Topic: Camera newbie...bear with me

[heath]

I am looking to enter the world of Digital SLRs.  My current digi is a canon powershot digital elph and i hate it.  Want something that I can actually utilize a zoom on, interchange lenses, and take pictures worth a damn with. 

I've been doing a little homework, but am looking for some hand-holding here.  Is this a decent buy?

http://www.fotoconnection.com/p51857-canon-eos-350d-digital-rebel-xt-package-5.html

[dgodwin]

I'd suggest going to your local camera store (if any in your area still exist) and see what they have to offer.  They might be able to put together a similar package if that's what you want for a similar price.  If you're just starting out with a SLR, the knowledge they can share with you would be worth paying a little more. 

[stirinthesauce]

I am looking to enter the world of Digital SLRs.  My current digi is a canon powershot digital elph and i hate it.  Want something that I can actually utilize a zoom on, interchange lenses, and take pictures worth a damn with. 

I've been doing a little homework, but am looking for some hand-holding here.  Is this a decent buy?

http://www.fotoconnection.com/p51857-canon-eos-350d-digital-rebel-xt-package-5.html

pretty decent buy.  If your doing any lowlight, your gonna want some different lenses.  Lenses are like mics, pricey and addictive.  

Another option is to buy just the body, and get the lenses seperate.  Of course, if your doing mainly day time shooting, those lenses in the package will be adequate.  You can always re-sell.

[heath]

For the most part, I want to be able to shoot sports from a distance (hockey in particular) and landscapes, etc (leaving in a month for Hawaii and want to take pictures that I will be proud of).

h

[stirinthesauce]

For the most part, I want to be able to shoot sports from a distance (hockey in particular) and landscapes, etc (leaving in a month for Hawaii and want to take pictures that I will be proud of).

h

Both of those lenses will do the job you want.  You will definitly get the upgrade bug (don't we all    ) but you have your wideangle lens and your tele zoom so you should be fine with that kit.  Good price, I paid just under 6 for my old rebel XT and it's 18-55 kit lens.  Your getting an additional lens and paying just over 6.  Dooeeet 

Oh, and if your going to Hawaii in a month, get out and practice, practice, practice every day.  Find out what every auto and manual setting does, your iso's, your apertures, all that jazz so you can get the end result you desire out of each situation.  Thanks to others posting links to sites, I have found www.dgrin.com and www.fredmiranda.com very helpful

[heath]

Any reason why this would be better or worse? 

http://www.expresscameras.com/prodetails.asp?prodid=621005&up=620700&start=1

[stirinthesauce]

Any reason why this would be better or worse? 

http://www.expresscameras.com/prodetails.asp?prodid=621005&up=620700&start=1

Not familiar with Nikon bodies and lenses.  I'm a canon guy. 

[heath]

gotcha.  thanks for all the help thus far

[heikki]

I bought my D80 at release, almost a year ago now, and paid a bit more than that but that price STILL seems a bit too low - ?  I haven't watched the prices in a while but shop around.

I am also picky about USA models vs. gray market cameras - the latter having no MANUFACTURER warranty in the USA.  You may want to beware.  A lot of these Brooklyn basement camera shops sell gray market cameras, often offering a 1 yr. warranty (through them, NOT the manufacturer).

Another thing to be careful of are online retailers with very low prices.  They will often call to "confirm your order" and in try to talk to you into high mark-up accessories.  If you don't buy them, all of a sudden your order is canceled, the camera is back ordered, etc...


I am personally a Nikon shooter but I would recommend Canons for many DSLR beginners. The bodies are usually a bit cheaper but the lenses are often considerably cheaper (than Nikon).  This can be especially true when you get into the lenses with vibration reduction, etc...


Your kit lens (the ones that come with the bodies) will serve you well for a while but they aren't going to make you happy when you want to start shooting sports or concerts.


http://kenrockwell.com/
Many consider this guy to be an arrogant ---- and he is very heavily Nikon-biased but when you cut through to the material his site and articles contain a LOT of useful information.


Good luck!

[eric.B]

not that it matters that much, but cameras do come in "flavours" like microphones/rec. equip.  I have heard that the canon sensor is better in low light, and canon makes their own image sensors..   while nikons are more ergonomic for male shooters, have more features, and they use sony image sensors.  remember, minolta doesnt make digitalslr's anymore, however sony will service them AND the new sony alphaSLRs can use the older minolta lenses..   some of which I hear are quite good.     

[phanophish]

Canon & Nikon are both great cameras.  Canon tends to have better low light sensor performance, and I'm a Nikon shooter saying that.  Nikon's flash metering and color performance are slightly better in general.

Watch out for that store..  There are tons of scam online camera stores.  B&H, Adorama are a few of the better known legit places.  Check a site like Reseller Ratings for store reviews.  FotoConnection sounds like another one of the bad sites....

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/FotoConnection_1

[heath]

the more I have been reading (spent a lot of time on fredmiranda and such last night and this morning) it seems that a Digital Rebel XTi might be a good fit for me as a beginner.  Currently pricing those out   Thanks a ton for suggestions, sites, etc.  I am a slow learner, so hand holding is appreciated

[heath]

+t's to all

[heath]

Just got back from the Camera store, and I have to say that the Nikons felt better in my hands.  Now I'm reeling.  Going to price some D40's and D80's and see what kind of chart I can come up with to help me figure out what to get.

Time to start a new slutty hobby

[dgodwin]

Glad you made it to a camera store.  I'd be cautious with a D40 and D40x, as you're limited in the lenses you can purchase, as it does not support Auto-Focus in older lenses (non AF-S lenses)   If you don't have access to any older lenses, and only plan to buy new ones, then it shouldn't be a problem.  I have a D100, and enjoy it, but I'm even tempted to look seriously at a D80 as a replacement in the future. 

[kuuan]

dgodwin is very right with his caution abt. the D40 and D40x, they need lenses with the motor to autofocus built into the lens, which limits the choice to just a few, quite expensive ones. Other than that they are great cameras, so if you don't plan to buy a lot of lenses but might be happy with the ones in the set than there is no problem.

About the 2 sets you had linked earlier I noticed that the 'wide angle' lense of the Nikon started at 28mm, which on the digital camera actually makes it abt. 40mm. For me this definitely would be too little coverage on the wide side and if it only was this 2 choices I'd take the Canon package for having the wide lense starting at 18mm.

Other than that playing with cameras in shops to simply find out which one lies best in your hand, you feel most comfortable with, and which gives you the most confidence that you actually can use all it's features would be the best advice IMHO.

And to complicate matters:
For a socalled 'entry dSLR' I personally would prefer either a Pentax K100D ( or K100 Super ) or a Olympus E510. Easier availability of great lenses specially for the Pentax, both of them having 'in body' image stabilisation and focus motor, the later even having live LCD preview, Olympus being the first to offer that, sure will be standard soon.

check out: dpreview.com for reviews or ask at the forums there. ( the reviews are a bit canonbiased though )

best luck,
kuuan

[phanophish]

Sigma, Tokina & Tamron all make some good lenses for all the major systems as well.  Not all of their lenses are top quality but some are very good and typically much less expensive than the Nikon/Canon equivalent.  I just recently picked up a Sigma 18-50/2.8 for about $380.  It is a really nice lens and I'm very happy with it.  The same Nikon/Canon lens is closer to $1000, and although very slightly better for my needs not worth the extra $$.  Another great resource for lens info is the reviews section at FredMiranda.com

[crackhead]

How does the D80 image quality stack up to the D70?   I was never very happy with the high ISO pics of the D70 (waaay too much shadow noise and smeared detail).  does the D80's meter have the tendency to underexpose by about a half-stop as well?

I'm waiting for Nikon to come out with their full frame digi SLR.... finally have a true wide angle lens with my 17-35mm f/2.8
 

[phanophish]

The D80 is basically the same sensor as the D200, which is to say a pretty big improvement over the D70.  I've got some great images from my D70 but the noise can be noticeable when shooting high ISO.  I just picked up a D200 and it is much better, but still not quite on par with the best offerings from Canon (5d).  All that said, you can get great images with any of them if you are careful on exposure. I use manual a fair amount of the time for concert shooting as properly metering the lights is very tough.  Find something that properly exposes under the lights and stick with it.  I find the meter usually overexposes the highlights so you are not only blowing the exposure, but giving up some shutter speed as well.   Another huge tip.  Get Noiseware.  It is amazing.....

http://www.imagenomic.com/products.aspx

This image was with my D70 and a bit of Noiseware work....

[phanophish]

This image, while not bad is a good example of the blown out highlights I'm talking about when you overexpose the image.  Notice how the detail on the bright areas of Josh's shirt loose any detail.  Same with some parts of his face.  I probably could have bumped up my shutter speed by 2 stops and still had a good image...