I am trying to figure out the right camera for my wife and me. My parents are starting to ask what I want for my birthday and Christmas and I was trying to put together a wish list. I thought I would put a digital SLR on the wish list. Here is what I am looking for:
A dSLR that will take care of me while I am a beginner on up to if I ever start wanting to get serious about taking pictures.
A camera that isn’t going to bust the bank account.
Camera that professionals would suggest as the "better" entry level to mid level camera.
I also want to figure out the right lens to get. I know that there are a lot of lenses that come with cameras that once you get another "good" lens, you will never want to use again because the other "better" lens takes so much better pictures. I don’t want to necessarily get a packaged lens unless it is something that I will love to use when compared to other lenses.
So I am up for your suggestions. Here is what I have looked at so far: Nikon D50 D70 and D80s, Canon Digital Rebel XT, Rebel XS, Rebel XTi, and Rebel XSi. I have also looked at the Pentax K200D but am not sure of the company.
Thanks friends.
If money is the primary issue go with the D40 it will give you great photos and give you more bang for the buck than any entry DSLR out today. Do not let the lower megapixels concern you if you do not do very very large prints you will never notice the lower DSLR. If you have a bit 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.
Added
Some people will want to make a big issue out of the fact that there are some Nikon Lenses that will not autofocus on these cameras. Right now there are "only" about 39 lenses that autofocus on these cameras. They cover the range of focal lengths. I doubt any photographer would be seriously limited with "only" this many lenses to choose from. If you want to manually focus you can more than double this and do so at a low cost. Manual focusing is easy and how we did things for decades before the advent of autofocus.
Cannon and Nikon chose to put the vibration reduction in the lens rather than the body. Yes that means you get it only on lenses with that feature built in. In the body in theory it would work on every lens. But in fact image stbilization in the lens has proved to work faster and smoother with a lower impact on focus times than image stabilization in the body
I found it interesting that one of the comments here said "never buy a camera that runs on AA. ever." because while I agree that the other batteries can give you superior performance under most condiotns. I just bought the MB-d10 multi battery pack for my D300 spending 300 us on it and one of the main motivations was that in a real pinch I could use AA batteries which I could get anywhere
In closing all the major manyfactures make good cameras. With Nikon and Canon having the largest market share. Most photographers are loyal to what they use and like. Go to the stores get them in your hand and find what you like. What fits your hand well, which has the features you want in an easy to use format
I recently bought a used Nikon D50. It came with a Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 lens. The lens is great for taking portraits, but it has a very small depth of field. I am looking for a zoom lens that has a greater depth of field. I would like to use my camera to take pictures of my family, both posed shots and candids. I am thinking an 18-55mm lens might work, but I don’t have a lot of experience with lenses. The one thing I liked when reading about the 18-55 is that you can get a little bit of a wide focus with it when at 18mm. Does anybody have any thoughts or recommendations for a lens? I am not looking to spend more than $300. Thank you.
I suggest 3 options:
1) You can get a short Nikon zoom for about $110. It is the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Autofocus Lens. Any zoom that starts at 18mm provide you good wide angle ability and just a little bit of telephoto, all in very compact lens. (see 1st link below)
2) You can get a short Nikon zoom for about $180. It is the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S DX Nikkor Lens. This lens has one added feature over the first option I listed above. It has "VR" which refers to vibration reduction: "Vibration Reduction – Minimizes image blur caused by camera shake, enabling sharper pictures hand-held at shutter speeds up to three stops slower than would otherwise be possible." (see 2nd link below)
3) You can get a zoom lens with a far great zoom range like the 18-200mm zoom lens. This is a very popular zoom range since does most of what photographers want and mean either not having to change lenses or having change lense rarely while out shooting. This option will cost you about about $225 to $250. (see 3rd below) This option is far more affordable by getting a Tamron lens made to work with the Nikon. Tamron is a respect independent lens maker and I have owned Tamron lenses and they have performed great for me.
I provided 2 more links to some additional sellers, they along with B&H Photo’s website have customer reviews of equipment that can be very informative.
Yep, it will work fine. I trust you’re getting the 70-300mm as an additional lens… along with the 18-55 mm kit lens or so? Because the 70-300mm isn’t a great choice if it’s going to be your ONLY lens.
Of course, I definitely want to get something high-quality, but money is tight for me right now. I heard that the Nikon D50 is a good choice. Any feedback on the Nikon D50 or other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
The D50 is a "great little camera." The best thing about it is that when you buy lenses, you will still be able to use them when you move up to a D2X, D200 or whatever replaces them in the market. You will also be able to keep the D50 as a backup if and when your upgrade camera breaks. A pro always needs a "Plan B."
If you really want to be a pro, though, you will find the D50 somewhat limited in capabilities. It’s not enough to hold you back from getting started, but you will quickly find out why the "big boys" all have bigger cameras.
I have a Nikon D50 Digital SLR camera. Any suggestions about f stop settings, shutter speed etc would be most appreciated.
IF you have the regular kit lens, there’s not really much you can do but use "P" mode and spot metering (direct it as you focus on the faces of the performer) and jack up your ISO to the most you can get, and hope for the best. You’d really have to use a faster lens (f/2.8) to really use a lower ISO and avoid "noise;" do not use a slower shutter speed than 1/60th or you will surely get blurred images from the movement of the subjects and from camera shake. It’s not a bad camera; it’s just the nature of the lens you have and the limitations thereof. IF they stage has colored lights, expect the images to have the lighting effect. Get a white light reading before you do anything. Good luck and very best wishes.
I don’t know much about photography but am interested in getting a good Telephoto lense for my Nikon D50 digital SLR camera. Any recomendations?
The two primary differences between the 70-300 series lies in the quality of the glass used in the lens (which can affect things like the sharpness and color quality of the image) and the aperture/other mechanical features, such as the autofocus motor.
The cheapest 70-300 (the 4-5.6G, $135, Link 1) has no real enhancements, and is pretty much the barebones 70-300 lens. Don’t expect focus to be very fast on this lens.
The next level up (the 4-5.6D ED, $330, Link 2) has upgraded glass over the previous model, hence the "ED" designation. The ED (which I think stands for Enhanced Dispersion) helps to prevent chromatic aberrations in your images, which usually shows up as purple or red fringing around subject lines, especially when shooting into direct light.
The premium 70-300 ($480, Link 3) has several significant upgrades over the previous models. First, it has Nikon’s SWM (Silent Wave Motor), which is their fastest and quietest AF motor, so it will focus quicker/better than the other two lenses. It also has internal focusing, so the front element of the lens will not rotate. This is helpful if you are using filters like a circular polarizer which need to stay stationary to give you optimal effects. This lens also is equipped with VR (Vibration Reduction), which helps you to get better image results in low light. This lens also features the ED glass present in the earlier model.
If you can afford it, I’d really suggest getting the AF-S lens with VR. Yes, it does seem expensive, but it’s really the best (in my opinion) bang-for-the-buck telephoto zoom in the Nikon lineup. You get the same features found in premiere lenses like the 70-200 f/2.8- the SWM motor, VR- just without the extra aperture. This will last you a while until you can step up to those more expensive lenses, and I think it would be a great lens for you with that range.
I am finally after years of contemplating, about to do what it is that I love to do, what I have been wanting to do, and that is photography. I am going to focus on portraiture photography. I am going to buy my camera this week, I wanted to know which camera should I buy, the Nikon D50 Digital SLR or the Canon Rebel XT? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
As I’ve repeatedly said before, when you buy an SLR camera, you’re buying into a system of lenses, and you must consider the availability of lenses for the future. A lot of camera brands often change their lens mount and you have to start over again if you switch to a more advanced or newer model within the same camera brand. It is not the case with Nikon; they have not changed their liens mount since 1959. Also, Nikon is known for their ruggedness, not for toy-like features that attract those once-in-a-while photographers who only take photos on holidays or vacations.
Since you’re just beginning to learn, and you’re looking for a digital SLR, who not consider a used camera? This way, when you’re more familiar with photography and you know what you need in a camera for your own personal needs and preferences, you can always advance to another camera, retain a greater resale price on your current Nikon, and still use the lenses on the newer camera. I suggest that you get the Nikon D70 or the newer D70S now that Nikon has introduced the D80 and the D200 and people are selling a nearly new camera to get a shinier toy? Check with www.keh.com and see what you can find. Remember, digital lenses are marked "DX" and many times they do not come with the camera.
Go to a camera shop and ask to see the cameras and the "kit lens" and hold them in your hands, feel how it fits in your hands. Feel the ergonomics and decide. You don’t have to buy the camera at that camera shop, just see and handle the camera, then go to www.keh.com and see what they have on stock. They get new camera, lenses, etc., almost every single day. The prices are most competitive and the ratings are very conservative. The personnel are very polite, helpful and they are very knowledgeable, too.
I am new to professional photography. I just enrolled in Nyip and I need my first digital slr camera. I am considering nikon d40, d60, d70, d50, or even d40x. I am also considering some canon rebels or eos d60 and what not. Help!!! What are some good choices and how many mefapixels should I go for?
I bought a Nikon D60 and a Nikor 18-200 af vr lens for about $1200. That combination is working fantastically well for me. I got it all from B&H photo in NY. You would be very happy with this setup.
I bought a Canon Rebel K2 new for $5 from my store. I have a Nikon D50 digital SLR though and I’d like to get a nikon film camera for my photo class so I can mix and match my lenses. I think it’d be awesome to have a depth of field preview button, and I’m seeing the Nikon FM10 on craigslist, but I don’t want to get something thats worse than the Canon K2 (which by judging by the prices for the 2 cameras online it looks like its a worse camera?) I really dont want to spend a lot of money for a camera, since i got one for $5.. But I dont want something thats a waste of money because its not worth spending money on. What are my options?
i see a fm2n for $75 with some minor body damage and a broken, but functional rewind handle.. should I go for that?
Since you already have a good D-SLR (D50), you should try a basic camera like the FM10 first. Get it from a reliable source of used cameras. Never buy a broken camera. It may cost $100’s to fix.
The FM10 lets you do all the things with a camera like manual focus, depth of field, manually metering the light and set the best combination of aperture and shutter speed. The D50 lens will only expose half the area of a 35 mm film frame, so get a good 35 mm lens. I started way back with a 105 mm Nikon lens and I still use it. Great for beautiful portraits (your models will love you) and it just isolates the thing in focus from the background. You may also be able to get a cheap 28 mm or 24 mm wide angle. Always use lens hoods with these lenses. Have fun with silver.
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