Company pay or what?

My company veli cheapo wan... the company camera for our admin guy to shoot visitors/events yada yada is just a 500D + kit 18-55 + 430EX speedlite.

Even that works ok good.

Regarding telephoto.. there's less distortion and a more compressed flattering perspective for the subject. Also helps when there's a lot of other things getting in the way.
Ya why not.

XZ-1 gooding though best result must shoot RAW and the video mode sucked.
S100 gooding though the lens is not very bright.
LX5 also gooding though zoom range wide but "only" 90mm equivalent at the tele end.
X10 gooding too but kinda thick and that orb issue (which Fuji is supposed to fix with new sensor replacement)

let's say you got 15k... buy one entry level DSLR with kit lens to serve your purpose... and a cheap flash... 3k gone... so remaining 12k will be in your pocket... 

if just for that purpose, any camera will do, not necessary DSLR...
small PnS will do the job as well. it's not that you will print it as a big banner or wat.
but for covering event also, any entry level DSLR is good enough for that. since basically no special requirement towards high IQ and etc.

normally, telephoto is used to isolate the subject away from other things (due to the small field of view).
let's say there's a bunch of girls standing in front of you, and if u use wide angle lens, you wil get the picture of all of them in the frame... because wide angle lens has big field of view, so it captures a lot of thing into the sensor. but if u use telephoto, u can take picture of each of them individually while u and the girls remain at the same spot... you will not be able to take everything into the frame... just like when you use normal PnS, when you zoom in you can only get very little thing into the frame, when you zoom out a lot of thing will be inside your frame.

haha... not sure this is a good example or not. but if you need to isolate a subject, compress the view, or you want to shoot from a further distance, telephoto will help you. normally i will suggest people to go for standard zoom first. when you feel that you can't include all the things u wan in the frame with your kit lens, then get a ultra wide angle. and when you feel that you can't get rid of some unwanted things in the frame with your kit lens, is time to get a telephoto.

your fren is correct, but blur background and sharp subject can be achieve in two way: shoot in telephoto, of with aperture wide open. normally when shoot portrait (i mean single portrait) the sweet spot for the face to look noce without distortion is around 50-60mm for upper torso, 85-100mm for head and shoulders, and 125-135mm when you want some compression for fuller figured portraits. (all in 35mm equivalent)

That's why people may choose to use 50mm prime lens/telephoto lens as the portrait lens sometimes.
but let say if you have a 18-55mm kit lens on the APS-C sensor (assume crop factor 1.6x) you will get effective range of 28-88mm, which is already covering most of the range required for portrait. if you desired for sharper image or more compression and details in your shot, then you may need some better lens.

i'm not too familiar with Nikon, the only thing i know is for nikon you need to deal with the focus motor, whether it is in camera or in the lens... something like that. so can't really recommend you better lens as well.
since you already have one nikon, why not just get another nikon so you can share the lens and accessories?

If you find this bag of cash... and its for work related stuff

--> Canon 5D MkIII + 24-105mm L kit

I think it may be possible to squeeze in a speedlite for this as well.

Kau tim... ultimate combo.

Do u really need D300, 51 point AF system else D90 actually has a better sensor OR the newer D7000.

Well...

FF-ness --> checked
Pro-ness --> checked
Tahap dewa dewi low light performance --> checked
AF speed for speedy CEO's --> checked
Red ring, useable focal length, image stabilization --> checked

Apa lagi lu mau?

With camera like this.. if photo don't turn out nice also must jump down from twin towers di.

If the above still not convincing enough, then consider that Pete Souza (official White House photographer) photographs Obama, world leaders and historically significant events using the 5D Mk II.

If its good enough for the White House, its good enough for any company

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/71.../in/photostream
Do homework for you

Enthuasiast compact focal length vs aperture table.


Don't just look at the widest... see the max aperture throughout common focal length.

All these sensor sweet spot less than ISO200 and more or less tops out (imo) at around ISO400 +/- 1/2 stops... everything else is noise vs details.

Example... If I wanna shoot a portrait of bini/gf/mother/mistress indoors in a restaurant.

XZ-1 - 50mm focal length, f2.0, ISO200.
S100 - 50mm focal length, max aperture f4 means my ISO have to go up to ISO800 to get same shutter speed.
LX5 -  50mm focal length, max aperture f2.7 means my ISO have to go up to ISO400 to get same shutter speed.

About the smearing.. depend on how you look at it. Yes, the XZ-1 jpeg smears but the girls like it as it blurs out blemishes ... and most compact smears (my Sony HX9V smears even more).. S90 smears less but the details is not there in the beginning. You can always shoot raw...  and if you don't like/use Lightroom.. you can always run that awful bundled raw-editor... turn off Noise Reduction as a preset and then just apply to all your pics = kau tim.

+1
if canon, you can consider 5D as you wan FF and Pro... either MkII or MkIII... with the kit lens or with 24-70 2.8 L is a nice combination.

---

Added on May 14, 2012, 12:26 pm
for sports 7D is slightly better, but 60D can do the job as well. If you do not need the articulated screen, i would suggest you go for 7D.
if size is your concern, go for NEX 5N. although i was planning to recommend you NEX 7 initially, but it will slightly off your budget

---

Added on May 14, 2012, 12:30 pm
sniper has done a good comparison for you. if technical aspect is what you will consider the most, then you can see XZ-1 always has the fastest lens in the "compact" range... personal preference: S100 (if you shoot more in jpeg) or XZ-1 (if you shoot more in raw).

If you're interested... read up "exposure triangle"

Anyways, all cameras also have pro's and con's... from the cheapest to the most expensive.

Too bad I don't have my S90 anymore to compare but I just took these shots.. out of camera jpeg with everything on default. P mode and auto ISO summore in case you wanna see how it looked like.... we aim to please.

Industry standard furry bear office indoor test.


Industry standard office rooftop ciggie area landscape test


Hmm...I think I underexposed by -1/3 here.
RM8K body only must be the previous 5D Mk II di.... compared with the Mk III, the Mk II's AF is not gooding and high ISO is good but not tahap dewa dewi.

7D no fullframe goodness and low light is only as good as a 550D.

If I stumble upon a bag of cash.... straightaway take taxi go buy 5D MkIII.

tel ur lady boss... she will look prettier if her picture is taken with 5D mk3 than using 7D... lol
If you don want to go for such expensive one, u can get 7D. but you need so much AF and the speed of 7D?
let's say u don need, then u further downgrade to 60D...  but the difference between 600D and 60D is not that much... then u further drop down... haha... sorry to further confuse you.
if you are talking about canon, that's more or less the story. Just get what you need is ok already. not necessary full frame.

A few post ago.. I posted that my company admin guy's company camera is just a 500D + 18-55 kit + 430ex. Frankly... In the context of this usage pattern... It enuf to getthe job done. Image wise no difference until u go fullframe. Its not like ur go creative and gonna shoot bokeh dreamy portrait of ur lady boss like some bikini model right?

Oh.. and I just came across this vid which should provide a more illustrative example on why telephoto is used for portrait