Another new camera thread!

[dp1]

Hi everyone, first posting in this section so please go gently on me.

I'm going on holiday to the Himalayas in October and would like to take a decent camera with me to get both panoramic and local town/village type shots. At the moment I've got a Canon A40 (old or what) and am looking for a not too expensive digital SLR. Not too bothered about loads of features but am going to be a bit stumped with stuff that needs charging from the mains. Ideally I'd like mains chargable but with the option of batteries as a backup, not too heavy as I've got to lug it about for 3 weeks and a built in flash (do they all have them?)

Obviously I'm not well up with this these days but I've have seen some packages with lenses on e-bay.

fleabay1

fleabay2

So views please - am I about to throw my money away foolishly, like a foolish thing or will I be content? All advice and links gratefully accepted but keep it under £500 chaps.

[V6GTO]

I think you might be better off with a high end compact than a low end DSLR. That way you can get a spare battery, more memory and it'll be a lot easier to carry.(Check out the Canon S80 or G7)

Martin.

[VxDuncan]

If you're off the the Himalayas that's gunna be fairly tuff on any camera. Friend of mine took a compact up to everest base camp and got some great pictures - though lots of Chromatic abberation off the cheap lens. I'd say that to make the most of the views you need to attach a filter to get rid of the haze and possibly a polariser.

Personaly i'd go for something like the 350D or a D50 model that has just been replaced and a decent lens. It's a harsh enviroment and will show any optical flaws.

Cheap camera body and good lens would be the way I'd go. Remember the croping factor so 18-50 is roughly 28-80 equiv. (1.5x on the Nikon, 1.6x on the canons) Nearly all DSLRs have built in flash and take Li-Ion batts, so are therefore mains chargable. Only I would say is take a spare charger (cheap one off ebay) incase the 3rd world mains supply (or generator) takes one out. Happened to me. Not fun.

[sidaorb]

Dave,

Just a word of caution, both of those Fleabay listings are extremely likely to incur duty when they arrive in the UK, then all of a sudden they aint that good deals.

I would look for a early digital SLR maybe Canon D30, D60, 10D, 20D and a Sigma lens 24-80 / 24-105 or similar and yes dont forget a spare battery or 2 the earlier D30/D60's normally come with a twin charger.

Carl