Shopping for Digital SLR

Great minds think alike I posted that in post #27

 

I knew i saw it somewhere...lol...I went there and looked through it, awesome site.

 

I like the Pentax line..have a k100D and was going to get the Pentax K-X but now with the new truck I have to spend my toy money elsewhere....Anyways the Pentax dslrs are great if you have lenses from a Pentax slr(which I had 3 diff models in the last 20 years)..and you can use almost any lens Pentax has made in the last gazillion years.Here are some of mine from the k100..no truck pics yet..but soon..
http://kashka.jalbum.net/

 

how about a nikkon d40? i read somewhere its a good starters dslr. should i look into it or is there a better affordable cam out there?

 

I think any Nikon or Canon which is for sale now and is a DSLR would be a great starter cam.

 

Agreed. I bought the wife the T1i from canon because she said it fit her hand better. Functionally it was a wash. Of course Canon already has the next model out. T2i, I think.

 

I'm a big fan of both Nikon and Canon.
But for seperate things. I like Nikon optics for my rifle scopes and optics but when it comes to a digital slr's I'm a much bigger fan of canon.
I'd also suggest getting a VR lens upgrade if you can get them in your package. bhphotovideo usually has really good customer service if you haven't checked them out.

here are a few pics unedited from my xti using the kit lenses

 

You can't really go wrong with NIKON OR CANON.

 

By the way, for those that don't know, VR refers to image stabilization. There's a lot of acronyms, they all mean the same:

Image Stabilization (IS - Canon)
Vibration Reduction (VR - Nikon)
Optical SteadyShot (Sony Cyber-Shot)
MegaOIS (Panasonic and Leica)
Super Steady Shot (SSS - Sony)
Optical Stabilization (OS - Sigma)
Vibration Compensation (VC - Tamron)
Shake Reduction (SR - Pentax).

Unless you are stepping up quite a bit, the kit lenses are not going to feature this. For example, the lowest Canon to offer this would be the 50D, which carries a 24-105 F/4L IS USM, which is their pro level lens.

My recommendation would be to get the body without the lens, then buy a good lens with image stabilization if possible. Image stabilization is AWESOME, especially with low light or distance shots. Low light is brighter than you think - it can include a well-lit gymnasium, inside your house, etc.

Also try Beach Camera. they usually have ridiculously good prices.

 

B&H has Canon XS cameras with 18-55 kits that feature IS.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/589104-REG/Canon__EOS_Rebel_XS_a_k_a_.html

 

you can get a nikon d3000 with kit lens w/vr for like 399.99$

 

So as you know, I have the T1i. While waiting on weather on one of the testbeds, our photographer was asking me some questions about it. Now he is the guy who takes the official test photographs and video for everything we do here. After our talk, he bought a T1i for his recent trip to Israel. This guy uses some of the most advanced equipment that taxpayer money can buy, and he can't believe how impressive the camera is. Makes me feel better about getting the Canon.

 

Nikon & Canon's are great. It really boils down to lenses. Nikon lenses are cheaper, and I think they are as good of quality as Canon. I have a Nikon D3000 and never looked back. I have 3 friends that are professional photographers, 2 of which have Nikon and the other a Canon.