Three-legged Tripod For Both Camcorder And Camera

[Conquest10]

The high end "prosumer" models of digicams (i.e., basically all the 8MP models and a few other ones) are all pretty close to the price of the Canon 300D and Nikon D70. In fact, with the price drop of the Canon 300D, is is cheaper than a few of the 8 MP digicams. IMHO, the 8MP digicams are obsolete from the word go.

Exactly. The problem is that most people see these cameras are 8 megapixel and immediately assume they're better than dSLRs (300D, D100, D70, 10D). What they don't realize is that they use the same size sensor as the 5 megapixel one on digicams. What that means is way higher noise than on a dSLR. dSLRs have a sensor that is at least twice as big. I have a digi and I never shoot higher than ISO100. The noise starts getting worse soon after. Yet with a dSLR, I can shoot up to ISO800-1600 without the problem. It looks more like film grain than noise. But, hey, its the megapixels that count, right? Everytime someone sees my camera, the first thing they ask: "How many megapixels is that?"

[bruceb3]

In my first 5 years into photography, I went through 4 tripods, all under $80. Then I found a Bogen 3205 tripod with a Bogen 3265 pistol grip head at a photography show. It was used (but like new) and I paid $120. for it. That was 14 years age and it's still the best tripod I've found. Bite the bullet and buy a pro type tripod and you'll never regret it. Bogen is one of the best, and the 3265 pistol grip head is awesome. It's got a quick release so you can take your camera off in 2 seconds.