Choosing the right advanced amateur DSLR?

Question

I'm sure this question has been asked a gazillion times in this group but I'm really torn. I am looking for a camera for my business and hobby shooting. Planned business use would be for marketing (potential for large format prints), animal portraits (artistic and posed), video to evaluate sessions and behavior along with video and stills to study dog behavior up close and from a distance. Hobby usage would be walk-about camera, artistic shots along with canine sports. I'm really torn between full frame or not, seems like video capabilities are stressed a bit less in the full frame cameras I've looked at. My current DSLR camera is ancient and basically useless, most of my current marketing work has been accomplished via a p&s, current cameras are basically useless when it comes to my other planned uses.

Cameras I'm considering are: 7D, 5D, D300S or D700 -- I'm leaning towards Canon, possibly 7D due to price point, video capabilities and speed. At the same time, I am worried noise and artifacts will quickly grind on me (can be a bit of a snob with that stuff, I guess) and becoming another person posting a FS camera due to needing/ wanting to upgrade to full frame. My planned lenes: 50mm, 70-200mm and a decent walk-about.

Answer 1

7D is indeed the best for price/performance, then is the D7000, then D300s. 5D and D700 are full frame and if you would need them I think you'd already be buying one.



7D + 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8 and a 70-200mm f/2.8 or f/4 would be excellent.



D7000 has more Af points but isn't faster at focusing, because 7D has all of them cross-type. 60D has the same sensor as the 7D, but D7000 is better.



You wont get a museum camera in a shop. But what's up with that anyways? In 2 years from now, D7000 will probably have a replacement - that doesn't mean D7000 is now bad.



Your business sounds like many other photo businesses, and a D7000 or 7D would be more than enough for that, including sports, low light etc.



Here's a DSLR Buying Guide - http://www.the-dslr-photographer.com/2009/11/which-dslr-to-buy/

Answer 2

First things first. Drop the amateur stuff. It's either you know how to use a dSLR or not. Getting paid to do it is another matter. Next. Drop the advanced stuff. Anything you can do with one dSLR, you can do with another if you know exactly what you are doing. It only happens that more expensive dSLR's give you more choices of settings and easier access to those settings. If you know your way around an entry-level dSLR, you will get the same results with a higher end camera.



So what should you get? Buy the most expensive camera you can afford now then don't upgrade. Just buy additional lenses as you see fit. Don't put the kit lens down. Most of the time, it is the kit lens that earns money to buy newer, older, wider, longer, bigger, smaller, and faster lenses.

Answer 3

If you are concerned about the noise at high ISO i would suggest you look at the Nikon D7000. I'll list down the reasons:



--Significantly better image quality

--Much more dynamic range

--Much better color depth

--Lower noise at high ISO

--Continuous video focus

--Significantly more focus points

--Video autofocus

--Has more storage slots

--Weather sealed

--Longer battery life

--Slightly larger sensor

--Smaller

--Better boost ISO

--Slightly more lenses available

--Lighter

--Cheaper



And apart from all these things its a great camera for the uses you have mentioned. I'm sure you wont be disappointed. I suggest you also read this review to aid in you decision:



http://amzn.to/qOfuc6



I've looked around and this is the best price i could find:



http://amzn.to/nIEbNN



Still if you want to go with Canon 7d, i suggest you take a look here, there are some great discounts for t:



http://amzn.to/q0eId6



Get the one that suits you best. Hope i helped. :)

Answer 4

Nikon D7000

http://iplaym.com/view/nikon-d7000/

Answer 5

The small Fuji slr shaped digital camera is a great all in one camera.