Count me in as a potential candidate to suit the text above in bold .

Till date I was happily using my 18-55mm kit and 50mm f/1.8 .
I was carried away n number of times to go for a new lens for absolutely no reason, no reqmnts etc.

Its now that I am feeling to get a tele and a 100mm macro and thats after using my existing equipment for 2 years.

And as far as my D40 body is concerned, I have swapped and tried D80 and D200 but I never felt like upgrading my D40 as the extra features and higher mp and so called 'with motor body' is not something I may need as of now.
I wud prefer to spend 60k odd bucks into glasses than a D300, my D40 has not disappointed me till date, its the glass which frustrates. An e.g. is photo shoot during the Aero-India fest when I was badly missing a tele lens.

@redrage - It would be really nice to meet you someday and plan for a photo shoot.

since i attach biking with photography which in turn makes it a motographer,the weather resistance then plays important role to me.and i have used the word resistance not proofing.proofing means 100% protection,resistance is its built to defend itself from the forces.

frankly i am not so keen on the entry system of the 1000D or the D60 stuff.

times have come where even prosumers are giving an edge.then i can also consider the FUJI S100FS as my ideal all around system.true its not DSLR.but you also cant deny the VFM part.my point is putting money on a entry DSLR then saving money for lenses,then selling that entry DSLR and then taking new body is relatively a tedious task.

these mammoths in the prosumer sections do come in handy as all in one solutions to DSLR.

have a look here.
hugo poon's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

he is one of the most awesome photographers using compacts like fuji 200EXR s100fs and s5pro.he just showcases that always DSLR is not the way to go.his shots of the prosumers have been appreciated worldwide.

so for example if one takes a fuji s100fs he is still making an investment.not wasting money.the person will still have learning curve on that camera.

this is the camera i am talking about.
FUJIFILM Global | FinePix S100FS : Overview

i am not saying that DSLR should not be bought.ofcourse it should be in the arsenal.but when you are looking at entering,the ones who enter are mostly using kodak or canon compacts.so then the idea of buying top prosumers like the fuji primarily cannot be denied.

and i also know many will never agree on this aspect.

my 2 p.

anvancy

+1

However, like many have pointed out that it's difficult to predict before hand as to what type of photography you would be setting yourself into. In this kind of scenario, its may be a good idea to go with a cheap used body and an single wide range lens that covers everything from wide angle to telephoto. You almost have a DSLR with the reach of a Super zoom. Within a few months, you will realize what type of photography you like and want to focus on, and then you can keep adding on from there

I thought you might want to check this out

Indeed.

Planning hard is what I'm doing right now. Wide angles are in my priority list. Looking through all the permutations and combinations to reach a non-bank breaking solution is hard work!

It would be nice to have a meet. We can do a Manchinbele/Nandhi hills ride/drive(as my bike is in Chennai )

Leave commuting problem to me, I'll take care of it .. PM me your mobile number..

@Silver- Dude so what have u decided, I am eager to know ..

Along with 40D/50D, are you looking at any new lens?

Took me quite a while to catch up with all the pages and read it up. Quite a good response on this thread I see

We'll, yesterday I took a look at both the camera's. Took a few clicks and just checked out the whole feel of it. This is what I felt:-

The D60 was noticeably better built than the 1000D.

The D60 felt chunkier and had a nice feel to it.

I'm slightly biased towards Canon, and I felt that the Canon could somehow take better pictures with less effort. Of course, its clear that its psychological, but except for the build I liked the Canon better. I almost zero'd down on the Canon.

Hey Speed, I forgot you name man, trying to recollect but just cant remember, anyways, I did check out the rates at Jayesh, and a few other places. The best price was offered by Jayesh.

Hey, Ananth, I spoke the person you recommended in Chennai. His prices were so cheap that it made me suspicious He said the 450D would cost me 35K with 2 year manufacturer warranty Thats pretty cheap, considering I could not find anyone sell it here for anything less than 41.5K. He also said the Canon with IS with 2 year warranty would cost 30.5k. Damn cheap again. I can almost see a 5-6k difference in his cost.If someone is willing to, I would want someone to check this place out and confirm on this cost. I plan to ride down, pick it up and ride back on the same day to Bangalore if this guy turns out to be genuine.

Like all of you guys pointed out, I still have to discover which part of photography do I like more, portrait, landscape, fashion photography. So for now, I will be more than happy with the 18-55 lens. Now, is there big difference b/w IS/non IS? Should I just go in for the non IS?

Thanks red_rage,synn and all you guys there for your useful suggestions/tips/advices.

If given choice, I would opt for Canon 1000D. +ve's being ease of use and vast variety of lenses.

Silver falcon, why do not you check the new 500D from canon? Nice set of features.

I strongly suggest you not to go for they crappy 18-55 non-IS lens. Please buy 18-55 with IS. It is faaaar better lens than the non-IS version. I repeat, non-IS lens is crap, industry's worst lens from Canon.

When you enter DSLR world, you need to have one professional lens, otherwise it is of no use. I strongly suggest you by the 50mm prime lens which is priced at 4000 bucks in chennai. This lens is amazing at the price.

Congrats, silver_falcon. Do post up the images you take in the critique thread.

About IS, the 18-55 IS is the kit lens offered and has some very good reviews (Canon Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS - Lens Review from Experts at Popular Photography- Photo Tips), so go ahead with it. for your future lens purchases, you can decide depending upon how steady a hand you have. (Switch off the IS in the 18-55 and see what's the slowest SS you can achieve without spoiling the shot with motion blur).

18--55mm non IS is the kit lens offered right? All the places I had been to, did not have IS in the kit lens. They said, they were ready to exchange it with kit lens though. Are you sure they come with the kit?

Ravi: I guess I wont be going for the non IS then. Thanks mate.

The 1000D comes with the NON IS 18-55mm lens as it's "kit" lens. You can always ask the dealer and get the body only, and get the 18-55 IS lens.

This is precisely what I did; bought just the body of the 400D and the 18-55mm IS lens of the 450D.

Ah! interesting. I guess, I' have to pick up only the body of the 1000D and pick the 18-55IS separately. And BTW, how much did you pick yours up for in the gray market?

Ah, things are different in Canon India then. Over here, the IS is the only version offered with the kit. Sorry for the mixup.

I paid Rs.26k for the 400D body, and 6.5k for the 18-55mm IS lens, last year when I picked up both the products!