I have been using a Panasonic TZ point and shoot model (badly) for 5 years and I am looking to upgrade to something better. Technologically that is, user will still be a little backward.

My requirements are:

- Good point and shoot/Auto mode capabilities - The TZ doesn't invite experimentation and I don't want an enforced learning curve.

- Kit lens must be a good all-rounder of reasonable quality - I won't be upgrading my everyday lens from the off, it has to be a keeper.

- Video function on the Panny is useful, I know this is a recent (heretical) addition to some DSLRs but would be nice to have. Lack of is not a showstopper though.

- Budget is £500 +/- a bit, more interested in the value rather than price.

- Timescale is some time over the next 2 months, can wait for a deal rather than getting something now.

Any advice?

I've a Canon 350D with canon 18-55 & 70-300 lenses sitting in boxes since I upgraded to a Canon 550D 18mth ago.

It all works perfectly,has 8.2MP sensor,can be used in a range of Auto settings,or creative/manual modes when you are ready to experiment, and would be an ideal starting point for anyone getting into DSLRs

Make me an offer close to £250 for the kit,& its yours . . .. or anyone else who's interested

@ Loz,

I listed 5 brands of DSLR and 2 different micro 4/3 systems. You gave a comparison of 2 of those DSLRs and i said i would bear that in mind if the decision came down to Canon vs Nikon. I am not sure why you have taken affront to that. have i offended you with my attitude to photography? I like taking photos, sometimes i might like to take a certain type of photo but in general I do not want to be a photographer or get into it in any great detail on the subject. Like people who drive a car but don't really have a strong interest in cars. My brother shoots with a D90 having upgraded from a basic model and my best friend shoots with a 40D having started with a 450D. They are both what i would describe as enthusiastic amateurs. If I need basic advice on how to use a camera or how to take a particular type of shot they are there to ask but not being immersed in the industry or having many, many years of experience it is difficult for them to give a broad, balanced opinion on other camera options. So i've asked here.

I didn't think i was giving Hedge the brush off, i have enjoyed seeing his motorsport and aviation pictures. I was giving him the respect of truthfully describing how i would be using the camera because I wanted an open and honest response. If the answer is that auto on a compact will, 9 times out of 10, give a better result than auto on an interchangable lens camera then so be it. But so far no one has said that. I fully understand that the skill is in the photographer not the camera but having a decent camera in the hands of a rank amateur can't do any harm, can it? £500 is chicken feed in camera terms but I picked it as some imaginary point of diminishing returns on the Talent vs Hardware scale so its why i thought it was a fair budget, I could spend more but it would be wasted on me. For hyperbole, I could go out tomorrow and buy all the kit someone like Scuff has. My wife wouldn't be best pleased but metaphorically i could. Still wouldn't make me a fraction of the photographer someone like you is, would it?

In the OP I said I was not keen on a bridge camera and that I was expected to get a "proper camera". To the suggestion of the G12, i went and had a look but gave my reservations, a small sensor and it is a hardware dead end. Which seems reasonable to me and left an opportunity for others to rebuke. Hedge also suggested that the Pentax might be suitable which i said i would go away and look at. What do you, Loz, think about the Pentax?

I don't have to worry about a stack of expensive "glass" with a different fitting, nor the prospect of continually paying over the odds for them over the rest of my life. That premium might be worth it if it means a camera delivers better results for me. Upgrading will be done if i need to or feel like it, no compulsive urge to collect, improve my kit on my part.

Low light performace is always the one isn't it? I'm not planning on taking gig photos or anything in particular but as a family camera there's always indoor at home and holiday moments where you need it or you're somewhere that says no flash photography (e.g. my son went indoor pony riding last weekend). The comment in almost every compact camera review i've ever read is "low light perormance is poor but to be expected because of the small sensor", there or thereabouts. I won't expect miracles but i should get something better than my current results with a TZ3 which to be fair gives a fair (to me) long exposure still perormance in the dark but is rubbish for normal snapshots.

 @ K1W1,

I can answer that, Geneva motor show twice and also a short break to Rome when I left the charger at home because of hand luggage restrictions. Of course that leaves a conumdrum that a compact would fit in your pocket and DSLR would have needed packing... I like the thought of being able to take 500 pictures on a charge but it isn't a big issue in all honesty as you point out.

@ Naxtek/Brimma

Used/refurb is an option i'd consider. One of the entry level Canons from recent years suffered from a poor auto mode iirc. Can't remember which one neither know if they fixed the firmware. Picking up that particular model would be very bad for me. Just need to avoid own goals like that. If the definitive answer is DSLR and only with upgraded 18-55 then used is probably my best option. 

@ RazeVRS

Thanks for the offer but if i did get a DSLR, i'd want something which is a bit more recent in tech terms.

@ Mort

I don't have a problem with the size of a camera as typically, the bigger the better. I just won't be building up a full camera kit in the medium term.

On a general point, the TZ3 has a 10 times zoom which i know i'll lose if i get a single lens kit. But its quite hard to get usuable photos at that zoom on the TZ3 and bigger and better photos from a new camera must be worth a bit by cropping amd enlarging afterwards. I'll still have the TZ3 to take shakey long zoom photos as well. A zoom lens for the new camera can wait a while.

You obviously haven't read back through what you said or how it came across, or anything I've said either.

For about the third time I mentioned those because they are the two I know about as I own them. Would you like me to make up reviews on ones I don't know about?

Ok then - buy a Sony! Because race car!! There that's helpful

I was simply offering a response to your OP which asked for advice on cheap SLRs. They were legitimate links to facts about two cameras which might fit your requirements. Whether you like it or not it will have to have some kind of brand.

Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered.

Once again you seem to think I or someone else is calling you cheap?! No, I suggested two viable cameras.

Also, don't start making out I have ever said I'm some kind of awesome photographer. I never said that, just that I have a brief knowledge which wasn't hard to learn.

I offered help and just seem to be getting slated in return. Good luck finding a camera.

Edited 20 April, 201214 yr by Loz

If it makes any difference to camera choice, these are the sort of photos I like as well as family shots that I obviously won't be posting

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/77995-panasonic-tz3-compact-camera/page__fromsearch__1

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/149600-rome/page__fromsearch__1

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/197714-winter-in-ny/page__fromsearch__1

Mustn't grumble, price drops a-go-go on everything I'm interested in.

EPL3 now down to 370, SLRs down too.

I've ha a good look and feel of a few cameras now, obviously not able to try their photographic abilities.

Had a look at some of the compacts. The G12 is nice and sturdy, felt good to hold and i fell in love with the Fuji X10 which was a joy to look at.

Of the EVILs, i thought the Sony NEX5 was a bit unbalanced to hold but the EPL3 was fine and my enthusiast friend i took along semed to think it offered a decent level of obvious control that you would expect on a serious camera.

The DSLRs 1100/550/3200/5100 seemed to vary quite a bit in their feel. Obviously more expensive meant better. My friend was telling me why he upgraded from a 450d to 40d to get even more bulk for stable shots. Where as i didn't mind so much whilst trying to hold and shoot. Ignorance is a powerful tool. And looking a them in direct comparison with the EPL3, the SLRs must be 3-4 times the size.

I'm trying to work out whether the bulk of a DSLR will put me off taking it out and i'll just pick up my existing P&S 9 times put of 10. Hope to go off on hols in a weeks time so will make a decision in the next few days.

FWIW got an Olympus PEN EPL3