Even though your compact camera has all the nifty features, somehow you still feel handicapped by it. Maybe it's the size; you go green with envy when you see others toting their big toys around town. Or perhaps it's the control freak in you that demands more creative freedom.
With so many electronics giants rolling out dSLRs, the price for the entry-level units has been driven down. It's not hard to find a sub-S$1,000 outdated camera body at tech fairs, but who wants a shooter that was talked about yesterday?
Salivate over these five entry-level models that are not just packed with features, at less than S$1,500, they go easy on your wallet, too.
Click here for a feature comparison table.
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Canon Digital EOS 450D
With a 12.2-megapixel sensor, you can now make poster-sized prints and admire your work in its full glory. It's not that difficult to get tack-sharp images with the 9-point autofocus system. For the purist, there's always the option to shoot RAW. The expandability options are seemingly endless with over 60 interchangeable EOS-system compatible lenses and wide range of accessories.
Price:S$1,499 with EF-S 18-55mm kit lens
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Nikon D60
CNET Asia rating: 7.5 out of 10
The good: Optically stabilized kit lens; convenient onscreen user interface; compatible with a wide variety of lenses and accessories.
The bad: Pricey for what it offers; lens-based image stabilization is less flexible than sensor-shift offered by some competitors.
The bottom line: Despite modest improvements in performance and a couple of new features, Nikon's D60 fails to impress and costs more than some competing models.
Price:S$1,188 with AF-S VR 18-55mm lens
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Olympus E-420
Being the world's smallest dSLR doesn't mean that the 10-megapixel E-420 is short on features. You get autofocus with Live View on the 2.7-inch LCD display, and the face detection feature will recognize and track up to eight faces, optimizing the exposure for them. The Supersonic Wave Filter shakes off dirt and dust that may be stuck to the image sensor, giving you clean images each time you press the shutter.
Price:US$599.99 with 14-42mm lens
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Sony Alpha DSLR-A350
Touting the highest resolution in the group, the Alpha 350 sports a 14.2-megapixel sensor. The 2.7-inch, tilting LCD screen gives you the flexibility to take shots at awkward angles, while the built-in Super SteadyShot image stabilizer lets you take pictures at lower shutter speed. The proprietary D-Range Optimizer will adjust your image to bring out more details in the highlight/shadow regions.
Price:S$1,399 with DT 18-70mm lens
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Pentax K100D Super
First take
Pentax has announced the 6.1 megapixel K100D Super, the latest outstretched hand into the narrowing gap between digital SLR and consumer compact. With lots of automatic and preset modes, clever shake reduction, and a system for keeping dust off the camera sensor, the K100D Super makes things simple for anyone wanting to make the leap to the dSLR.
Price:S$999 with 18-55mm kit lens
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