Can You Recommend a Good Digital SLR Camera?
There are so many choices when it comes to purchasing a camera. I'm looking for a nice professional SLR digital camera with different lense choices (wide angle, etc). Do you happen to have any feedback on a good one to buy? (somewhere btwn $500 to $1500).
I want to learn how to take raw photos (not sure what those are but they seem to be in demand). Thanks for any feedback and what store I could physically go into to look at them. All the best to you!
Answers & Comments
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I am a Nikon person so I would recommend the D40 or the D60 for an entry level DSLR. Both are priced at the lower end of your scale Spend the other money on strobes, tripod, lenses etc
Right now the D40 is the best buy for the money. Dollar for dollar you get more than any other DSLR on the market. Its easy to learn and fun to shoot with. Don't let the lower megapixel count worry you unless you need to make very very large prints. you actually get clearer [ictures with the 6 mp D40 than you do with the 10 mp D40 X
If you want to go just a little more money the D60 give you a number of things you want. It has newer firmware and image processors, designed for the 10 mp sensor. It has an "Active Dust Reduction System with Airflow Control ". Nikon not putting a system on the D40 to deal with dust is one of the biggest drawbacks I see to the D40 ( though I think its still a great camera for the money) If you change lenses dust will get in and the camera needs a system to deal with it. With the D60 you get a VR lens. That will help with low light situations ( they may offer that now with the D40 but originally it was not) . The D60 has Adaptive Dynamic Range. Nikon calls it "Active D-Lighting," it lets you save some highlights that my otherwise be lost. It has a newer better metering system than the D40.
Raw is just a photo file format. It is the one native to the camera and you all of the camera's "raw" data with no adjustment by the image processor in the camera. This lets you make the decisions on how the photo will look post shooting during your image processing in photo editing software like photoshop. I always shoot RAW because I like the control it gives me. When you shoot JPEG the computer make decisions for you and then discards data it does not need. You can never recover that data. Other folks are happy letting the camera make certain decisions for them and they shoot JPEG.
As to where to go and get your hands on them I do not know where you are but places like Wolf camera, Ritz Camera, BestBuy, Circuit City, and even some office stores around here have them in stock
an additional note to all the above. Go to a camera store, explain that you are still thinking about which camera but want to try some out. What I mean by this is to actually hold some cameras to get a feel for them. Some may feel great and some not so. You don't want to spend any money and then discover that the camera is uncomfortable to hold or difficult to use. I was given this advice and am very glad that I did use it. As lovely as the Olympus was it just did not feel good in my hands and I know if I had bought it it would have just irritated me and I would not have enjoyed it as much as I should ( and do with my sony) Speaking of sony I would imagine that the price of the original A1000 has probably dropped because of the new model. and I do love mine.
It really depends on what your needs are. If you're a fairly serious amateur you might want to look at a camera like Canon's 40D or hang on another month or so till the 50D comes out. Another option is the Pentax K20D.
If you're really serious, google Nikon's D300. You can catch good prices on a kit if you're patient enough. Though it'll cost you closer to 2000 than 1500.
If you're a point and shoot kind of guy who wants a bit more out of a camera I'd suggest Canon's XSi, Nikon's D40 or D60.
Google and you'll find some info on the above.
Wide angle and telephoto lenses are the most expensive of the bunch.
Prices are pretty much the same for all camera mounts.
All camera manufactures have a world of lenses to choose from, there's no one perfect lens.
No idea where you live, but you probably have a few stores in your area that sell cameras.
RAW is the negative film that you take in DSLR cameras!..You can set your camera to take raw's only or raws and jpegs, or only jpegs!..
go here and check pics, resolutions, features, sharpness, etc:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/filter/digital-camer...
I ended up buying the sony A200, the A300 with live view lcd screen is good too, but the A350 is bad on the 800 and horrible at the 1600 ISO!..
A200 was ranked the best entry level of 2008!..
You can take a look at the Sony Alphas - A200, A300 and A350. Easy to use beginner cameras jam packed with features you will find lacking in other brands for the same price points.
When you're ready to upgrade lenses, Sony is the only one that will offer you auto-focussing Carl Zeiss lenses at the moment.
The Nikon D40 (or D40x) or the Canon Digital Rebel XTi are both excellent cameras for a beginner and priced accordingly (~$600). Lenses are MUCH more important. The kit lenses are good to start then buy a more expensive one when you know what you want to shoot.
Don’t buy it at any of these rip-off scam sites that are owned by George Sabato:
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Check out how many Better Business Bureau complaints there are (1000+). He keeps changing names to avoid ripped-off customers and to trick new customers.
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yes i will recommend it.