i know and i agree with you,and i know what you mean, the mark ii in my opinion is better thank mark iii.

my first camera was 700$ it was a entry level camera during that time, it came with two lens, i took some great photos with it,during that time i didnt know anything technical about photography but i quickly grew out of it with in a few weeks.
my second camera was $1700 with one lens i also took great photos with it, and i learned a lot with it especially since i had it during my first two years of college as a photo major.
ive used the mark ii a few times and during my third year at college i got access to the mark i mark ii and d800, and i felt like i just wasted all the money in the previous cameras i bought, and if i had the experienced ive gained, i would of just spent it on a mark ii. i guess you can see it as a life experience, you go through things and you learn the hard way, and sometimes people can tell you the easy way out but that wont mean it will do you good or bad, or if it even will apply to you thats just the way i see it.

Well, first I'm deciding whether to sell my laptop... it's kind-of useful to me, but it's only 8 months old and nothing has cycled in to replace its processor or graphics line... so it hasn't 'aged' too much yet in terms of consumer demand. If I get what I'm looking for, then maybe I'll more seriously look at buying a camera and lenses. I have the cash to get whatever I want anyway, but at this point a toy shouldn't dig into real-life funds : )

I am curious (for anyone who wants to give me advice): At the $2000 mark, what might I be looking at for an all-around good package. Action shots, wide-lens shots, lots and lots of beach shots (I live in Vancouver and I'm a 5 minute walk from the beach) definitely at night a lot of the time... and exploring different things. If I were to go down or up by say $500 or $1000, what difference would I see. If I were to wait a year, what sort of price-to-performance ratios are speculated (I don't know how fast cameras change in performance year to year... and how lens prices & makes change).

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Jun 1 2013 01:47am

Or I guess "full frame" entails a $2000+ DSLR body?

Wouldn't that mean spending an additional $2000+ on lenses right away? :S seems steep for a suggestion.

The D600 doesn't seem so bad (especially if it went on sale and hit a price-point around $1800)... but I hear they suffer from oil spots? And regardless, $1800 is super expensive. I wouldn't want to spend more than $3000 (after taxes) even if I were really into the whole thing.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Jun 1 2013 04:11am

I certainly wouldn't recommend spending the money on a full frame camera just yet, rather get a good cropped sensor DSLR and if at a later stage it turns into more that just a hobby then upgrade
now days any entry lvl DSLRs from the major players are good (Nikon, Canon or Sony) but keep in mind if you are going to invest in glass and upgrade bodies in future then you are a little more restricted to that maker (so for this I would only look at Nikon or canon, sony is good but lenses are not easily available or sort after in the 2nd hand market)
that said if you would like to invest a little more than the entry lvl DSLRs look at one of the following:
Canon: 60Da, 7D (little older but higher fps for sports)
Nikon: D7000, D7100

as for lenses
what do you mean by "action shots"? sports or what?
a OEM 50mm f/1.8 will be perfect for portraits and low light, although on a cropped sensor becomes a bit to long/tight for indoor
the tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 is great for landscape/wide shots, also decent in low-ish light situations (seen it used great in dance clubs etc)
other options:
24-70mm f/2.8, great all-round lens, due to price you might need to look for a 2nd hand OEM or go 3rd party (Sigma)
17-40 f/4 Canon lens, great lens and will be awesome on a cropped body, but it is a little slower so not as great in low light

all I can think of for now

the mark iii was on 40% or 60% off sale last black friday limited offer on ***.

also you dont have to buy new lenses, second hand lenses work just as good, just make sure its clean of dust and isnt damaged.

off topic:
oh im headed up to vancouver in a couple weeks! whats there interesting to shoot (i mostly do street photos) and whats the weather like mid-june?

on topic:
a lot of people have been talking about full framed vs. crop sensor. and although theoretically the FF would give better image quality, for the most part you cant tell between the two these days, and most importantly, image quality is not the sole factor in determining picture quality. sure you might have to do some funky math to get relative focal lengths, but that is not hard nor is it crucial until a more advanced stage. for $3000 i want versatility, which lenses and accessories would contribute to much more than the camera body (unless you need the super high fps of a pro camera, or plan on making billboard posters). another option would be to get a mirrorless system, and some pretty good ones are out now.

Interesting... And confusing input hahaha. I think I have a 1200 offer on my laptop which cost me 1600 after taxes 8 months ago so I'm thinking things out.

Weather should be good but it can be variable. Can be super sunny or rainy.

There's tons of beach areas... Stanley park is great... some cool buildings... China town... Olympic stuff... Tons of things. Whistler is just a couple hours up... Nice mountains. Pretty versatile area.

temperature? idk if i should pack shorts or pants lol, plan on doing a lot of walking though.

it might sound confusing atm, but if you think youre going into a hobby, its stuff you can research and learn

When i get home tonight I'll post more questions and do more research. Bring both by the way you'll regret it otherwise. I'd lean toward shorts 3/4 of the week