Digital SLR

After tinkering with my prosumer Lumix FZ-18 for a couple of years, I have finally decided to take the leap and get a DSLR. Having said that, the Lumix has definitely performed to my expectations. I still look at some of the pics I took with it and think, thats not bad for a prosumer camera.

The first choice was of course which system to buy. I asked a few people, the local camera-shop guy, and of course, dpreview.com and concluded that it had to be Canon. The best DSLR body within my budget was the Canon EOS 550D (or the RebelT2i in the USA). Another reason for this choice was that it allowed me to save enough for the lenses. The whole point of getting a DSLR is to have good lenses, after all.

When it came to buying lenses, the camera-shop guy's advice was loud and clear. Pretty much everything you'd want to do, as a beginner DSLR user, can be done with the twin-lens-kit which one can get with the 550D. But I checked the reviews and found that the 18-55 mm lens included in the kit isn't quite that great a choice. After checking out a few other canon lenses, I found the 85mm f1.8 prime lens. This lens is primarily for portraits (and specialises in indoor and lowlight situations) and had consistently positive reviews.

For the second lens, I decided to go with the 55-250, as it seemed to give good bang for the buck.

So then thats the combo I've gone with. Now I need to find a good case, maybe a lens hood and a SD card. More about that later...