Buying an entry-level DSLR camera, any tips?

[sekaran]

Find a used D50. Can probably pick one up for under $200 and its a fiiiiiine entry-level DSLR which can use pretty much any Nikon lens out there.

[Cesaria]

People always tend to be either solidly Canon or solidly Nikon with stuff like this - may be worth looking at the availability and prices of lenses for the two systems where you're based and factor that into your decision. Personally I'd go with Canon but that's cos I've got a tonne of shit for EOS systems from film photography (sworn by them since I first started taking pictures) - my brother swears by Nikon.

[Swatt]

Tyche, your a smart guy are doing your research, but choosing between the D40 and D60 if your not going to the 90, you want the D40 actually. In how the D60 is designed using some of the same parts from the 40, it actually leaves some things less than ideal, resulting in an experienced photographer being able to take better pictures with the D40 in certain situations, equal in everything else.

Basically unless you really want the larger file size for blowing things up, you'd be far better served by getting the D40 and using the extra money toward a better lens. This may sound strange now, but once you start using it more, and even test our some other glass, you'll see how much things can improve from the stock kit ones.

The ideal way to go would be to buy the D40 body only and a nicer general purpose lens. Then when you've got some things down, maybe pick up another lens to cover a different area if some of your interests lie outside of your firsts ideal. Getting really into it, buy a D90, and you can very easily sell the D40 body for a good price to someone else getting into it. Also you can rent glass from many photo places for very cheap to test out different things.

I'm far, far from a photo snob, I just know some pro model and cycling photographers and this is the same advice they gave me. Jist of it, when they go on vacation or to just get away from work, its the D40 they relax with. I'll dig you up some good reading or links when I get another free min if you want.

^^ this

I personally own a D60 and am kicking myself after playing with a friend's D40. the megapixels don't really matter much, I shoot at 6MP anyway. Learn about aperture, shutter speed and ISO, and try to avoid shooting on 'auto'. You'll learn quickly by playing around with the settings and figuring what's best for what situation. oh and go get a 35mm f/1.8 if you do end up going Nikon. awesome low light lens which makes amazing shallow depth of field shots. Its a prime lens so there's no zoom on them, but learn to position yourself or just use photoshop to crop and it'll be fine.

[Swatt]

So the focusing motor isn't build into the body like the Canon if I'm reading correctly. The D90 does have an in-body focusing motor. What that means, is if you use a 3rd party or a Nikon lens without the focusing motors (and the ones with the motors are quite costly), then the AF will not work. On the plus side, the lens included does have that motor, however, not all the Nikon or 3rd party lenses do. That's a pretty big deal since we'll be doing a lot of moving shots and we're pretty amateur. A guy at the camera store was trying to speak to me in lamens and said that if I'll be shooting any moving or action shots, to take the canon. If landscape, take the Nikon. I suppose that's why.

The lack of in-body focusing motor shouldn't factor in your decision unless you're going way hardcore into photography. Honestly all you should ever need on a D40/60/90/5000 are: 18-55mm + 55-200mm(or if you have the money, get 18-200 and sell the 18-55) + 35mm. All of these have the focusing motor in built. As for the moving/action shot or landscape shot, its all a pile of bullshit. How you take the shot depends on the skill of the photographer and the aperture/shutter speed settings. Both Canon and Nikon make crazy good cameras and all it should go down to is the availability of lens(friends you can borrow from)

edit:

www.kenrockwell.com has some pretty good reading. he may get a little technical and take what he says lightly because he tends to favor Nikon over Canon.

[Jones]

I bought a D60 kit (came with body, 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses, bag, SD card, and how-to DVD) from Costco last Black Friday for a really good price, around $700 before rebate. I've been very pleased with it since. I like the fact it has plenty of automatic settings that I was able to use until I learned a bit more about how to use the manual settings. I still find for quick shots, I flick it to Auto and get great results.

My parents have a Cannon model that's equivalent to the D60 and although the Cannon's viewing screen is larger, I like the D60's menu and ergonomics much better. From my pretty ignorant standpoint, picture quality between the two is the same.

[Sanoske]

I know the D40 doesn't have a focus motor, and you have to buy new (very costly) lenses for the auto-focus. I was reading a flikr discussion that says the D60 doesn't either. I was under the impression that it did. Does it not?

Incorrect, my D40 definitely had an autofocus with the kit lens. I turned that shit off asap, because I didn't realize it had one until I went to take a picture and it kept autofocusing.

I took some very decent photos with my D40 while I had it. Personally I would buy a D60 or D80 nowadays.

But I'm an analog photographer in a digital world, so I still love my Pentax K1000 more than any DSLR. Probably why I havent purchased my own yet...

[Tyche]

I meant an in-body focusing motor. The kit lenses have them, but it isn't built in-body until the D90. I'm starting to lean toward buying a used Canon 40D. Was talking with some friends of ours who shoot commercial ads and such, they used my wife quite a bit when she was younger. They have a ton of lenses that they said we are welcome to anytime we want. I don't know though, may wait around for Black Friday and see what comes up.

[Swatt]

Incorrect, my D40 definitely had an autofocus with the kit lens. I turned that shit off asap, because I didn't realize it had one until I went to take a picture and it kept autofocusing.

I took some very decent photos with my D40 while I had it. Personally I would buy a D60 or D80 nowadays.

But I'm an analog photographer in a digital world, so I still love my Pentax K1000 more than any DSLR. Probably why I havent purchased my own yet...

lolwut

[zoobernut]

I know this is a bit of a necro but I did not want to make a new thread.

For the digital photographers here, do you have a preference between a CCD and a CMOS chip? Can you tell the difference?

Also has anyone used the new Nikon D3000 yet? It is the replacement for the D40 since it was discontinued. It has some updates and looks like a very nice camera at that price point.

I am in the same boat as Tyche I want to enter into the DSLR realm and am unsure where to go. I like the Canons but I am leaning to the Nikon because my friend has Nikon and I would be able to share/borrow lenses with him.

I really want the D90 but I am hesitant to shell out that much money for a DSLR right now and I wanted to start less expensive and if I am really into it by this time next year my wife said I could pick up another more expensive one.

Edit: Also Tyche what did you end up getting?

[Tyche]

Nothing yet, but I was going to buy a used 40D. Whenever I get time, I have to go down to a friends studio and pick up a rebel and a 50D. They're going to let me borrow them for a week and see which I like and check the differences. If, as a relative amateur, I don't see any huge differences in the two, I'll just buy an entry level rebel until my wife or I get a little better and accumulate some lenses.

If I could pick one camera to buy and keep, it would be a Canon 40D.

[zoobernut]

Yeah I really wanted the 40d but it is hard to pass up access to all of my good friends lenses and accessories he already has for Nikon. Plus the 40d is much more pricey than the Nikon entry level (d3000 and d40).

[noblemountain]

Nothing yet, but I was going to buy a used 40D. Whenever I get time, I have to go down to a friends studio and pick up a rebel and a 50D. They're going to let me borrow them for a week and see which I like and check the differences. If, as a relative amateur, I don't see any huge differences in the two, I'll just buy an entry level rebel until my wife or I get a little better and accumulate some lenses.

If I could pick one camera to buy and keep, it would be a Canon 40D.

There is nothing wrong with getting her an entry level camera 'till she is at the level where she would benefit from the 40 or 50d. I played around with my, now ex-fiance's rebel this past weekend and really liked it. I can't imagine not having my 40d after being so used to it...but the little rebel is not a bad camera by any standards.

After seeing this thread resurrected, I went to the place where I bought my camera and found that they are out of business and were accused of fraud. >.>; I am lucky that I got mine with no problems apparently. I guess someone was taking boxes off trucks and selling the stolen ones, which is why I got it so cheap. The cheapest I could find a new 40d for was 700...which is a good bit more than I paid. If you have access to really nice lenses for either camera, that would be the one I'd go for. I haven't played with the new Nikon entry-level's...but the d200 was a really nice camera that I considered buying before I got mine.

Edit:
Scratch that...I found a store that has 40d for 469 bucks. They have a d200 for 699 as well...

http://www.okaystore.com/index.php?c...8447d7e7d33e8e dunno how legit they are though.

[zoobernut]

Hmm that website is blocked here at work. I will have to check it out when I get home. I am really torn at this point. I need to go to a store and play around with cameras and see how they feel in my hand I guess.

I think the hardest decision is Canon vs. Nikon. Once you choose a system it is best to stick with it so you can interchange lenses and such.

[Tyche]

I'm calling bullshit on that website. You can't get a used 40D for that price on ebay. Not saying ebay is always the cheapest, but that's a tough pill to swallow.

Edit: Googled it, it's a scam.

[noblemountain]

I'm calling bullshit on that website. You can't get a used 40D for that price on ebay. Not saying ebay is always the cheapest, but that's a tough pill to swallow.

Edit: Googled it, it's a scam.

I've been checking it out and found mixed reviews on the site itself. Ebay is the worst place to look for DSLR's, they are overpriced as hell. You can find used cameras in online stores or in camera shops in your area. I need to do a little digging myself...they have a T1 Rebel w/ el-cheapo lens (18-55) for $169. If they are even a little legit...I'll risk 200 bucks on a 900 dollar camera. Put that shit on a CC and if they fuck me, just dispute it and have Amex refund me.

Edit: Nevermind...it seems the only method of payment is bank transfer...yeah right. lol

[Swatt]

well that's poo =p i see a lot of lens going for dirt cheap

edit:

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+86 is China go figure

[noblemountain]

well that's poo =p i see a lot of lens going for dirt cheap

edit:



+86 is China go figure

Damn gilsellers!

[desertigloo]

dunno if this has been mentioned or not.
My parents got a DSLR (Canon Rebel, not sure of model number), and they made the mistake of not buying really nice memory cards. So while they're trying to take pics of the grandkids, the camera has a backlog of pics its trying to write to the card, and they're missing stuff

as you mentioned martial arts, and once you get a DSLR its fun how insanely quick it is to take pictures.. the last thing you want is to be bogged down unable to take them.

that being said, i'm not very helpful as I dont know what memory card my brother uses (has a nicer DSLR and doesn't have the memory card issues) so I can't elaborate on what to get, but maybe just keep that in mind.

[noblemountain]

dunno if this has been mentioned or not.
My parents got a DSLR (Canon Rebel, not sure of model number), and they made the mistake of not buying really nice memory cards. So while they're trying to take pics of the grandkids, the camera has a backlog of pics its trying to write to the card, and they're missing stuff

as you mentioned martial arts, and once you get a DSLR its fun how insanely quick it is to take pictures.. the last thing you want is to be bogged down unable to take them.

that being said, i'm not very helpful as I dont know what memory card my brother uses (has a nicer DSLR and doesn't have the memory card issues) so I can't elaborate on what to get, but maybe just keep that in mind.

If they have a rebel they are probably using Compact Flash...I can't see a situation where it would backlog like that unless they bought CF1 instead of CF2...and that is the person that sold it to them's mistake. I have two 8 gig cards and have never had a problem, my ex has a 4 gig card (was 20 bucks and some brand I've never heard of) and has never had an issue either.

[Tyche]

The newer rebels use SD, not CF. Still, the camera should have enough memory to hold quite a few pics int he memory and write to the card just fine. Are they shooting pictures at machine gun speed?