hungry jack...
40D is not that expensive actually.
if you can find it think it's about 3.3k or so with the 18-55 IS kit

way below your budget and can get more stuff with the rest of it

I would suggest getting the 850 IS
it's known that IXUS xxx series are better than xx series
the difference in MP is not noticeable 7.1 vs 8
You will have less dense sensor which means less noise

the other major advantage i would say is the wide angle lens on the 850 IS
it is 28 mm vs 38 mm which is way long if you are in a small room
The other advantage is 1.7 fps continous drive vs 1.3

the rest is almost the same
I would suggest pressing your fren's price down a bit
say you need to upgrade to a 4gb card

@mandysu

suggest you to get another lens for him
EF-s 55-250 IS.
Price is about RM 850 but if you buy together with the 1000D then you can bargain for it abit

the 18-55 for normal use, when need longer zoom then change to 55-250

________________________
D300 vs 50D?
of course la D300.
51 AF points with 15 cross type AF.
all 11 point cross type AF sensor also need to stay far far

@Ghz
are you sure 18-55 VR is selling for 2.7k?
street price is about RM 750 only wo
if you mean 17-55 F2.8 VR then different story eh

This post has been edited by DecaPix: Apr 21 2009, 08:24 PM

er..since you are a newbie
i would say better to get a D90 or a 40D
stick with standard lens (18-55) 1st. See what you can do with it and then only decide on what lens to buy next.
Once you know your direction...landscape, potrait, architecture, abstract etc..then only upgrade your equipment.
keep the rest of your money for now.

Oh yeah..with normal usage, you cant really notice CA (purple fringing) or barrel distortion or what not.

eerr..where are you getting the price from?
D90 body only is 3.3k (1.3k savings)

another question, why are you so obsess with getting the 18-200 lens?!

since you like to do landscape and architecture, i would say you better get Ultra wide angle lens (focal length less than 15)

CA you will notice when shoting subject against bright background
distortion you will notice when shooting square pattern (brick wall, windows)
you wont notice those points in a lens. if you do...then you know it's time to upgrade
stop reading so much on reviews n go get a camera and start shooting!

obviously you are cock eyed..ops...i mean you see wrongly!
jokes aside..
if you want to zoom more and want better quality lens, better get another for telezoom
normal zoom lens are generally better than those super zoom (18-2xx)
but i think you can live with 55mm or 105mm of D90 kit lens

UWA lens..depends on your budget again lo
cheap and good are like Tokina 12-24 F4, Sigma 10-20
better one wil be Tokina 11-16 F2.8, Sigma 12-24 EX DG HSM
Canon has 10-22 USM, Nikon has it's own 12-24 F4 and the famous 14-24 F2.8G


This post has been edited by DecaPix: Apr 21 2009, 11:55 PM

Tokky 11-16 is one of the best UWA lens with big F2.8 aperture.
down side is short (5 mm) focal length only

12-24 isn't too shabby either. aperture at F4 is only 1 stop slower. but most ppl will be using F8 for landscape and stuff.
has price advantage too!

choice is yours and yours only

look at the model name of Ixus 85 IS
IS means image stabilizer. does that answer your question?

What is the difference between Canon and Panasonic image processing?
Canon uses DiGic image processor, Panasonic uses Venus (same as your nick) so big difference there
anyway, back to serious side. Canon has a little bit advantage in noise reduction. other than that both are quite similar

500D is selling for 3.2k street price
it's out of his budget wo

if same price, i would go for 40D.
giving my 2 cents on this

40D plus points:
all 9 cross type AF point with the center being extra sensitive with F2.8 lens
(layman term, more accurate focusing and even better with F2.8 lens)
Magnesium alloy body with some weather sealing
better feel and can last better outdoor in slight rain. not sure D90 has weather sealing or not
Canon has better prime lens collection. if you are into prime then Canon FTW!

Auto CA with Nikon?
errmm..CA is not that noticeable la. but good to have it auto correct
but if you shoot in RAW mode most software can correct it
but if you buy high quality lens, CA is almost not apparent...so moot feature.

plan to take alot of lanscape?
suggest you to get a Canon 10-22 with USM together.
nice lens for the price. Nikon equivalent not so sure

On the question of prime vs zoom...
well depends on ppl la.
some swear by the sharpness of prime.
some love it for it's big aperture.
some hate prime due to cant zoom n need to move around alot

but for wide angle..think there's a 14 mm prime for Canon

@Ghz
Like i said, CA is not that noticeable.
by the time you notice it and need to correct all pictures, quite sure you would have upgraded your lens that would have less CA
I dont think it's that good a feature

between Canon 10-22 or 11-16?
one have 13 mm range the other 6 only
if you need the range and versatililty, Canon
if you need fast F2.8 lens then 11-16

@Capel...
price can be discuss?!?
there are ppl who start off with a 1.5k budget and grow from there
there are some that start off with 30k camera and go from there
so which are you?

budget of 2k for Pns then i guess the best would be Lumix Lx3
only thing is the zoom is kinda limited.

some of the cameras are made in japan
like Canon and Panasonic
so there wont be any different
well.. the biggest difference is Japan camera speaks Jap!
make sure you know how to read Jap. Else dont bother

@capel
1.5-2k can get you a Sony A300, Nikon D60 or Canon 1000D
depends which brand you like, which brand your fren have, which one feels best in your hands
The choice is yours

@Crazy Apple
If you want to use it for travelling then i think LX3 would be better
easier to carry and lighter.
The only thing is that it has limited zoom
But it has wide angle which will take nice building shots
It has manual mode too so you can experiment with it
if you can master it then get a DSLR and keep the LX3 as travelling camera!

@chino
obviously you dont know that xxD camera are way better than xxxD
only advantage 500D has is HD video. for me i dont think i'll be using it!

---

Added on April 28, 2009, 2:14 pm@sidewinderz
A700 and 450D same price?
better get A700 then

@oldkidz
basically any DSLR can use wireless triggers
but so far Nikon and Sony has the wireless trigger in the Camera so it's cheaper to use Sony or Nikon

@chuanmok
If you think you are ready to learn DLSR and dont mind the size and weight then better get it than prosumer
Can start with 1000D with the kit lens
basically what you need is memory card, a bag, cleaning cloth to start.
good luck in your purchase!

@funnyk
40D is way more advance than D60, in fact it's about same or higher level than D90

This post has been edited by DecaPix: Apr 28 2009, 02:14 PM

er..you buy a professional camera so that you can video?
gosh...that is what i call buying a ferrari and go pasar malam near your house

Nikon only D90 has video mode
Canon has 5D MkII and the just launched 500D

@myin925
the choice is either Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro or Canon 55-250 IS
If you need the extra 50 mm and macro capability then Sigma
if not then 55-250 IS. the IS will be quite useful when you are shooting at tele end

@Chuanmok
why would you say D60 is better than 1000D?
FYI, those prosumer ISO above 800 is not really useable
picture too noisy and blotchy. DSLR ISO 800 is ok. 1600 is still very useable.

@fruitie
a used 40D body would set you back about 2.4k i presume?
that would leave you 1.1k for Tamron 17-50 F2.8 used
that should be a nice start off setup
unless you want more reach, can add a Canon 55-250IS used for about 700 or so

@chelseafanz
better to get the UV filter together as it's usually bit cheaper if buy together with camera
it is screwed in front of your lens to protect it from being scratched
good luck!

wow chelseafanz, you sure have alot of questions
think we should charge those that ask mroe than 3 questions! haha...

Those 3rd party battery perform almost the same as original
only problem is when you use the built in flash, the recharge is much slower compared to original canon

of course they can be charged with original charger
how else would you charge it?

@gnome827
you mentioned that you done your home work
how come you dont include 500D?
you should able to list out the pro & con or think what might affect you so that we can advice you
what makes you think D5000 only Manual focus?