What is the best light weight digital camera for an amateur?

Question

I had a Canon 30D SLR but i found it was too heavy to capture spontanious images, not to mention my skill level is quite low so the camera was a bit much for me to use. Im planning on selling that one to buy a digital and i would like it to be lightweight. Im concerned about quality as im used to the SLR so i would love any suggestions.

Answer 1

Cannon powershots are very nice.  The IS series, particularly the 870is, 950is or 1100is are fairly feature packed and easy to operate.

Answer 2

The Nikon D40 kit. It's light and easy to use and easy to carry around. The 18-55 lens is very sharp and fast. I know because I have one.

Answer 3

Difficult to give a simple answer, almost all small and compact digital cameras are made for point and shoot photography, that means all settings from shutter speed to autofocus is done automatically. So all the choices are for spontaneous photography, what I would suggest is to look for your own needs and ideas.

For instance: Do you have time to wait for your camera? Many spontaneous shoots neccessitates a fast camera, children are long gone if the camera takes 4 seconds to start up... How long time do you want to wait before you can squeeze of the next shot? If you like to shoot sports you need a lightning fast camera ready for the next shot.  If you into landscapes you have all the time in the world and just want the sharpest camera you can buy.

Perhaps you like to hike with your camera and a wall socket or a convienience store with more batteries isn't right around the next bend so you like to have a good amount of battery life in your camera, lets say 500 pictures per charge?

Is the small size perhaps more important than anything else for portability? Want to do close ups?

You'll get a couple of advices from me here for these eventualities:

Best and sharpest compact around with good battery life:

Fujifilm F30 or F31 (F30 is discontinued) a little slow though.

Good performance and good battery life and close ups:

Ricoh Caplio R6 or R7 (close ups to 1cm) and fast 500+ pictures per charge.

Compact and fast start up (0.15 seconds)

Casio EX-Z1000 or equivalent later model (got one as back up to my SLR) and up to 500 pictures per charge, lasted me almost three weeks in London last year.

Fast on the second shot (and the next 59 in the same second):

Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1 not much personal experience with that one though but fastest on the rebound...

Google for more info with name of the camera + review behind and you' find all the info you need.

Answer 4

If you plan to stick with digital SLR cameras, and would prefer an entry level, lightweight camera then you can't go wrong with the Nikon D40 with the 18-55mm lens.  It's the most lightweight, compact DLSR out right now.

Answer 5

I really love my nikon L2! Its super great, I got it from newegg for 69 bucks. I'm an amateur to but really love photography. You can sell this camera from anywhere up to 250$.  The link below is one of my favorite pictures Ive taken with it.http://a491.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/ima...

Answer 6

Canon Rebel, body is light.  Think u need a light weight lens.  Other wise canon sureshot is good too.