Buying a digital SLR

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Buying a digital SLR

Postby Sorrow on Sun Aug 24, 2008 11:29 pm

So, I'm willing to buy a digital SLR (which should be a step up from the SLR I'm using right now) but... I only have a budget of around 400-500 Euros (which is probably 600 + dollars or so hehe) errr, any people here who have some knowledge about cameras and who can recommend one? or perhaps tell me which one NOT to buy?

I've used a Canon EOS 3000 so far and it has served me well but I need a digital one for easy PS stuff and manipulation and such.

much appreciated guys!

-must add that I'm looking for vivid colours and extreme sharpness if possible :D (who isn't these days though... there are probably people who get off on noisy pictures)
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby otihome2469 on Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:26 am

I heard pentax makes some great cameras for a cheap price. However I have most experience with the cannon rebel XTi which for some reason people absolutely hate lol. rebel's go for 600 bucks.
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby JakeParlay on Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:05 am

i'd recommend going canon or nikon... you'll have so many more lens choices down the road if you stick to the big 2 manufacturers. Also, I'd recommend stretching your budget as far as you can go. Lenses can be bought, traded, rented, etc. with ease, but your core camera will be with you for years (so don't skimp!)

my only regret on buying a canon rebel xt a few years back is that now I have a decent entry-level SLR ($500) with a handful of top-notch lenses I've accumulated that are probably worth triple that. If I could go back in time, I would have waited another few months and gotten a notch or two better than entry-level camera
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Mr-Jigsaw on Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:21 am

I'd also suggest Nikon. I've used a couple of different Nikons for over eight years now, they're great. Plus, I think I've seen a good-featured one at 10 megapixel right in your price range. It might have been a D40x or a D60 maybe...
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby punky on Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:54 am

Canon is the way to go! I'm using the EOS 30D for a few years now and I'm really happy with it,
Their newest camera is the 400D, which looks kind of similar :)
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby rSnow on Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:19 pm

otihome2469 wrote:However I have most experience with the cannon rebel XTi which for some reason people absolutely hate lol. rebel's go for 600 bucks.


the next generation - the rebel XSi - also goes for $699

i haven't used it, i personally have an XTi and it feels great.

My advice is to stick with the same company. from my experience, if you have used a canon, another canon would feel better. if you have used a nikon, another nikon will feel better.
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Inveramsay on Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:17 pm

I have used canon slr before getting my first canon digital slr and it was no different really.

I got the 350D and have been happy since, if you have lenses for the old camera these will fit the new one if they are the same make. I'd avoid the canon 300D though as I've heard some problems with it that it wasn't really built to withstand the thousands of exposures a dslr gets although I doubt you'd find one of those these days. I rarely feel that the 8mp I get in the 350D is too little but that may be just me. If you can get the 400D I'd get that.

Also, I'd say get a better camera rather than lenses initially. The one that comes with the camera may not be the sexiest but it'll do the job. When you get more into it you'll buy another one to suit more long distance needs. I replaced my 18-55 with a 18-125 which fits my needs way better since I'm not really in places where I want to start exchanging lenses.

Also stay on the lookout for bundles where you get the camera with a better lens than the stock one or another one.
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Dionysos on Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:23 pm

Got a Nikon D40, it was relatively cheap and Im very pleased with it. Suits my needs well (first SLR), and well, dont have anything to complain about really...
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Sorrow on Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:49 pm

So I went around and did it, bought an EOS 450D, currently have the stock lens on but am planning on buying a sigma 17-70 lens which should be superior with the relatively cheap price of E270,-
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Lord Ned on Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:15 pm

I have a Rebel XSI (Cannon) And i'm loving it. Some people say they've had problems with the AF (Defective Camera) but i've yet to have problems. It's nice and light, cost 699$ with 18-55mm lens.

It's almost too light at the start, then you put the lens on and it's the perfect weight. Has all the options I've needed, etc.


My only critique is that it doesn't take 4096x4096 pictures. It's like 4500x3900 or so.

Will post pictures from mine when I get home, currently can't get to the pictures. (Blocked. D:)
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby JakeParlay on Fri Sep 19, 2008 2:03 am

Sorrow wrote:So I went around and did it, bought an EOS 450D, currently have the stock lens on but am planning on buying a sigma 17-70 lens which should be superior with the relatively cheap price of E270,-


hooray! good choice :) i have a sigma 10-20mm (or is it 22) to go with my canon, which I really like. dont forget polarizing lens filters. they are cheap, and really help with daytime shots
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Penney on Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:48 pm

Good choice, but I've gone pentax but thinking of going Nikon but I don't take enough photos to give a shit. The most I've done with my camera for money was take business's pictures which almost any SLR given the right equipment will do just fine.

I have last years Pentax K10D. The great thing I like about it is I picked up two nice but older lenses. The built in image stabelization is a big bonus too.

The lenses I got came from the back of my store, one is a 1:40/50 1970 hunk of metal macro that looks like if I threw it at anything it would kill/mame or break someone or something

The other is a really nice 50mm F1.7 old school pentax that looks like it was manufactured around the same time period. Both do an excellent job especially for being free. You'd be supprised how many people I've sold pentax's to who have relitives who have much older pentax lenses.

The two things I find to be the best features of the Pentax line of dSLR's is the backwards compatability with much older lenses. Anything from 1976 and up is a go, even screw mount as long as you get the adapter ring, valued between 20 - 30 bucks.

I wouldn't go canon though just because I work too much with canon on a business front, their a fucking mess and nightmare, don't retail end of it any comission unless you sell so many 10's of thousands of dollars a year, plus their stuff is totally over priced. It's good quality equipment but they really give people the shaft on lenses and flashes especially aswell as batteries. Replacement battery for your camera say is close to $100, the identical battery without the name stamped all over it is really $50 from a non known name company. Their ex flashes are another good example. The 430 EX II sells for 369.00 but I can get a Metz flash (Who've been making flashes for decades on a professional level) for 249.99 which is about the same power as the canon. Canon doesn't even manufacture any of their flashes, their made by Nissan, but that's true with both Pentax and Nikon aswell as probably other companies. They just pay x company to produce x product and stamp their company name all over it. Another prime example with Canon is their lenses. I've seen several lenses with huge price gap inbetween the image stabelized feature and not. One I can't remember the exact specs of (think it was a 70-300 2.8) was about $350 without image stabelization, the one with IS was about $799. Non of the common camera companies even make their own glass for lenses, they buy it all from Hoya Corp. who just in the last year bought out Pentax. This is a world where you do get what you pay for, and with canon you're paying for a name who doesn't really like to service their own product anyways, 1 year warrenty, ew. Nikon + Pentax = 2 year warrenty = sex

A lot of people don't know much about Sony and Minolta either. Here it is: One day Minolta woke up in the middle of the digital boom and said "we're not doing this anymore" and sold all their tech and patents to Sony, who didn't buy their technicians or their experiance. And that's why a Sony dSLR takes the same mount as a Minolta lense has.

Personally working in the camera business I've grown to frown on photography, all my life, it's going nowhere fast and makes me want to vomit all over canon especially. Camera companies don't make much on cameras anymore, they make more on accesories (LENSES!)

Sorry for ranting and perhaps spoiling your fun! Take some good pictures though. Just remember to store them somewhere actually safe, you know like the good old Gold surface CD's we sell here at Camera Corner Foto Source, it's about the only thing we make money on anymore :)
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Lord Ned on Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:24 am

Haha, I just tried my mom's ages old external flash, and it works perfectly with my camera.
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Penney on Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:14 pm

I'd definetly be very careful, film external flashes work on a different voltage then what dSLR hot shoes are made for, I've heard of a lot of people using them fine except what can happen without a voltage adapter is it may trip and backfire and blow the flash circuitry, not a fun $150 - $200 experiance.
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Re: Buying a digital SLR

Postby Lord Ned on Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:00 pm

=o


Why would the film flash be putting anything into the camera? It's just taking the output from the camera. (Not even voltage)

Regardless thanks for the info.
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