"maya" wrote in message . com...
I'm getting ready to purchase a digital camera; for a while was
considering a point-and-shoot for the time being to save money; however,
none of them have wide-angle lenses.. and the vast majority of what I
shoot these days (actually for years now) is with a wide-angle; my
"normal" lens is a 24mm.. have barely touched my 50mm in the last six
years or so.. (am putting together a photoblog, would appreciate some feedback.. www.francesdelrio.com/photoblog/.. thank you..)
I have been using a Nikon F2AS for about thirty years, so this is where
I'm coming from.. am considering either Nikon D50, D70, or D80 (is
it true the D40 has a different lens-mounting system from the others?
why would they do that?) I think I'm going with Nikon D80.. but not 100% sure yet... am traveling to India in about four days
(didn't know firm travel-date till now, trip is job-related..) so need to make a decision double-quick..
this is a big investment and I want to make sure to invest wisely... 
thus would appreciate opinions from knowledgeable folks here..
If you ***MUST*** make a quick decision (unfortunate, and you
MUST allow time to check out the gear, particularly any zoom lens,
for defects while you can still exchange them. The D40/50/70/80/100/200
bodies all have DREADFUL viewfinders compared with the F2, which
had one of the best ever, but the D80 and D200 are not as bad as the
others. Avoid the D40 - it doesn't even AF with non "S" lenses (ridiculous!).
None but the D200 will meter with non-AF lenses, but it is the most
expensive of the group. The D80 is the likely best choice for you if price
is an issue, but DO NOT attempt to mount non-AI/AIS lenses on it!
For a single lens, the 18-70 or 18-135mm Nikkors may offer the best
performance for the price, though they are not as good as the best
non-zooms... (the FLs are multiplied by 1.5 to get the 35mm-camera
equivalent FLs, so 18mm = 27mm - but there are very few good shorter
FL lenses available for digital, unfortunately, and all are large and
expensive). You could look into the Sony R-1, which has the equivalent
of a 24-120mm lens...
--
David Ruether
http://www.ferrario.com/ruether