Concrete 1 - Camera Nil

[Batesy]

Had a lovely day yesterday down the city, managed to shoot nearly a full card and was looking forward to uploading them onto the pc when disaster struck. I headed out back to finish of a few shots at home stepping over a small gate i misjudged got caught up and went face first into the concrete. Luckily i managed to save myself however the camera took the full force of the fall and broke apart around the controls at the top of the camera.
I figure it wont be worth repairing as its only an Olympus E300 and the repairs would exceed the replacement cost, which is a shame as it has served me well over the past 2 years and up to now has never been dropped.
I have been considering an upgrade for sometime now and am leaning towards Nikon or Canon, so my question is besides the obvious price difference what benefits do the FX have over the DX format cameras? Image quality etc. (Still learning this digital stuff.)
Haven't decided on what to spend at this stage.
I mainly like shooting landscapes, people and motor sports on the odd occasion.

Thanks.

[NikonUser]

Hi Colin,

Here is my take on the FX vs DX debate...

FX Advantages:

- Lower ISO noise levels for a given pixel count
- Higher Dynamic Range
- If you ever shot film you lenses behave as they did on film
- Shallower DOF for a given appature

DX Advantages

- Don't have to get as close to your subjects to fill the frame (motorsports, nature).
- Autofocus points cover more of the frame


For landscapes and Portraits I would suggest that an FX camera would be a better choice. For motorsports or nature the choise is a lot harder... the advantages of FX are truely great with regards to picture quality... but you have to work a lot harder (or buy longer lenses) to get the same frame filling shots.

The autofocus coverage issue is probably something that you just need to get used to. I've never shot on an FX camera so can't really comment on that one.

Good luck

I'm sure some more knowledable members will chime in with better answers soon

Paul

[gstark]

Colin,

How significant are finances in the decision making processes?

What do you shoot?

Have you tried any of the Nikon of Canon contenders? Which of those has ergonomics that suit you?