Lots of good input, thanks folks!
Of course it reconfirms my quandary.
Mike hit on a lot of the reasons why I want to move to a DSLR and faster lenses is one that I hadn't mentioned, just because even moving to a DSLR it will still take time to afford the faster lenses. And yes you can get some inexpensive fast prime lenses, but most of my interest is at the extremes - wide angle or telephoto. Not that there aren't good pictures to take in the mid-range, just that I know I'll be frustrated with the limited range I can afford to start with.
Now a lot of my pictures are 'documenting the trip' and I haven't really pulled out a 'portfolio' of better shots on my site. (Maybe once lacrosse season is over, I'll put some time into setting up a portfolio) Nonetheless, I am far enough along the learning curve that I now have some specific shots that I know I can't get with a P&S and I could get with a DSLR. Hence why I had firmly decided that the next camera would be a DSLR until ...
Let me see,
- Yep I am using a tripod and monopod at different times
- Already using Lightroom, I can still get more out of it and have barely touched Photoshop
- Completely agree with the recurring theme of the "the camera that is out gets used" and if I could go DSLR & waterproof P&S then I would probably go down that path, but the budget (which is still pending approval) doesn't give me that option right now
- OK, the camera doesn't really bang around on the bottom of the canoe but it does stay out and yes I have learned to keep the lens clean after some wasted shots
- Martin's flower shot shows the kind of portrait shot that I generally need a larger aperture for than I can get with a P&S while his waterfall shows some of the smoothing that I need a smaller aperture for than I can get with a P&S (great owl shot by the way!)
- interestingly the picture of mine that is most often borrowed/stolen (and once even sold
) is the cover shot on my website that was an old Nikon P&S and is only a 1024X768 resolution which goes back to what folks have said about composition being as important as equipment
- The Go Pros are intriguing and have some cool features like time lapse BUT they have no zoom, no external mic and I believe actually require their housing to be waterproof - which leaves me thinking the Canon D20 and Pentax WG-3 are better options
- The SX50HS would give me RAW support, which is a step forward, and a CMOS sensor which would improve low light photos - still not DSLR equivalent by a long shot, but it would be a step up
- Digital zoom is a non-issue with the possible exception of video - I have seen a somewhat reasonable argument that since 1080p video is only using a fraction of the sensor anyway that the digital zoom wouldn't affect the quality - I haven't tested that yet
- The big selling point of the SX10, SX30 and potentially the SX50 for me has been zoom range. I'll try to post some comparisons of my wildlife shots with these cameras compared to my old SLR. The mother loon & chicks that I entered in the last photo contest is a good example of what I *can* accomplish with this kind of P&S. The SX20 that Wotrock mentioned is from this same series of camera models.
- all the cameras/lenses I'm considering are image stabilized
- one reason I have been convinced Nikon has the edge on image quality on the DSLR side is that they capture a wider dynamic range
- the mirrorless compact system cameras don't give me the much better autofocus capability (ie: go from 1 cross type sensor to at least 9 cross type sensors) that the DSLR would, while still having the limited initial zoom range based on what lenses I can afford. They are good for video but don't quite seem to the 'next step' that I'm looking for. The same is true for DSLR options that would be less expensive than the Canon T4i/T5i or Nikon D5200 as a starting point.
- video has become as important to me as still pictures
At the moment I think I'm leaning toward the SX50/D20 combination in part because the D20 should help extend the life of my other camera(s). It would also give me a 2nd camera to work with for videos. But darn it, I know I need to get to a DSLR to "progress". Unfortunately by killing my SX30 I think I'm stuck just trying to get back to where I was.