"Tom Francis - SWSports" wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:52:25 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Anybody got recommendations for a digital SLR with the manual
adjustments mentioned? Body and a quality 50-200 zoom lens
for less than a grand?

Depends on how much you want to spend. A base DSLR with a decent lens
will run you in the vicinity of $500/700 depending on what you can
afford or want to lay out.

Prosumer cameras (professional level consumer cameras) are about a
grand or thereabouts.

Any one of the majors is good - Nikon, Canon or Olympus. Panasonic
makes a very nice prosumer camera in 4/3rds format.

What I would suggest is that you might want to visit Big Buy and look
at the different choices. Olympus might not be to your liking -
4/3rds format is a technicians delight and takes some wonderful
images, but you really have to have some technical chops to get the
best out of the camera in low light situations.

It really depends on what you want to do with the camera. There are
DSLR "type" cameras with fixed lenses that will allow for aperature
and shutter speed adjustments, but nothing beats a full DSLR.

Having said all that, having been a film guy for a while, you will
have to get used to the way DSLRs work. They do not work the same way
as film cameras - there will be a transition period and it will be
frustrating.

Again, the best way to do this is to visit a big box retailer and find
the camera that (1) you want to buy based on your requirements (2) go
online to buy it from Adaroma, National Camera or 47th Street.

You might also want to contact one of our posters here who is a Nikon
type and does some very good work. I'll be glad to send along his
email address - email me at first name last name at swsports dot org.

I was talking to a local guy this morning about this very subject.
He has a local site dedicated to the dogs that visit a local park...his
Springer Spaniel is a younger brother to my Springer...same parents a year
apart.
Anyway, he was using an older Sony point & shoot with good results but may
step up to a DSLR. He's doing his homework now.