I have been using a P&amp;S camera (Nikon Coolpix 4600) for about 5 years now. I usually take pictures at family events and at my outdoor trips. I got hooked onto photography once I started getting nice words from people who see those.  I have been reading about terminologies related to cameras (DSLR) and lenses. Though I'm quite happy with my camera, I got really excited once I saw got a chance to use my friends' high-end Canon P&amp;S. I was amazed at how advance P&amp;S's have become.  I would now like to upgrade my camera. My confusion is whether to go for a DSLR or to select a high-end P&amp;S. Since I have already used a Nikon, I'm leaning towards the same brand. I have a budget constraint also. Atleast till I get a pay rise, which will not happen for another year, I do not want to go beyond $450.  I have two models in mind at this point. One is the P100, which is a P&amp;S and fits my budget. The other one is the D3100,which is a DSLR that doesn't fit my budget. But the capabilities of DSLR are luring me towards buying  this, stretching my budget a bit. I do not have any contacts at my place where I can trust for getting a used one. I also have apprehensions about maintaining the lenses and the body properly. I live in Chennai, India which is quite humid. It may sound silly but I'm more concerned about the maintanence of the camera and lens.  Should I jump and buy a DSLR or go for a high-end P&amp;S learn the tricks more thoroughly and then do it?
I am thinking of buying a camera to learn photography. Most of the time I'll be shooting portraits and landscapes. But I am not sure where I should start. Most of my friends tell me that I should get an entry level DSLR, but I am not sure if I have the persistence and enthusiasm to carry it all day in a backpack. But the camera on my cellphone doesn't seem to be enough to begin with.  So what I want is some expert advice (preferably with professional experience). Can most compact fixed-lens or mirrorless cameras fit the situations I mentioned? Or do I really need to go to a DSLR to get a tool to learn photography?
Defining the Complex numbers I posted this question nearly 10 days ago, but am still really not satisfied with the answers I got, I have no prior education in abstract algebra, group theory, or other abstractions, and most of the answers I got involved defining sets, groups and other things I am unfamiliar with, my question was,  How does one know the notion of real numbers is compatible with the axioms defined for complex numbers, ie how does one know that by defining an operator '$i$' with the property that $i^2=-1$, we will not in some way contradict some statement that is an outcome of the real numbers.  For example if I defined an operator x with the property that $x^{2n}=-1$, and $x^{2n+1}=1$, for all integers n, this operator is not consistent when used compatibly with properties of the real numbers, since I would have $x^2=-1$, $x^3=1$,thus $x^5=-1$, but I defined $x^5$ to be equal to 1.  How do I know I wont encounter such a contradiction based upon the axioms of the complex numbers.  I reiterate here again, Please don't use terminology, or abstract math, that hasn't been taught in say a thorough collage level calculus 1 course.  Here's a link to the same question I asked 8 or so days ago: Merging bib files from within LaTeX Excel 2010 on multi monitor screen "Continuity" of stochastic integral wrt Brownian motion I'm attempting to build an LED bed lamp that will be powered by 240V mains. The LEDs are  which if I use with a 12V supply and have calculated correctly will draw 0.24W each. I plan to use 5 or 6 of them in the lamp so will consume a maximum of 1.5W.  Initially I thought I'd use a transformer and bridge rectifier to get the required 12V DC but the transformer weighs a ton and is too bulky. The next option was to use a  but I'm wondering is there is a better way?  I think it would be possible to power the LEDs directly from mains using only a rectifier without mains and stepping down the voltage but then it's not safe. Are there any smallish components that can both isolate the mains and supply a DC voltage? Problem with option border of class standalone I tested a MWE given in question . Following the documentation (page 9) I used the class option border={left right bottom top} with left=right=top=0pt and bottom=20pt (20pt only to show the effect here).  With the version 2012/09/15 v1.1b of standalone and the following MWE I get no 20 pt margin at the bottom of my picture.  What is the problem?  MWE:  \documentclass[% % border=1pt   border={0pt 0pt 20pt 0pt} %left right bottom top ]{standalone}% http://ctan.org/pkg/standalone \begin{document} $2^5 = x_5 \times y^8$ \end{document} Does it make sense to Favourite a Question you created? Is this just a redundant act, or are there differences? How to explicitly discard an out argument? Who is doing the normalization of wave function in the time evolution of wave function? In the Schrödinger equation, at any given time $t$ we should jointly add another sub equation, like $$||\psi_t(x)|| = 1$$ where $\psi_t(x) = \Psi(x,t)$, and then try to solve the two equations simultaneously. Why not? I know it does not yield, but I am always baffled, who is doing the normalization of the wave function? Observers, the system, the measuring process, God? Remove border of top left table cell If a set is linearly independent, a finite subset of that set is also linearly independent Is the above statement true? If I have already proven that the set is linearly independent, is it automatically given that the subset is also linearly independent? If so, how would I go about showing that as a proof. $x_{1}...x_{n}$ are independent continuous random variables with common distribution function $F(x)$,consider the order statistics $(x_{(1)},...,x_{(n)})$, compute $E(F(x_{(n)})-F(x_{(1)}))$  I have no idea to this problem, anyone could help me? Thanks! Call dynamic_sidebar but include/exclude named widgets? Is it possible to include or exclude specific named widgets that are assigned to a named dynamic_sidebar call?  For example, if I've registered a sidebar named "my_sidebar" and the user had placed a "Links" widget into it, I want to be able to include or exclude it based on a custom setting in my theme options panel.  Is this possible?  Any insights much appreciated. Can I control voltage of USB data pins? I just bought a used  and it comes with regular rim brakes. I'm perfectly happy with them so far, but have been wondering if disc brakes would come handy when it rains.  What is involved in converting a bike from rim brakes to disc brakes (mechanical or hydraulic)?   Is this something that is feasible, or am I better off buying another bike that already has disc brakes? The following sentence refers to an apocalyptic story where money no longer has any value:     A can of sardines, radio batteries, or a bicycle is/are more precious than money.   Should I use is or are after the series? Does encrypting my home folder make my computer more secure? Do I have to enter my password more if my home folder is encrypted? What else should I know about encrypting my home folder? Regular expression: match start or whitespace Is there a VB.NET equivalent for C#'s '??' operator? Is there a VB.NET equivalent for C#'s ?? operator? Maximum and minimum of $f(x)=\cos(\sin(x))-\sin(\cos(x))$ Given the function: $$f(x)=\cos(\sin(x))-\sin(\cos(x))$$ it has absolute maxima at $x=(2k+1)\pi$ with $k=0,1,..N$ and relative maxima at $x=2k\pi$. It is not clear where are the minima. Putting the derivative to zero doesn't help. Any suggestion on how to find the minimum value and where is it? Thanks.