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Looking to get a Digital SLR
humble
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I am looking to buy a digital SLR by the end of the summer, I don't really know anything about digital SLR's though. I'm a student at a art college/university and have taken photography courses, so I'm familiar with 35mm and medium format camera's but don't really know anything about digital.
My prof. was saying how the make of the camera doesn't really matter a whole lot, it is just the preference of the photographer, so I looked at Pentax and Nikon's and they seem pretty nice, I just don't know what specific models I am looking for. In the end however I am looking to spend around 800$ Canadian.
Thanks.
My prof. was saying how the make of the camera doesn't really matter a whole lot, it is just the preference of the photographer, so I looked at Pentax and Nikon's and they seem pretty nice, I just don't know what specific models I am looking for. In the end however I am looking to spend around 800$ Canadian.
Thanks.
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I checked out the Digital Rebels by Cannon, but found them too small. They didn't fit in my hands comfortably. The D70s is a little heavier but is also much sturdier.
I got the canon 10D back in the day, the magnesium body just made it feel better than the Rebel line. Today I would take the Rebel line, as I would prefer to have the additional resolution and newer DIGIC processing at the expense of "heft".
The Rebel line seems pretty nice. I was originally going to go with one of those, but their sensors don't pick up UV, and UV photography is one of my main interests.
The one caveat I would give WRT the brand is if you are looking for particular brands/types of lens. Yes, there are adapters, but ones that will do autofocus and whatnot are very pricey. Another reason I went with Nikon is that most of the lenses I am interested in are theirs.
As someone else who is fairly new to the DSLR world, I would recommend that you make a decision up front - either have *all* work on your camera done professionally, or plan on doing some tedious repairs on your own. I am a DIY kind of person, so I've learned a lot about my camera, but the cost has been things like having to replace the filter screen that I scratched when trying to clean it.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
The big reasons to go Canon instead of Nikon:
Histogram + review image simultaneously. It's fucking sweet to have your after shot review pop up with the histogram right there too.
L series lenses. They're nice.
Better UI. At least I think the Canons are a million times easier to operate. More functions with fewer button pushes.
Don't go Pentax though. Your lens selection will be significantly smaller, and the cameras aren't as nice.
One really good option though, and you'll probably hear this far less often than Nikon or Canon, is an Olympus camera with the 4/3 system. The 4/3 system is, unlike the other lens systems in use by Canon/Nikon, an open standard. Meaning that anyone can make 4/3 lenses just as easily as Olympus can.
This means that despite having a small market share, you still get a rather wide lens selection. They're also a good camera manufacturer and their bodies tend to be very reasonably priced. Futureshop recently had a sale where you could get an Olympus body and two lenses for like $600, new. That's a damned good price.
Be sure to check your local camera specialty shops though. You might be able to score a really good deal on used equipment that way.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
With Nikon you can use every lens they made practically (not all with all the nice features like auto focus and metering maybe) because they never changed their mount, unlike Canon where you have to use the EOS. And old glass is cheap now.
UI is highly subjective, but it's not like it's rocket science to work your way around the Nikon. Read the owners manual for cripe's sake if you have trouble.
EDIT: Also, Canon's film SLRs use EF lenses. Their digital SLRs use EF-S lenses. The digital SLRs can also use EF lenses, though. Canon refers to both their film and digital SLR lenses as EOS lenses.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
The only thing that I feel is "missing" on my Nikon D70s is the rotating LCD screen. A lot of the times I have to resort to blind shooting because I'll put them camera on a platform above my head, or on a surface, and I won't be able to see what the hell I'm shooting.
When I was shopping for a camera a few months ago, the final choice was definitely between the Rebel and the D70s though. Very good cameras for your money, both of them. I would try both of them out at a camera store and make the final decision according to how comfortable they are to use.
All you have to do with the Nikon D70 is press the side button to bring up the histogram, and it stays there until you take it off. It kind of covers the picture, sure, but it's not like it's a huge pain in the ass to bring it up.
The EF lens system was introduced in 1987. Current Canon DSLRs are backwards compatible to lenses older than half of the people who post here. There's hardly going to be a shortage of used lenses available.
And it's nice having the histogram appear as part of the post shot review automatically.
Also, I don't know what ege02 is on about, but the point of an SLR camera is to use the viewfinder to see through the lens. The LCD on the back isn't used to shoot on any DSLR except for I think one model of Olympus that offers live preview on the LCD. In fact, the D70 offers no preview by LCD. Suggesting that the D70 is limited by its lack of a ROTATING LCD for doing so when the LCD as is does nothing of the sort is sort of like complaining that a BMX lacks thumb shifters for changing gears which are really much nicer than using grip shifters.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I'm just saying it would be nice if it did have one for the occasions I described. The point of an SLR might be to use the viewfinder, but if I can't look through viewfinder in the first place (because, say, I'm holding the camera 2 feet above my head to be able to shoot over a crowd), it has failed that, right?
What you are describing is not a failing of the D70 but a trait common to virtually every SLR camera ever. By virtue of the fact that this person has created a thread looking for advice regarding SLR cameras, I think it is safe to assume that he or she might understand what an SLR camera is and how they generally are used. IE, properly, with shots composed using the viewfinder, rather than held at arm's length over one's head like a complete nimrod.
But hey, let's not get off topic and drop this right here.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
- Larger body. The Canon felt very small in my hands.
- The viewfinder was much better on the D80.
- Faster.
- Customization. The canon can't even come close in options you can change.
- I liked the the UI better on the D80 too. But they are both pretty decent. (I think the older models for both canon (XT) and nikon (d70) were kinda poor in this area.)
- It just felt better to use.
Pretty much all of that applies to the d40, which is in your price range and is a very nice camera. If you are set on buying new that's what I'd get.
The other option I would recommend is to buy a used XT which is probably a better camera then a used d70.
Oh, and I can't speak for other nikon bodies, but my D80 does that histogram + review image thing that pheezer was talking about.
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
Not really, no. You have to look at the features offered.
The 30D is more compareable to the nikon d200. The d40x is a d40 with more megapixels. And doesn't have nearly the same feature set as the XTI. You can't really consider them equivalent.
I guess you could consider the d80 as falling between the XTI and the 30D if you look at pure price, but most people compare the d80 to the XTI, despite the price difference.
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I love Canon but that's not swaying my advice.
One reason I got the XT is because I'm close friends with a pro photographer who has many lenses that I can borrow and he knows pretty much all there is to know about them so i felt comfortable buying that and having someone around who i can swap lenses with to try etc.
I suggest any lower-end SLR from Nikon or Canon will really fit your needs. I am just barely beginning to start fully utilizing all the features my XT has and it's probably one of the best purchases I've made.
So the point of my post really is, if you can't decide, you might want to just choose the brand that most of your friends use, and you'll be able to swap out parts/lenses advice easier.
Also I'd recommend (if you get the XT) go with the 50mm f/1.8 lense, not the lense that comes with the kit. you'll be happy
"Oh what a day, what a LOVELY DAY!"
-> Also, I got the 50mm/f1.8 lens i think plus the kit lens for the D70s. Good 2 lenses.
Plus I have a friend who is insanely rich and also uses a Nikon so I can borrow his lenses :P
But I felt the Canon was too small in my hands. I dunno, uncomfy.
Yeah, as long as they're AI lenses. Anything before then (around 1977) is still an F-mount, but has some extra bits and bobs sticking out that will damage the mount on most Nikon DSLRs. I think the top-end models can mount them all, but I know that the D70 and D80 can be damaged by them.
You're very right that it opens up a lot of possibilities though. Older manual-focus lenses are dirt cheap on eBay. I've picked up a whole slew of lenses for about the same price as buying one new.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
I'm going off of price which I think most people will consider the bottom line when choosing a consumer DSLR. Also I would argue that the specifications of the XTi and D40x are nearly identical.
Agreed. Comparing a camera that costs $100 to $200 more than the other one is completely asinine, and if we could stop masturbating egos and concentrate on giving advice LIKE THE RULES SUGGEST WE OUGHT:
The XTi and D40X are both within or on the border of the thread creator's price range and are competing models. The D70 is significantly outside that price range.
That makes the comparison between the XTi and D70 not only false, but also irrelevant.
Also a note on megapixels: You only need 8. An 8.0 MP camera can produce 8x10 photographs and I doubt you're going to be seriously looking at getting larger prints made on a regular basis if you're debating whether or not you should get a Pentax entry level DSLR.
If the sensor is the same size, but the # of megapixels increases, the size of each pixel decreases and the sensor becomes more crowded and you get guess what more noise. The 10 MP ratings on entry level DSLRs are pretty much there to sway soccer moms, they don't realistically provide any advantage to someone who can frame a shot properly and they probably actually make for lower image quality.
So don't be fooled by 8 vs. 10 MP, both are perfectly sufficient.
And the manual options provided by Canon and Nikon are virtually identical. Unless someone can post a specific feature that isn't available on a Canon that has real world value, that's a bullshit answer.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
At 800CAD, you could snatch up a last generation camera and be completely happy with it. You'll need to scour the stores and have a good idea of what you want though. Also, some models share the same internal working, apart from the the firmware / processor, and what you really want to look for is the glass / ergonomics. Just about verything in that price range has the same short comings, so your best bet is to go to a store with a couple of memory cards and try them out. Remember / write down which ones felt the best and were the most intuitive to use for you, and then check out the image quality on your pc and, more importantly, in print. Pixel peeping really doesn't do much good because what it looks like on screen isn't what it is going to look like in print and, if you are going to use them for web, you are going to be processing and reducing their size anyway.
The D70 is only outside the price range if purchased new. Secondhand it's significantly cheaper than
the XTi or D40X new. I assume because so many people are selling theirs to get a D80.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
Only bad thing I can say about it is that you'll probably get better high-ISO performance out of a Canon. Their CMOS sensors seem to be better than anything else for low-noise high-ISO shots.
It has anti-shake, great lenses, and an awesome body (i love the feel over Canon's flimsy bodies)
Link to pic (NSF56K) http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/KonicaMinolta7D/Images/allroundview.jpg
I LOVE it. Great camera, cheap too nowadays. They still support it fully, BTW, and warranties etc are good.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Minolta-Dynax-7D
My one major gripe is the stock lens that comes in kit version is not very good. It's a tad light feeling and sometimes pictures come out looking slightly soft. If you go for the Xti you may want to look into just getting the body and purchasing a better lens seperately.