D80 & 50-500 or Olympus 570UZ!!

[NicolaB]

The shutter lag was the main thing that drove me bonkers with my old bridge camera, a prehistoric Kodak DX6490, and made me start saving for my DSLR. I've just developed stronger neck and shoulder muscles for carrying everywhere instead!!

I'm still not about to throw my Kodak in the bin though, as it's ideal for taking out if I'm hillwalking for example, as it fits into the rucksack with all of my other gear, so is still ideal for taking reasonable shots, just not outstanding ones.

[DaveStott]

Hi,

I've just been through this, so I thought to share my conclusions. (Historically, I have taken slide film with Canon SLR's, then three years ago I got fed up with carrying glass around and switched to a PowerShot Pro1 Bridge camera).

The bridge camera can take excellent pictures, especially landscapes, but it is slooow. Slow both in terms of ISO (anything over 100 is very noisy), in terms of lens, and in terms of switch-on-to-shoot-time.

So I considered getting a modern bridge camera like the Fuji f1000sd, but then the size and weight are comparable to an SLR with a superzoom and you still have many compromises.

So I am now the owner of a Nikon D40x with the Nikon 18-200 stabilised zoom. It's a revelation after the bridge - I'd forgotten how much I'd missed everything. The lens overall is very good (any superzoom has to have compromises) and I'll never have to change it or miss a shot. For me, I'm sure it was the right decision, though of course it's not cheap. (Incidentally, I went for the Nikon after twenty years of Canon because of the Nikon superzoom with stabilisation, which Canon don't yet do).

I'm a bit of a safari nut, so can't wait till I get back out to Africa, especially on a walking safari.