Upgrade advice or suggestion, please!

Hi - I've got a powershot A710 which has served me surprisingly well for a couple of years, but now having pushed it to the max, I'm going for the big upgrade. Having done plenty of homework, I was homing in on the Canon 500D, but I've just been introduced to the Powershot G11 - which looks very meaty indeed. So any advice or suggestions from anyone experienced with either the Powershot G11 or the Canon 500D??? Most of my shots are day-to-day around town - so portability is important, but I also like using macro and doing landscapes/wildlife/nature shots (so all out and about, no studio work). So which do you think would be the most worthy successor to the lowly A710? Many thanks in advance!

Hi,
Seeing as no one else seems to reply to anyone on here, I thought I would :)

So you have a Canon Powershot A710 IS, and you want to move up to a DSLR?
Well, first of all, I would want to know how much of the manual settings you actually use on your current camera, and how many you would use on a DSLR, because most DSLR's out there have a LOT of manual settings and you really do need to learn how to master them. I assume your willing to take the challenge and go for it, so, have you gone and actually looked and held any cameras?

The reason why I say this is because quite often its not about how capable the camera is (most DSLR's, even the entry level ones, are very capable), but how it feels in your hands. After all, your not going to be able to hold it perfectly still if it doesnt feel right, are you?

Another things is, have you looked at any superzoom, or bridge cameras? Some of them are very capable at both landscape and macro without you having to change lenses.

Hope that makes sense,
Toby

Difficult one to answer because the cameras are so different. Like someone asking if they should buy a estate car or an MPV. A lot depends on taste, needs, lifestyle.
The G11 could certainly cope with all the types of photography you seem to do at the moment. It offers all the control you'd get from a DSLR but in a smaller (and slightly cheaper) package.
For macro work it would let you get better shots out of the box than the EOS 500D, due its closer minimum focus.
However, the big advantage of the EOS is the potential to expand in the future. If you were to invest in a macro lens or some extension tubes, for example, you'd suddenly get much better macro shots from the EOS.
Also, the much larger sensor of the EOS will produce better image quality, though you might not see this if you only view images on screen or at small print sizes.

Hi - thanks for the replies. To address your questions, Toby - I'm using the A710 almost entirely on manual...e.g aperture/shutter speed/ISO and occasionally focus. I'm starting to find several limitations though - the manual focus is not very practical and shooting in low light produces mixed results. I'm not a flash fan, so I tend to up the ISO - but ISO 400 is pretty grainy and ISO 800 is close to useless - so I'm looking for more low light capabilities (the G11 sounds good on this front). I don't do an awful lot of post-production on photoshop, but one thing I tend to do is crop my images, so image quality is pretty fundamental.

Re. handling, admittedly I've not picked up the 500D, but have tried out the 350D and 450D in the past - and by all accounts there doesn't seem to be much difference in build. But yes, I agree I should go and try it out before buying!

I've briefly flirted with the idea of bridge/superzooms - but remain unconvinced, I'm afraid. I borrowed a Fuji bridge (forget the model) a while back, but the image quality wasn't that hot - with colours being a washed out (used in both manual and auto) and the canon powershots SX1 /SX10 seem a bit plastic and size-wise fall somewhere between a handy compact and SLR which didn't feel that natural in hand. I've not looked at any other models, but willing to check out any suggestions.

Nigel - that's really the thing that's got me torn between the two! I find that of late I am using my compact on a daily basis - so the portability is fantastic. But I do see the EOS as an investment on which to develop and expand my photographic prowess. Would you say - considering value-for-money alone - the G11 would be a worthy upgrade from the A710 or would it be better to splash out that little extra?

Cheers!

Hi again, I must admit I do agree with what you say about the superzoom/bridge cameras - compared to a DSLR... well, they dont really compare. A DSLR with a good lense will nearnly always be better.

Have you though about looking at any other DSLRs, maybe some slightly less heavy ones? As far as I know for £500 you can get a lot of very good, reasonably light DSLRs which would probably be perfect for you. As Nigel said, the G11 will be better for some things like macro, but only compared to the kit lens of the 500d... Would getting a reasonably light DSLR and a couple of good lenses be a possibility? Although good lenses are very expensive so you would need to consider that fact...

Apparently the Olympus E410 is very light - http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/dslr_E-410.htm, but im sure there's better cameras out there that are just as light.

The Nikon D3000 is very small and light and has the benefit over the Olympus of being able to accept old secondhand Nikon fit lenses that you may find at boot fairs etc. (Yes you can fit old lenses to the Olympus but only via an adaptor which adds to the cost and inconvenience.)
You can buy a D3000 and kit lens for under £400. It's worth a look.