I am not at all familiar with sony. They may be way better. But that being said you may want to keep in mind availability of both parts and lenses. If I where in your shoes would go with Canon just because they are common. At some point you may want to sell the rig too. I think the canon probably would be easier to unload and the lenes are a dime a dozen. Well maybe not a dime but certainly a dozen. I would bet that canon has many more specialized lenses. in ex. Tilt/shift, many macros and not to mention 800's.
Don't know if this helps but that would be/was my approach. I've heard that many say sonys are ugly too but we all know where beauty is.

How about dividing "pictures' into two catagories. One would be "CCs" where anything goes and would be expected and the other would be "galleries" where everyone can just say 'awesome' awfully often.

I keep looking at a Leica and
would appreciate any info on this camara that anyone could
give me . Is it a good camara ? What model do you suggest
getting as an entry level to DSLR photography ? OR do any of you folks suggest a different camara for a beginner like me ?
greenjeans



A ferrari will not get you from point A to point B any faster then a Gremlin. There are such things as speed limits. Sure you will attract attention in an expensive car but thats silly.
Buying an expensive camera will not make you a better photographer. Leicas are good cameras, yes, but so are canons and nikons and other brands of cameras.

Silver, you are no longer giving Greenjeans anything useful. All of your points are 100% correct. Greenjeans asked about Leicas and which model would be good for entry level. They would ALL be good for entry level. He then ask for suggestions which is what you gave him. I will assume (bad to do) that you are arguing strictly on the merrits of cost. Nowhere did greenjeans ask us to tell him what he could afford. That would be his choice not ours.
And last I checked Cameras don't have speed limits. And I enjoyed my Gremlin when I owned one. And go ahead force that Leica on me and I will help you fight me so that I will take it. You can have my scrawny 5D2
Need to go to work now(so I can get That 1DX) so will not check back in till the tread is already played out and greenjeans probably has his leica and Julian has taken Silver for a ride and now Silver wants a Fararri too !

Bob there are a lot of VERY lost people on this post. Good of you to slap them around a little.
For my candid/carry in car camera I used to want a Canon S95 but I can see know I was mistaken. What I really want is a V-Lux. Thanks

Greenjeans, we can only assume this is not a trick question. I am not familiar with Leicas any more than with Ferraris. But we all know they are top-of-line. I'm detecting some envy here. If you have been "researching lots of cameras" you already know what they cost. I do know that some Leicas are manual only and only an experienced photog can learn to use them effectively. Not that manual is bad but as all of us that shot before Autofocus know it was more of a challenge for sure. Pull out your Lieca S in the middle of Africa or at a quinceniera(well maybe not the quinceniera) and every body will leave Ansel Adams standing by himself to come and look at your Leica then Ansel himself will join them. That's just how it is. Ask Julian what happens when he pulls up in his Ferrari. If you can swing the Leica do so. Their sensors and their glass is the best there is. Make sure they are auto before you decide. In the movie "Pretty Woman" his first car was a limo, why not a Leica. As for me I shot a Canon 5d2. It was all I could afford when I got it but beleive you me I'm getting the new 1Dx as soon as I can get one.
PS, If you hang onto the Leica for 50 years you can sell it and the glass for 10 times what you paid for it!

ny
Ive been in bkk maybe 5 or 6 times. The hotels thing would really only matter in China but you have short time so you probaly will not get to the mainland. probably every body speaks engish in HK. Never been to Hong Kong but have been to mainland. See if there are hutongs in HK. They are facinating old neighberhood compounds if not touristed out.
In BKK I always stay off of Sukhumvit rd. near the Westin hotel area. Lots of local areas. It is touristy but a good base. Lots of cheap little hotels to pick from on the back Sois(small streets,$10-$25)Lots of markets to visit. I would skip the royal palace. Get to the big wats. lots to shoot. Scout a good local Wat and at sun-up go and follow the monks as they collect alms. One of the markets is big and sells everything from flora to fauna. Good shooting. The night life is also good shooting. Don't know if you have time to get out of the city. May want to skip the river tours. River is better for long lens work unless you take a long tail boat. The long tail boats are facinating in themsvles. Of course many on the floating market tour. There is a Wat on every block(like churches here).
Try to do all your tour research before you get there. Thailand is the king of Tourism. Every hotel no matter how small will have a tour desk and offers tours to anywhere in the country. Tours are cheap and very prompt. There are also little tour agencys all over. I have never been ripped of in Thailand but caution should be taken especially at night in the heavy touristy red light areas. The dangers are more a scam than a physical one. As for photo gear there are a lot of indoor temples. the 12-24 is good there especially if you can use flash. If your 50 is a 1.4 I always take mine so I can shoot w/o flash but your DOF is zip. Your 105 is a 160. May not need the long one. Most stuff in a crowded city is close up BUT it depends on your type of shooting. I often take my 70-200 but don't use it as much as the shorter ones. BKK has no skyline to shoot. And worse its' big beautiful 6 lane blvds are gone to make way for the overhead trainsit. And don't forget lots of memory. Asia is photo overload for a westerner. A CP for the harber in HK. Personally I would only take a very compact monopod unless the HK harbor is your goal or lots of HDR. If you could manage 3-4 extra days fly to Ankor Wat.
Let me know if this helps or if you have very spacific ?'s I will help if I can. Good luck ny.

ny, are you going on a tour or are you freelancing it? how long will you be in Bkk? Is it budget or 5 star. Not prying but will make a diff on how you do stuff.

I jus wanna marry em all when they grow up !!

Guy, that is a fantastic shot.
Where you trying to make it look kind of green though?
At 6am that sky should have some Fire in it.
I wuold crop 30% of the grass and the sky just above the last cloud giving it more of a panaramic look.I did do a download but probably don't know what I am doing since i'm new here but it looks really noisy or it's the download don't know which. Is it a big crop? Maybe that would explain it.If it's clean it's really good. I'm just not into the green color. Good work Guy!

Cindy
I was not ignoring you but as Gessman so handily pointed out I will probably be out of town a lot. Just don't have a lot of time to do lengthy responces but wish I did. As for your photo of your son I'll give you some of my quick thoughts. I'm in a window where I can't see the photo as I write this so will try to remember what I was seeing.
The overall shot is very powerfull. I immediately go to your son and his daughter. I do find some distractions though that would help to eliminate. The duck on the left leads me out of your picture and I find I keep sneaking peeks at it. I would crop the duck out completley and let the big tree frame your shot on the left. on the right edge the space on the right of the tree stops adding to the subject. I feel that when it stops adding in some way it is better it not be there. I would crop closer to the tree. This shot is as anybody would know a difficult shot with the shadows of the forground and the very bright background. I see no highlights on the water and the blown out details are very distracting to me. Same with some of the shadows. Maybe the ducks are part of the photo but to me they compete and just chip away at the power of the two people as they are a powerful subject. I would clone the ducks out that are right directly in front of them. I find them distracting. Your sons left calf appears to have some obvious cloning or some missing detail but the rest of him has great detail. As for the vignetting I suppose you put it there. I don't have a problem with it so long as it's very even. As for shapness it either need s to be all sharp from front to back or lots of bokeh. And some food for thought. In People shots the most powerful aspect is always the face and the eyes. They tell much of the story. That part of your photos story is missing. With people I always try to get at least a part of the face or an eye. In wildlife it is only half a photo w/out a good catchlight. Same with people. Take out those distractions and the subject will grab your eye and not let go.
Cindy, if you are in a populated area join the local PSA sponsored Photo/camera club. It will have constant projected competitions. Enter your photos from day one. Competing against 25 other photos with critiques will improve you faster than you can imagine.
Hope this has helped. It is a great photo and works very well in B&W. I'm sure your son would love to have it on his wall. Hope this finds its way to your thread.

I would like to chime in with comments if not observations and I am new. I have not looked at very many post and rarley look at the photos but did see the one in question. Then this one caught my eye since it made referance to "new users" and I am definitely that. I've been here two days now and am sure I've probably broken most of the rules already. As a newbie I was shocked at how Rachel jumped all over ddfs12. A quick glance at his stats told me he had been a member for a whole whopping 24 hours. Hardly enough time to figure it all out. Only the most astute would read the directions first then play. ddfs12 in 24 hours had already made 34 replays. He was having fun. At that rate he was already a regular. What really killed the tone of Jennifers thread was all the yelling and apologizing. Not much consideration was given to jennifer or the new poster. For the rules to be effective they should be given to every new subscriber before they can post. Then an improper poster should be completely ignored as if they had not even posted and only the original poster should say "sorry but critiques are given only to the original poster unless invited to do so by the original poster" or that should be the default heading at every post. That would avoid those ugly scenes.
I'm sure I'll get some wrath for this but it's only my observation as a newbie. This is meant to be constructive and not scathing. There are a lot of good people here helping people that ask for help and we are all waiting our turn. Criticism should be handled carefully until you know exactly how thick a persons skin really is.

Yes Canon

Milo
Lots to choose from. If you want a compact P&S the choice of many pros is the Canon S-95. Very versatile and will shoot RAW.
You may also be able to get a refubished one from Canon Direct at shop.usa.canon.com they are cheaper and are brand new. I have purchased several cameras and lenses that way.

Myron, call Canmon at 800-652-2666
They should know and their website would have any update available. They can tell you where to find it.
Hope this helps.

Cindy, if you have other ?'s that I could help with I would be more than glad to try and help.
Later tonite I will check out the thread.
I will also answere Gessman to the best of what I know about the sensors.
Thanks