STORES

[61Dynamic]

[font color=\'#000000\']Check PriceGrabber. There are a few that are cheaper but not by too much.[/font]

[Bobtrips]

[font color=\'#000000\']I took a look on www.pricegrabber.com and B&H.  

A1.  B&H - $650.  Best PG price $580 but not a highly rated dealer.  Butterfly has decent ratings and sells the A1 for $620.  Buydig (whom I've used a few times) sells it for $650.  So B&H is fairly competitive.

A2.  Think about it.  Even if you don't need the extra pixels the viewfinder is excellent.  (In fact, I'll sell you my A1 and buy an A2 ;o)  

B&H - $999 (but email for a better? price).  Buydig sells the A2 for $770.  I think it's more than worth the extra ~$100.[/font]

[61Dynamic]

[font color=\'#000000\']Both the A1 and A2 are both P&S cams with 2/3" sensors and they'll create a bunch of noise above ISO 100. The A2 more than the A1. You'll have to go to DPReview and look at the sample images and tests for noise levels and make the determination for yourself if they are too noisy for your tastes or not. At ISO 100 and 64 the noise should be more than acceptable.

The digital Rebel (300D) will produce less noise than either the A1 or A2. It has a much larger 22x15mm sensor. According to the tests as DPReview, the only camera with lower noise levels than the 300D is the Fujifilm S2 Pro. The 1Ds would probably appear less noisy but that's due to it's increased resolution.[/font]

[Bobtrips]

[font color=\'#000000\']The smaller sensor digitals should be viewed as lighter, less expensive cameras that are limited to lower ISO shooting (IMO).  The image stabilization of the A1/A2 make up for quite a bit of ISO limitation if you aren't shooting moving subjects.  

If you want/need to shoot at higher ISO settings then you need to move up (and pay for) a dSLR.

Before you jump to paying more for a dSLR ask yourself how often you went out landscape shooting with ISO 400/800/1600 film....[/font]

[cristianomc]

I saw B&H prices for Minolta Dimage A1 and thought a little hight for me...Is there any other store (on the regions of CA, NY or FL or any other with low shipping costs) with prices lower than B&H and with good reputation?
Thank you all!

[Lisa Nikodym]

[font color=\'#000000\']From what I've seen and read, if a place has something for substantially less than B&H, it's probably either not reputable or they'll give you the hard sell to try to sell you a bunch of overpriced accessories (and maybe delay sending it or not send it at all if you don't buy the accessories).  There may be exceptions, but I'm not aware of them.

Lisa[/font]

[cristianomc]

[font color=\'#000000\']A2.  Think about it.  Even if you don't need the extra pixels the viewfinder is excellent.  (In fact, I'll sell you my A1 and buy an A2 ;o)[/font]

[font color=\'#000000\']What about the noise on A1 and A2? A2 have more megapixels, so more noise.

Does it really disturb the pics on both A1 and A2?

I'm in doubt about A1, A2 or Digital Rebel.

As an A1 owner, what do you think about it?

Thanks.[/font]

[Gary_Berg]

[font color=\'#000000\']You really need to decide what kind of camera you want. The A1/A2 is an all-in-one, is small and relatively light. The 300D is larger, heavier (once you add lenses), and is certainly going to cost more long-term as you add more lenses. The 300D is more flexible in terms of what you can add to it (you can add any EF lens Canon makes that you can afford), and will give you slightly better images (and much better at ISO 400 or above).

My conclusion was that I didn't want to carry around the weight of the DSLR with the lenses I would want. So I bought an A2.

Read Michael's new article about using the A2 while on vacation in Spain; the one he just published today.[/font]

[cristianomc]

[font color=\'#000000\']Thank you all![/font]