How many shutter actuations is a DSRL good for?

[TheMikey]

In my opinion there are three things to consider when buying a camera.

The first is the Camera body. Unlike 'point and shoot' type cameras that appeal to the mass market wherein you get very good makes mixed in with not so good ones (i.e. Kodak, Coby, etc.) this is not the case for DSLR. Whether you buy a Sony, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, et al, you can rest assured that you are buying a quality camera regardless of make. That being said, some cameras have some features and/or strengths that might set them above the rest when camera shopping. Sony, for example, is merely a rebranded Minolta DSLR - as such, if you have an array of old Minolta glass at home, it might warrant a move to the Sony product.

The second thing to consider is lenses. As with camera bodies, no company makes a bad lens (well... I don't much care for the Canon 75-300 that some entry level kits have, but I digress). Also, there are literally hundreds of lenses that can fit your camera from the a similar manufacturer or from a third party company (i.e. Sigma). It's widely regarded that Pentax has some of the most premium lenses available for their cameras, but are you missing out on image quality by purchasing a Nikon? I don't think so.

The third and most important consideration when looking for a camera is you, the photographer. The absolute best thing I can recommend when purchasing a camera is to forget about specs, features, and the like (temporarily, of course), and go and pick up the cameras. Not to plug my company too much, but London Drugs (as well as Don's Photo) is a good place to do this. We have all our cameras (with batteries and a variety of lenses) available for you to play with in the store. Get a feel for the cameras. Hold them, look at the controls, compare weight and compactness. Once you find a camera that feels good, start worrying about specs and features you might use.

I suppose the summary of this is that a person cannot buy a bad DSLR these days. Many people berate Sony and Pentax for having poor low light/high ISO performance, but after looking at portfolios from professional and amateur photographers, I can safely say that the best determinant of photo quality has more to do with who is behind the camera than what is inside it.

With that being said, Nikon and Canon seem to be the most popular choices for aspiring photographers. Because of this there is a massive second hand market for these cameras. So if you're looking for cheap glass that's not brand new, you might have better luck with one of them instead of an Olympus.