Digital Cameras (SLR's): Any Advice?

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Perham1

2,500+ Posts
Can someone give me a rundown on the Nikon and Canon digital slr's?

I know about the Nikon D40's, but what about the D80, D200, D300 (or other names)? Essentially some info on the middle of the line models.

Thanks.
 
Ken Rockwell also uses Canon, and gives them thorough reviews.

bottom line is spend money on the glass, not the body which quickly becomes obsolete. I have a D200 which i love, but would have been happy with the D40. I bought the D200 b/c it allowed me to use my old Nikon lenses, which are really not as useful off 35mm film b/c of the crop of the smaller sensor. I should have bought a d40 and a good wide angle DX lens for the same money.
 
TexasEd and fratboy,

Thanks a lot for your advice. The Rockwell site was very nice. I was thinking of a Nikon D80 but now probably will get a D40.

Thanks again.
 
I am so far from an expert on photography, so take this with a giant grain of salt, but I bought my wife a D40 a few months ago and we love it. It seems very well built, takes very nice photos, and it's easy to use.
 
I have a D70s I bought a couple of years ago and I love it. I second the recommendations on getting good lenses.

One other thing I suggest is getting a good "all purpose" lens so that you don't have to swap lenses when you want wide vs. long. When I bought the D70 I got the 18-70mm kit lens and a 70-300mm zoom, both of which are very good but I hated swapping them out, partly because it's a hassle and it also increases the odds of getting dust on your sensor.

A few months ago I bought the Nikon 18-200mm and it has not come off the camera. Something like this will probably serve you well for about 90% of the shots you want to take. This is a very good lens and worth the investment, in my opinion.
 
This has been a great thread (for me, anyway).

The post on the Nikon 18-200 lens sealed the deal for me: D40 and the 18-200 lens.

What about software and uploading and editing the pictures on a computer? Does the software come with the camera?

For accessories I'm thinking of a lens filter and a flash unit. Should I get anything else?
 
For you D40 pros -- have you figured out how to get the LCD screen to display what you're pointing at? At times, I like to shoot that way, but I can only use the viewfinder right now. I dug around in the menus, but nothing revealed itself. (I know, read the manual.)
 
I don't have a D40 but I believe that it's not possible.

I researched this same issue a few months ago and most of the DSLRs are like this.

I settled on the Canon Digital Rebel xTi and we have been very satisfied.
 
As to the flash, I have the SB 600 (Ken Rockwell review) which is not the top-of-the-line but has been a perfectly good flash for me. You can also take it off-camera and fire it wirelessly from the D70, not sure about the D40 but I expect the D80 would definitely support this as well.

I also have a Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer which is great for diffusing the flash or throwing it to the ceiling.

A spare battery and a good camera case, and you should be set equipment-wise.

Also, look into Adobe Lightroom (PC or Mac) or Apple Aperture (Mac only) for image cataloging and processing. They are both excellent. I run Aperture on my Macs and love it.

A note about RAW vs JPEG: if you are shooting casual stuff and don't expect to do a lot of post-processing or making prints bigger than 8x10 or so, JPEG is fine, and the file sizes are smaller. However, if you want to do a lot of adjustments or need the higher resolution for large prints, definitely shoot RAW. You can do a lot of non-destructive edits on RAW files and still retain the most image data.

Now, off you go. Make some pretty photos.
 
jimmyjazz, the consensus best RAW editing tool for Nikon DSLR's is Nikon's own Capture NX. I believe you can download a trial 30 day copy from the Nikon site.

If you already have Adobe Photoshop or Elements they both do a good job as well.
 
Dionysus, agree that the Capture NX interface isn't the slickest out there...Apple is definitely light years ahead in that regard (after all that's their core competency)....but Nikon has all the inside knowledge on exactly what's going on in those Nikon RAW files and if you read the Nikon boards the serious folks primarily use Capture NX for that reason....it produces the best possible results with Nikon RAW files.

My take is you should probably download both Lightroom or Aperture and Capture NX to see which one fits your style. Personally, I've gone back to primarily just taking JPEG's and doing a levels and/or white balance fix in Elements and be done with it. Those RAW files can get as large as 25 megs per pic and I just didn't feel like the whole exercise justified the effort and massive increase in files size for everyday family photography.

Now, if you've got some special occasion or opportunity where your likely going to want some larger prints made from your pics then RAW or RAW + JPG is possibly worth the extra hassle. The JPG's produced by the D40 or D80 (I have both) are pretty impressive on their own.
 
the main benefit of RAW is the ability to save blown out highlites.

all modern DSLR's allow you to assess the exposure of your image in real time, making this feature pretty useless in real world use. there is a significant cost to shooting in RAW (MUCH bigger file size)

Nikon meters are exceptional, they have been since I have used Nikon cameras starting in 1989. learn to use your camera properly and you (meaning Perham1) will have no need to shoot in RAW.
 
i did the same thing with my old film bodies before i jumped into the D200. its a good exercise.

If you can get good images on chrome then you can get good images with jpeg - they are approximately equal in their forgiveness.
 
The only problem I have with the D40 is that you can't easily take HDR images with it (in that it doesn't allow for bracketing). I wish there was an easy way to make up for that.
 
There seems to always be heated debate between the Nikon and Canon camps. I'd say if you can try some out, go for it and see what you like the feel of best. If you have friends or family you can swap lenses with, consider getting that brand.

I am a n00b, but we just got the new Canon XSi, and though I haven't gotten the hang of the advanced features, I am loving it.
 
Yes, it's the 450D, an upgrade from the 400D (XTi). It's 12 MP, has several of the AF modes of the 40D, uses SD cards instead of CF, has a big-*** LCD with Live View, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't comprehend.

I'd basically call it Canon's new higher-end entry level consumer DSLR. It comes with a nice kit lens for $800.

My wife likes it because it is actually a little more compact than other DSLRs (I think it's even smaller than the Nikon D40) and it is pretty easy to turn out decent images even on full auto mode.

Check out the dpreview forums for extensive discussion.
 
if you want great pictures, here are the things that are important, in order.

subject matter
exposure / focus
light
composition
timing (N/A for inanimate objects)
lens
Camera
 
Perham, if you have lenses for the Minolta Maxxum 7000, then consider getting one of the Sony DSLR's. They bought the Minolta technology, and use the Minolta lens mount. Plus, they have image stabilization built into the camera, so if you already have Maxxum lenses, you can use them and save a ton of money.
 
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