thank you!
what features do you look for?
like I don't even know the crazy shit these come with. image stabilizer - that's only for video right?
and also do I want a battery pack or are the battery lives of the rechargeable lithium batteries usually good enough???
And do I want one that self cleans or one I can clean myself?
I want one that isn't too heavy because I have disc hernias in my neck.
I have a canon lens, but a tripod is definitely a thought....mine is from wal mart
also - where did you buy yours? I was looking on Newegg, but I want a place with excellent warranty and repair service.
I picked mine up at best buy. I should have gotten the warranty, because it broke about a year later (flash), I could have fixed it, but for 50$ more I just got an external flash--which is nice, but sometimes a pain in the ass. I really like to buy stuff at Inkleys now that I am more into it. They know a lot more about SLR's, cameras, memory cards, etc. And will answer you're questions better. They also tend to have stuff in stalk more often. I'm not sure about warranties, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had something available. They also have stuff on sale--ALL the time. Memory cards, lenses, I even bought a point and shoot once for 40$.
I'm not the kind of person that likes bell's and whistles. They just get in the way. The simpler a camera is--like simply being able to go into aperature, manual, etc. modes or just shoot auto sometimes because you need to take it quickly. The more I like it. Sometimes you're sitting their fussing with your camera, when you could be getting the best shot of you're life.
I've never heard of ones that self-clean to tell you the truth lol. Just make sure you have caps on it, and get one of those protective filters for each of your lenses. That way if someone or something hit's your camera's lens, then the filter shatters, and not the end of the lens. It's much less expensive to replace a 12$ filter, then a 200$-600$ lens.
Then you should also buy some of the cleaner stuff, which isn't very much money either. I bought a cleaning kit for less then 15$.
I bought an extra lithium battery--but the average person probably doesn't need too. Battery life is spectacular for lithium batteries. My extra one is to take on trips in case the first one runs out, I've been away from electricity for ten days--on a trip specifically for photography, and not had to use my spare battery. But if the battery is exposed to the cold a lot, it will run out faster (if it's really cold, and I am running out of juice, I'll hold the battery to my stomach to keep it warm--when I'm not shooting lol)
Well the camera itself won't be the heavy part, but the lenses you use sometimes can be. There are some really good camera straps you can by specifically for this reason. I've forgotten what they are called, but they are supposed to be really great. I'm young and don't get sore so easily, so I haven't boughten one. But you will probably be able to find it somewhere if you google around a bit.
Tripod's are very important. You have to think about what you are putting on top of them. If they fail and you're camera falls, it can be a big, big mess. I got a neat one that actually has a monopod, you can take out of it (a mono pod and trip pod in one!). You also want a light one, in case if you have to carry it around a lot or far, and lighter ones are simply more expensive.
