sorry for the sidejack.

 

[yeahmeknows]

Thank you all for your comments! I will probably go for the PowerShot SX10 IS, I seem to have a click with it (just saw it in Wal-Mart) =]

I do not wish to deal with lenses since it's just being done as a hobby, my real expertise is in music.

Thank you all very much!