It’s finally time for me to get a new camera. Unfortunately, I don’t know squat about digicams so don’t even have a budget yet. Can buy online from the US.
SOS!
what do you look for in a camera??
and if you have no budget, get the canon eos 1D markIII…or maybe a nikon d3x 
I’m a complete noob; I guess I’ll be looking at S3 IS level cams?
Anish, help! 
If you are looking for something compact, try the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5. Good cam, compact, 10x optical zoom.
Do tell us more about your requirements.
Complete n00b, need a non point-and-shoot camera; should be good enough for pictures for “the photography thread”.
what will a complete noob do with a dslr?
thats like giving x48+e proc to someone who uses msdos
get a canon a570is/similar or s5is is ur feeling rich
Well if your seriously interested in photography and don’t mind spending on lenses and the likes later on, you can invest in a startup SLR, that’ll be close to $1k for a decent kit though. You can always add that loong telephoto for shooting the “scenery” in Berkeley :lol:
If you don’t wanna spend so much, then a Lumix FZ18 or FZ8 will do good for you.
i guess a good way to start would be a camera with full manual controls like the fz-18 stated above
then if you find it interesting, you can invest in a slr later
this might sound like a cliche from me but, get the Canon 720IS. Best VFM cam.
^^it is infact…other than the fact that it uses 2 cells and not 4
when batteries are low the flash cycle takes too much time
That’s the way I’ll go.
So, FZ18 final?
^^^The same applies to the 720IS too…
but if he has a good budget, he can go for the lumix fz-18 over the 720is
Yup its a great, easy to use camera.
[OT]
Looks like FZ18 is gonna be the new S3 IS now :lol:
[/OT]
Precisely what I was looking for! 
^ Just stfu and get the FZ18
Its 320 on bhphotovideo, definitely worth it and that 18x zoom will come in handy!
$288 on Amazon. Ordered…
pricing at national market bangalore : FZ8 - 13.3K FZ18 - 16.5K mite knock off a cpl of hundred bucks when i actually pick it up. does the price look reasonable compared to other places where i may find em.
^^ Yeah it sounds reasonable. Go get it !
My friend went to Fort today and picked himself a Nikon D40 with the 18-55 VR lens with a lens protector, Sandisk 2 GB card, Hoya UV filter, Camera bag for just 20k. He also bought some fake Vivitar 3200 flash which has vertical and horizontal movement for 1200.
All he needs is a nice 55-200 VR lens and he is good to go.
Great choice on the FZ18! To everyone recommending other cameras, understand that the FZ18 goes down to 28mm at its widest - which is indispensable for indoor, group, landscape shots. Most of today’s cams do only 35mm, of course the trend is shifting towards 28mm but Panasonic is now offering 25mm on some models (FX series)!
Panasonic has been trumpeting wide-angle, which I think is a great selling point if people understand it correctly. You can’t create wide-angle in Post-processing, you can remove noise though. 
Payne
PS: OT! Apologies!