Camera Advice Needed?

Hiya!

I'm an aspiring photographer. Currently I have a very small digital camera that works fairly well.

I'm considering buying a digital shutter-style camera (With the long lense, manual zoom and focus, etc etc). I was browsing at Circuit City, and I would appreciate if anyone would be able to assist me in finding a good one at a reasonable price?

My ex friend had a shutter-style digital camera that I fell in love with, yet I fail to remember who made it.


Thank you so much in advance! :)

Oh, I also need it to have a black and white feature, since 99.999% of my photographs will be black and white.


I really don't want to use film, since the closest town is rather far from me, and I don't want to drive back and forth to develop/pick up film, and I don't want to make my own dark room.

All cameras with the exception of pinholes have a shutter. With that out of the way if you want a DSLR then the 350 Rebel is a good entry level camera. Don't worry about the b/w feature because it is all bs gimmick. You can do the b/w conversion much better in photoshop post processing then any camera can do in camera. The Nikon D50 is also a nice entry level camera in the same price range, but lacks some of what I would consider vital features that are included on the Rebel such as an illuminated LED so you can see your settings at night. .

My friend who is an amateur photographer owns cameras from every decade for the last 100 years (no joke) maybe longer recommended to me when I ask him what kind of digital camera to buy he said either a Nikon or a Cannon the best you can afford. Nikon has a new 10.2 mega-pixel on the market right now. I love my Nikon.

for purchasing, I would check out www.buydig.com and www.bhphotovideo.com.

i have a Canon 20D and love it. the Canon 350 is very similar but cheaper. My brother owns that one.

you will adjust for B&W in post processing for digital.

read some at www.dpreview.com and www.the-digital-picture.com

the camera you have linked is about the best digital slr for the price right now. the mega pixel rating is more than you'll need and everyone i've talked to at camera stores say there's a negligible quality difference between that and the more expensive 20d. you wil have an excellent time with that camera. also canon has like a billion lenses that are compatible with that camera so there's another bonus.
if the rebel xt is in your price range i'd go for it. you won't be disappointed.
the b&w would be done in the processing stage in a program like adobe photoshop, gimp, or aperture. photshop and aperture run about $300-$400 so if you want to dave some dough after your massive camera purchase download gimp. it's just like photoshop but doesn't have as many fancy filters and it's free.