I'm thinking of buying a digital SLR, which is a good one to start with ?

Question

i'm thinking about buying a digital SLR and the vast amount of choice is quite confusing for someone who doesn't know anything about it!
it doesn't need to be top of the range at all because I am not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination but would like a good quality camera

what are some good cameras/good camera websites ?
what kind of price?

any help would be greatly appreciated =]

thank you!

Answer 1

decide what you want a camera for

decide what features you think are important

decide a budget



If you are buying a dSLR then I doubt you will find any significant difference between each of the major camera makers offerings whether thats Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony Samsung or Sigma



theres a lot of bias, prejudice and frankly bollux talked about camera, especially here. Many claim only professionals use Nikon or mebbe Canon. Nikon lenses are better than blah, the fact is that there is precious little to differentiate the cameras at the respective price points. yes spending god knows how many thousand ont he top of the range Nikon or Canon and comparing to the budget Sony, Nikon or whatever you will probably see a difference. but to a beginner you won't. make you own mind up about what features are important or required.



bear in mind many reviews refer to this cameraas menu system being much easier to use (what the review usually means is I have a camera from the same maker and the menu system is familiar to me)



right no there seems to be a good deal on Sony Alpha cmaeras, but Sony isn't a camera maker I hear the Nikon/ Canon fanclub scream.... but Minolta was, and Sony bougth out Minolta's camera division. but Nikon Lenses are better they say, but Sony bought out Carl Zeiss for lens development.



features that may be worth looking at in (no order)

sensor fairly irrelevant once you get above the 5..6Mp

battery capacity , type, number of 'shots' per charge

memory card and type, what size card can it use

ISO range of the camera (theoretically the higher the ISO range the more photos you can take in poor light

quality of the optics you actually buy with your camera. I doubt any lens maker is producing 'poor' kenses, but there are subtle differences and variations some lenses are a bit better than other makers..

size and weight of the camera and selected lenses

speed of focus

number of focus points, number of metering points

BUT above all ease of use, and that comes from practise and dare I say it reading the manual. you may have the most wonderfull camera, if it takes you a while to get the camera awake and selectign the right lens and all the other stuff, it doens't matter how good it is if you've missed the picture



the best camera is undoubtedly the camera you had to hand that took 'that' picture, and if thats a 2Mp camera on the back of a phone so be it.



once you've narrowed down you list of required features look at the serious camera review sites such as dpreveiw.com and others.



make your own mind up, after all its your camera, not someone else's

its your decision, not someone else's

Answer 2

Quite personally I would disagree with buying the cheapest DSLR you can find to start with. I did just that with the Canon XTi when it came out, and within a year wished I had bought a 30D instead. Of course I jumped right into working for my University paper, and do some freelance work on the side including weddings, but now I have to buy a new camera because the XTi just doesnt hold up under a lot of the situations, which can range from collegiate sports to concerts to rallies to weddings. I guess it really depends on where you plan to go with photography, but if you are thinking about at least getting to the advanced amateur level, where you spend a good amount of time taking pictures, consider a camera that is a few models up from the D40, one that will allow you to expand a little, and you wont find yourself needing a better camera after a short time. One thing about buying decent equipment is that if you ever tire of it, it retains its value very well. If you are just getting one to take snapshots with then the D40 will no doubt suit you.

Answer 3

Wow, somehow I'm not sure that this diversity of answers is helping - but it makes for some interesting reading.



Computer Genius - you need to get out more! : )



As far as purchasing a camera, I've had (and I have had many people agree with this) excellent luck with Adorama and B&H.



I for one think you should start with an inexpensive DSLR unless you are gung ho and jumping right into taking 20-30,000 pictures a year. Cameras, to me, are like PCs. They come out with something new, better, and cheaper every 18 months. I would rather invest in better lens that I will move to my next camera, than an expensive camera that two years later has the same features as the latest rebel.

Answer 4

I work with the pros. We use Nikon all the way. I have heard of pros using Cannon, but I've never actually seen them. Lifetouch (the largest school photo company in America, uses Nikon cameras.



I don't know how much manual settings you like (or prefer auto) but the D80 is a good entry level camera for about $700. It mocks the average point-and-shoot in some regards, but also gives you some nice manual options. However, the D80 feels plasticy. I personally use a Nikon D200 and it feels like a camera. (Solid metal body under outside covering!) It can be set to to auto (I have to set like auto expsoure, auto iso, etc...it takes 2-3 steps to get to auto where as the D80 is just truning a dial on top. I paid about $980 for my D200 and I bought it used. Make sure you buy Nikon lenses when you buy lenses.

Answer 5

Buy the least expensive DSLR - the Nikon D40. Its easy to use and has an automatic function as well.



Read about it on http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d40/index.htm



If you want to read a review and recommendation by a professional photographer go to http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/page25.asp



Go to amazon.com to find affordable prices for the Nikon D40 kit.