Looking for recommendations: Dslr camera 14 mp or higher cheap easy to use???????

[KAT4DISNEY]

There are two less than $1K cameras I know of that have an ISO up to 12,800, but I am not sure how usable the shots are at that level. They are the new Pentax K-x and the Canon Rebel T1i.

Gotta add the new Sony A550 to your list but it's body only that currently gets it below $1,000. W/kit lens it's $1050 but it ought to drop by Christmas. The new A500 is 12.3 megapixels and that takes $200 off the price. Still ISO 12,800 and preliminary reports seem to be very good. They both shoot at 5 fps and the A550 will do 7 fps without re-focusing which is only going to help in certain situations but might not be bad for shooting some BBall plays in a gym from the stands. OP - built in camera image stabilization is a part of the sony cameras. These camera's should be available any day here in the US. Actually it looks like the A500 body only is available now and kits are supposed to be available sometime this month.

So along with the Canon T1i and Pentax K-x you might want to look at the A500/A550. Minolta auto focus lenses can be used with the Sony cameras. A fast lens is going to help the most with what you want to shoot. If a 50mm lens would be long enough then a used Minolta 50mm f/1.7 should be easily found for $100 or there is the new Sony 50mm f/1.8 for $150.

 

[zackiedawg]

I was just going to add the A550 to UKCat's list...but looks like it's already been done.

I would add too: The quality difference going to a DSLR from your P&S will be a big leap - you might want to consider that part of the reason you cannot crop as much with your current camera has to do with the quality of the pixels...cropping in close shows lots of noise and grain and smearing. With a good DSLR, even lesser MP than 14, you will have far greater ability to crop in close and still retain solid detail and low noise than a typical P&S. So I wouldn't draw the line only at 14MP if I were you. Also, higher ISO ability will allow you to get away with a slightly less 'fast' lens - what you can get with a fast F2.8 200mm lens and ISO3200, you can get with an pretty close with an F4 200mm lens and ISO6400...so a camera with decent high-ISO capability can help you save money on the lens, at least for the short term...you'd probably still want to invest in a better fast lens if you're going to be taking those kind of photos a lot. Cameras with in-body stabilization can save you on the lens end - finding an F4 non-stabilized lens is easy, and cheap, on the used market. Pentax, Olympus, and Sony all use sensor-based stabilization in the camera body, so all lenses new or used will be stabilized.