high-end prosumer cam or low-end dslr?

[Blur Shadow]

You want a 13x zoom? Haha... Gotta get your terminology right. Optical magnification is rarely used in dSLRs as you get to switch lenses... So, as mentioned above, a hypothetical 10mm - 130mm is a 13x zoom lens. You mean you want a really long reach right?

For (what I assume to be) a regular sub-$2000 budget, you're looking at a prosumer.

 

[gundamseed84]

13 is an arbitrary... i was using a prosumer cam with 10x... but sometimes im just too far from the subject...

please enlighten me on the zoom... im still new and learning.... thanks...

10x not enough then maybe HS10? 30x zoom from 24mm to 720mm range but again not that good for low light based on some reviews. :think: But again that might be due to auto mode whereby the camera will set to high ISO. If you have tripod or some support maybe you can use manual mode to lower the ISO yourself.

Otherwise get a 2nd hand entry level dslr, say if canon get a 400D body for around $400 and then there are people selling tamron 28-300 lens ard $300 or ard same price 18-55 + 75 -300 (75-300 is not a good lens according to some people but again it might not be THAT BAD either compared to prosumer lens). 28mm on crop is not wide enough for landscape but you can always do a pano of 2 to 3 shots to capture the whole place.