looking to buy a camera... advice needed

[PhillyB]

i'm leaving for southeast asia in 5 weeks, and i'll be hiking the inca trail in peru in august, so i need something ASAP so i can test it out properly before leaving.

i'd like to keep it under $600 if possible. lightweight/compact is a plus, DLSR would be great but i'm not necessarily looking for something quite that advanced. i need something that's good enough to take extremely sharp pictures, preferably something that would allow me to print large copies, decent panoramas, etc.

the one i've looked at and been extra interested in thus far is the Sony NEX-3, it's unbelievably light-weight, plenty of features, high frame rate, detachable lens.

anybody got experience/advice they'd like to share?

[PanthaSan]

Well, last time I was in Southeast Asia, I got VD.

Stay away from whorehouses that don't have onsite medical staff.

Hope that helps....

[TheSaint]

[GritsRgreat]

Yeah, yeah, i need a camera too. One with a zoom lens for taking picture of....

rabbits and birds and other nature stuff. But one thats very concealable so

as not to scare the ummm rabbits.

[Hawk]

wouldn't it be cheaper to get one when you get there?

and panthasan, the way you are tapping everything that moves, you probably get an STD everytime you leave the house.

[strik9]

We are very amateur photographers (even though the wife takes agozillion pics), and I can tell you what not to get. It seems your in the market for something nicer, but here is my experience with camera.

I bought the wife a Nikon cool-pix L22 and neither one of us likes it. It takes shaky pics, even when held still, and the colors often have a weird hue. Again we're amateurs and these are probably easy fixes, but this camera def is not good for just pointing and clicking.