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Thread: First DSLR

  1. #1
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    Default First DSLR

    I'm a total noob, I have been using a Canon A540 and A610 and would like to move up to a SLR. I have been looking at the:
    Canon XT, XTi, 10D
    Nikon D40, D40x, D80.
    Most of the pictures I take are of my work, so alot of interior house stuff. I would also like to be able to go to the CMRA races and snap some far shots also. Help me out here guys/girls. Do I really need 10MP? Is buying used a smart idea? What are the must have accessories to go with it.

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    Megapixels depend on what you do. The larger the number the more information you have towards making a bigger print or manipulaitng the picture. (IE: crop) Since all DSLR have RAW modes then it really doesn't matter for what I do

    I started on film and held out until the XT was released from Canon. I am currently selling the camera and have to say the camera is great for everything that I shoot.

    The most important thing I would have to say DSLR can do over point-and-shoot is take quick actions shots.

    My canon does 2.8 frames per second and so does the XTi and the Nikon models. The XTi, D series all have a 2.5 inch screen on the back but they are just used for accessing the menu or reviewing the picture. Not that important of an upgrade.

    The Xti is the only one with a vibrating filter that will knock off dust that is stuck on it. Problem is, dust is still inside so it will eventually stick again....

    If you do want to do zoom shots you are gonna need a zoom lens with anti-shake. I think Canon has a 70-300mm with IS where as the Nikon is a 70-300 VR which are compariable at ~700 bucks

    I'm happy with the XT but I have to move on.
    My FS thread is here
    http://forums.beyond.ca/st/175949/fs...rand-new-lens/

    and here is a link with a chart to compare the cameras you were looking at
    http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/comp...n_d80&show=all


    BTW: i would stay away from the D40 and D40x, neither models have an autofocus motor in the body. That means down the road if you picked up a nikon regular lens (AF line) you loose auto focus feature and have to manualy focus all the lens....
    Last edited by Pihsiak; 05-18-2007 at 03:01 AM.

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    Wow these threads are a dime a dozen these days. As i always say i have an XTi and have loved it since day one. The larger pixel count is nice because you can crop photos after to get a better effect and the quality is still there.

    The XT is also a great choice as it pretty much has all the same features at the XTi minus a few and costs significantly less.
    -U

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    Do you need 10MP? No. You can make nice 20X30 prints with 6mp.

    The best piece of advice I can give is to step back and look at the whole picture. You are buying a system, not just a camera. In fact, your camera body will probably last you the least amount of time compared to everything else you buy.

    First I would consider what feels best in your hand, as your the one who has to hold it all day long. In my opinion, the xt/xti felt cheap, was way to small, and my pointer finger did not rest on the shutter button, I had to move it forward every time. I found this extremely annoying. Do the xt/xti take great pictures still? Definitely. The 30D, however, feels much better in my hand but my finger still doesn't rest on the shutter button. It's also due for a replacement.

    Second I would consider what kinds of lenses you plan on buying, and how much you like to spend. Nikon offers alot more entry level lenses with pro-like features and image quality. They have VR and surprisingly good image quality associated with alot of their beginner lenses. Nikon also offers the amazing 18-200 VR lens if you want a one-lens solution for vacations or whatever. You would be able to get some pretty impressive lenses covering a very broad range from Nikon for very reasonable prices. I'm willing to bet not many people here could tell the difference of a regular picture taken with a 70-300VR ($589) and a 70-200VR f2.8 ($1800), although there are significant differences in build and speed. Once you get into the real high end stuff, Canon and Nikon are both outstanding. Also, Nikon gives you better kit lenses, but by no means do you HAVE to buy a kit.

    Nikon has a better/more advanced flash system, and amazing little flashes for good prices (i.e. the SB-600, less than $200).

    I personally went with the D80. It felt the best in my hands, had the most features of any camera near it's price range, and was built noticibly better (in my opinion) than the XT/XTi. It won popular photography's 10MP shootout. Also, I had a massive selection of outstanding lenses for reasonable prices (eg. 70-300VR, 50mm f1.8) to choose from. The D80 also will act as a wireless commander for external flashes. You'd never know the body is mostly plastic either, it feels way better than that. It also has unreal battery life, Nikon claims 1800 pictures/charge with minimal usage of the back LCD screen. Oh, its 3FPS too.

    If I were you, I'd go with the D80 if you can easily afford it. The D40/x is a great little camera, but it can't use lenses without an AF motor in it (unless you MF), it doesn't have a Top LCD, it has only 3 focus points, it doesn't have many dedicated hard buttons for changing common things, and is too small for my hands (but that's personal). In defence of the D40, however, a ton of great lenses have an AF motor, including any new lenses they make, and it's $800 cheaper than a D80.

    Also, you will get the hang of and learn to appreciate most of the features extremely fast, so don't worry about learning how to use even the more expensive/advanced cameras. You will get right into it I'm sure.

    Anyways thats just what I did when I was in your exact situation, and my personal reasons for doing so according to my many months of research.

    EDIT: Whatever camera you buy, pick up Peter iNova's E-book on it. It will teach you every conceivable thing about your camera, and teach you a TON about photoshop.
    Last edited by Mitsu3000gt; 05-18-2007 at 08:51 AM.

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    Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt

    The best piece of advice I can give is to step back and look at the whole picture. You are buying a system, not just a camera.
    This is a wise statement. But quite honestly, BOTH nikon and canon will give you MORE than enough options for the amateur and even the advanced amateur.

    My only note is if you want to go ALL OUT pro, I would buy into the canon system. Their strategy of the near future is to bring out cameras to leave the competition behind. A recent statement from the president of canon pointed out that back in 1961 the seven main Japanese camera companies were all about the same scale. Today Canon’s sales and profits are larger than all seven combined.

    That doesn't mean that they automatically have better cameras... but it gives you an idea of the scale of their operations and likely have more into R&D than anyone else, making them the wiser choice for the future imo.

    As I said, if you aren't planning on going pro, then just ignore the last couple paragraphs and choose whatever you want. I would even look into Pentax if you weren't planning on getting serious.

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    Just as a sidenote, Canon's 70-300 IS is $699, while Nikon's is $589. Both are quite good lenses, but I think you get a little more value out of something like a D80 + 70-300 than you do out of, say, a Rebel XTi + 70-300 or what have you.
    keegan
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    If he's gonna take pictures of races outdoors why on earth does he need Stabilization? If you do any type of panning you have to turn the stabilizer off unless you have a special panning mode IS. In fact, a lot of motorsports shooters don't even like the panning mode IS either so they turn it off completely.

    And if you don't want to pan, then you'll need to shoot a really high shutters to freeze race speeds, which renders stabilization useless.

    Get an amazing quality telephoto without a stabilizer. Like the Canon 70-200 F/4. VERY VERY VERY sharp lens. The sharpest of the 4 in the 70-200 lineup. (I don't know what the nikon equivalent is...)

    Then you'll need an ultra wide if you wanna do indoors stuff. There are options in both canon, nikon, and 3rd party for that from 10mm to 24mm.

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    The 70-300VR, and I think anything with VRII has pan-detection. I used it and got some awesome pictures of cars at last secret streets (at least I was happy with them ) I did not try panning without VR, however.

    The Nikon equivalent to canon's 70-200 non-IS is probably the 80-200 2.8, which is a great lens as well.

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    i think you mean the 70-200mm 2.8 L canon lens. I don't really know if the 80-200mm nikon lens is better though, it would be a toss up. Its an awesome lens. I don't think a 6mp camera would give good pictures at 20x30 though. at least in my opinion, it would get grainy at that size. The reason I went with canon is simply because after you want to upgrade the upper level canon cameras offer more flexibility.
    Last edited by imola_dreams; 05-18-2007 at 12:04 PM.

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    Originally posted by imola_dreams
    i think you mean the 70-200mm 2.8 L canon lens. I don't really know if the 80-200mm nikon lens is better though, it would be a toss up. Its an awesome lens. I don't think a 6mp camera would give good pictures at 20x30 though. at least in my opinion, it would get grainy at that size. The reason I went with canon is simply because after you want to upgrade the upper level canon cameras offer more flexibility.
    There was a thread a while back about an amzing 20X30 print made by a 4mp camera, I'm pretty sure 6MP is just fine.

    By more flexibility are you talking about moving to a FF camera? If this is your plan you can only buy EF lenses right?

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    I already bought the full frame and I only have ever bought EF lenses ironically. I've only had my 5d for a couple days now but i'm loving everything about it. The print could look good but not crystal clear.

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    Originally posted by imola_dreams
    i think you mean the 70-200mm 2.8 L canon lens. I don't really know if the 80-200mm nikon lens is better though, it would be a toss up. Its an awesome lens. I don't think a 6mp camera would give good pictures at 20x30 though. at least in my opinion, it would get grainy at that size. The reason I went with canon is simply because after you want to upgrade the upper level canon cameras offer more flexibility.
    Nikon 80-200 is closer to the 70-200 f/4L pricewise than the 70-200 f/2.8L. The Canon f/4L sits between the Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6VR and 80-200 f/2.8 in terms of price, while the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 rests between the Nikon 80-200 and 70-200VR.

    Nikon and Canon's teles seem to sidestep each other pricewise, though the Nikons seem to have better value for money in the f/2.8 range, but don't directly compete with the f/4L

    Different strategies, as usual.

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    Thanks so much everybody.
    I also found a Canon 20D, I'm guessing this would be compareable to the D80.

    The package comes with a Sigma 70-300mm APO telephoto. Would this be an ok starter lense for some long distance shots?

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    Originally posted by Spike_16v
    Thanks so much everybody.
    I also found a Canon 20D, I'm guessing this would be compareable to the D80.

    The package comes with a Sigma 70-300mm APO telephoto. Would this be an ok starter lense for some long distance shots?
    The differences between the 20D and 30D are minimal, I think the 20D didn't have spot metering and a couple more things like a smaller LCD as well.

    The 30D has 5fps shooting, the D80 3fps, and the 30D has a magnesium body and is a bigger/heavier camera. Neither are whether sealed. The D80 has more features than those cameras, is cheaper, and I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the Nikon was made out of plastic. That is my opinion anyways. Nikon apparently is also supposed to be releasing some new lenses over the next little while I read as well, but who knows

    If your like me, once you have tried a VR/IS lens you won't want to buy anything else. You especially need this on the long end (i.e. 300mm) and even more importantly if the lens not very fast and there isn't a whole lot of sunlight the difference is amazing.

    I'd buy the D80 for your best possible value for the dollar purchase IMO, same goes for their lenses and flashes. Cannot be beat for the price, and their as good or better than Canon's equivalent price offerings in most cases IMO until you get into the real high end stuff and then its all amazing.
    Last edited by Mitsu3000gt; 05-18-2007 at 03:28 PM.

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    Originally posted by Spike_16v
    Thanks so much everybody.
    I also found a Canon 20D, I'm guessing this would be compareable to the D80.

    The package comes with a Sigma 70-300mm APO telephoto. Would this be an ok starter lense for some long distance shots?
    20D is a very good camera, the Sigma is also a good starter telephoto. How much are they asking for the package?

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    It was 975 with a tripod and 1gb card. It sold before I could snag it up.
    There is a 20D with the kit lense for 995. Is this too much for this camera?

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    canadian or american? american way too much. And the 1gb card is worthless so don't really let that factor into the situation. I shoot using a 12gb card simply because the smaller cards can't fit enough raw images on them. 1gb card is something like 60 raw photos.

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    Originally posted by Spike_16v
    It was 975 with a tripod and 1gb card. It sold before I could snag it up.
    There is a 20D with the kit lense for 995. Is this too much for this camera?
    I think benyl still has his 20D for sale. PM him. It's barely been used.

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    It was Canadian.

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    Ok, so right now it's between the D80, and the 30D.

    I'm leaning towards the D80. The question I have is should I get the 18-70 kit, 18-135 kit or the body and the 55-200 VR lense.

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