But while I'm waiting (and saving up my money), I'd like to have fun thinking about what I'll be able to do with a DSLR that I can't do with my present cameras. So my question is:

What DSLR do you have, and why do you love it? What makes it special to you?

Thanks, gang!

Susan

Pam

When arthritis kept me from reaching my enlarger and the smell of chemicals along with the cleaning up after a darkroom session was no longer feasible I went digital and using Adobe Photoshop added to the versatility of digital. There are numerous advantages with the newer cameras however with everything automatic the thinking process of photography has declined. Snap, click and hope for a good shot. The "I have a 4 gig card and can keep shooting, sometrhing should come out good" thinking has changed photography as I knew it. Ansel Adams would like the advantages but he would still be greatly concerned with perspective and above all the light values. Definitely missing for most picture takers of today.

greenfinger ... I love hearing about the Nikkormat. I still have a Nikkormat EL, the last in a line of 5 Nikkormats I've owned.

But, these days, I shoot with a Nikon D80, usually with a 35mm F/2 AF prime lens since it's fairly compact and I find that I can get away without using a zoom for walk-around purposes.

To answer alisande's question, what I like about the D80 (almost any DSLR, too) versus a digital point and shoot (P&S) are:

o Instant-on. With my old P&S, you'd turn it on, but it would take a second or so before you take a shot
o Push the trigger and you've got your shot. Again, the old P&S had a shutter lag. I wasn't quite sure that I had taken the shot. Autofocus on DSLRs with their more sophisticated focusing systems is almost instantaneous by comparison to P&S cameras. This is particularly important for sports photography or taking pictures of children.
o Ability to take useful pictures in very low light. A DSLR has a sensor that's 10x the area of a P&S. That means you can take a picture at ISO 1600 without having it completely smeared by electronic noise.
o Controlling depth of field.
o Optical viewfinder. As mentioned, I'm an old SLR user. And, I've never gotten used to framing a shot with an LCD. The D80 viewfinder is a pentaprism (not quite as bright as my old Nikkormat) but beautiful by comparison to a P&S, especially in bright light.
o Special lenses (including old Nikon manual focus lenses)

There are a host of other reasons why I enjoy shooting with a DSLR versus a P&S. However, a DSLR will never be as portable as a P&S, even ones as small as the Nikon D40/40x/60.

I've attached a link that you may find helpful.

I also LOVE the Nikon photo editing software 'Capture NX'. It has features I haven't seen in other editors. especially the "U-point" that lets you change very specific areas of the picture without affecting other areas of the shot - brightening up a face for instance.