Expert: John Oliverio - 11/20/2010

Question
Hi,
I'm writing you because I am interested in getting a better quality camera on Black Friday, but I'm not sure if I want to go the route of DSLR or PAS.  I travel often, and I'm looking for a camera that's user friendly for a beginner at this hobby, portable, and great for taking landscape shots.  I'm sort of overwhelmed by all the options out there right now.  Any info you can give me to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Answer
I'm always quick to suggest a DSLR.  The picture quality is just so much better.  Portable??  Well, they still don't make an SLR that will fit in your pocket....  but there are two notably small SLR cameras out there.  (for the record, the cameras I'm about to suggest are not traditional SLRs; they are mirror-less SLRs.  You can still change lenses.  There is just no reflex mirror for eye level viewing.)

So, check out the Sony NEX series and the Panasonic GF2.  The NEX is a little edge in low light ability but on the down side, it is so new there aren't many lenses out for it yet.  

The Panasonic has tons of lenses you can use and also has an eye-level LCD for shooting in bright light.

Hope this helps.

John