Hicardo: I don't know what optical equipment you had before or what you have choosen for your digital camera but I have found no digital camera that fits my needs or my budget. I take a lot of photos that require me to deviate from the standard aperature or shutter speeds that are set by most SLR units. I find that I need to adjust the aperature to give me a larger depth of field to make my shots complete. Sometimes I also need to reduce the depth of field to blur some components of a frame to prevent distraction from the primary object in the shot. A large telephoto lens is the biggest part of most of my various cameras and none are available for the digital units. By large I mean in the range of 500 MM and up. Many digital types will list and provide a zoom ability and also a digital zoom is also stated, but I'm sure you've experienced the effects of what a digital zoom will do to an otherwise clear shot. Pixelation doesn't look pretty when pushed too far. What I'd like to see would be a CCD device to take the place of the film package in any camera. Let me keep my full optical qualities but save the shots in digital format. I'm picky, I want the best of both worlds. Until said device is on the market I'm going to have to stick with the optical format for now.

go to a camera store and check out a Nikon D60, and tell me that it won't do what you want

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Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods

SMAX: Yes, I have looked at a lot of the new DSLR units and have been really interested in what they can do for me and my particular needs, but at this point in time, I don't have the $2,500. that it would cost to replace the optical equipment I have now. In fact, to get what it would take to make a suitable replacement, I'd have to buy two units and that's not within my budget unless I win the lotto. Back in 2003 I saw an article in POPSCI that detailed a device that would take the place of a standerd 35MM film package in and SLR but record the shots in digital form. It was supposed to be priced around $600. but that would be cheap if it was really available. I have taken apart a few discarded digital cameras and played with the CCD devices some, in an attempt to make a digital capture device to work in the body of a SLR unit. There are a few stumbling blocks that I can see why a device to retrofit a stand 35MM SLR won't work, and the biggest is the time needed to capture a frame with adequate light and still maintain a fast shutter speed that is the main reason I still use a 35MM SLR. For now, I will scan my best shots into the computer with a scanner set to 2400DPI, yes, this takes a lot of time and uses a lot of memory space, but it's the only way to get all of that picture information into a PC and not be worrried about pushing the limits when enlarging the shots to isolate the picture elements I took the photo for in the first place.

SMAX; Yes, shutter lag is really the biggest stumbling block when working with the CCD devices and their controls. One approach I've used when doing some experimentation with a used camera that had a 5MP CCD was to keep the shutter open and worked with the display function and capturing a screen from that. Worked okay but the lag really was annoying. I've had better luck by using a digital camcorder and then capturing one frame in editing. Worked okay for most applications but failed miserably in motorsports, just way too much blurring in the frame. Just gonna have to wait for the prices to come down. Yes, those full blown units I've looked at were really out of my budget range. I'd have to sell one of my kids to come up with the ten grand to fit my needs.