Juanita, SLR stands for single-lens reflex. It usually refers to a 35mm camera. There are also twin-lens reflexes, but you don't hear about them much anymore. SLRs enable you to look through the lens, to see precisely what you are photographing. DSLR is the digital version of the SLR.

Susan

I own two Canon cameras. My first camera is the S40 Powershot It has 4 megapixels, shoots raw and has quite a few modes. I upgraded to the S80 in March. It is an 8 megapixel camera, but doesn't shoot in raw. Which is fine by me. It has a lot of modes (snow, beach, foliage, portrait, digital macro, pets and children), can make little mini movies, uses the TV, AV, M, P and C functions. You can do selective colouring right on the camera. Although selective colouring looks better when you photoshop a picture. It's lightweight, and VERY easy to use.

I am hoping to one day own the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. A co-worker has it and says it's one of the best camera's he owns. And he owns quite a few. But that's a dream and because my S80 is still quite new, it's a dream I'll have for quite some time........ sigh.......

I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT. I love it. It's so versitile and compatible with numerous lenses. Very easy to use. There are several preset settings, plus it's simple to change it to manually be able to control the shutter speed, apeture value, and the ISO speed. It can take raw pictures as well.
It's well worth the money to get a SLR camera because you can always get extra lenses for it. The standard lense is an 18-55mm. I also purchased a 28-210mm on ebay for a great price. The larger lense allows me to zoom in so much better than any other camera I've ever had. I've also purchased numerous filters that do wonders.
Before you buy I definitely advise you to shop around. I have found amazon and ebay to be the cheapest for cameras and accessories.
Hope it has helped

Here's some sample pictures:

Steph, is that the Blue Angels! What's your connection? I have a god-daughter who graduated from the Naval Academy last May.

yes it's the Blue Angels! Every other year there's an airshow at the local airport. I have a business about 1/2 mile from the end of the runway. I took this picture the day before the airshow when they were just "playing" around.

steph, Great shots!

Olympus E500, E1, SP500
Canon 350XT, A530

My favorite is the E500. There isnt a better deal out there for an entry level kit.
Two very good lenses and body for $699. You can find some stacked kits as well for about the same price. For compact I like my A530. it allows me full manual control and has a good sensor in it.

Pic from E500

E1

A530

remember one thing, the camera is just the tool. You can take a great picture with just about any camera out there, you just have to know how to use it. There a lot of people that have nice cameras with no idea how to use them.

Joe

Very nice, Joe!

Junital - havent heard back from you.
Thanks Alisande.
-Joe

I have a canon powershot A85, a canon z135. I am going to buy me a Nikon D80 in 07!
Love the pictures posted!

Would like to thank everyone for taking the time to "show and tell"...Enjoying the photos of all...

Joe, I was looking at the Oly sp510, I see one of yours is an sp500, Do you have any pics taken with that?

I am looking in the Oly, Fuji (this P&S E500 has done me well) and Nikon families with a price range of 400 to 600 depends if lens are included...I know there'is no perfect camera, that there are flaws...

Photograghy is mostly a fanatically hobby right now, but the possibilities may lead further later. Interested in macros,landscapes...Not good with people photos with my problem being it has to be perfect bg while all are being selves...An occasional portrait style, but that usually doesn't happen much...I read the reviews and opinions then my head becomes jumbled and swimming then I end up not knowing what I really want...But want to upgrade a little more...Here's another silly question what does it mean to shoot in the raw? should it be a factor?

My goal is to eventually be able to do no editing or little...that may call for the pricier ones but not at this moment...

Again, I thank you all for taking the time to reply! ;)

juanita

Juanita,

I have only taken a few pictures with the SP500, then my dad borrowed for trip, I haven't seen it since. I dig them out when I get home. It is a good camera with a decent lens on it. The image processor is great too.

.raw - 'raw' is a file type like '.jpg', '.gif', & 'bmp'. It allows more flexibility when editing photos. It helps for better manipulation when you need to manipulate the White Balance or recover details in shadows and highlights, the files are HUGE though. An 8MP raw file is 3-4mb and it slows down your camera when taking pictures if you donÂt have decent buffer or a high write speed card.

As far as not doing any editing, I hate it too, that depends on how good of a photographer you become. The only photo that has any editing is the one of the couple, I increased the exposure +.11 and that was it. The only my camera forced me to edit my pictures is when I am at ISO 1000, which I donÂt do very often anyhow.

Here is a link to a review a photographer did of the SP510 and links to his gallery are included in the post, very impressive. I might just give the SP500 to my dad and get the SP510.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1008&message=20581640
here are some shots I found taken by a SP510uz as well.

Joe