Looking for camera for my wife.

[KoolAide187]

I plan on buying a camera for my wife because she wants to get into photography pretty soon. I am going to buy her a book on it and I would like to know what should I look for in a camera so she will get professional quality pictures that you would pay from a professional photographer. I know megapixels is a big thing but how many are we talking? Do all professional camera's have the motion photography where you hold down the button and it keeps snapping off pictures? Thanks for the help. By the way... i'd like it to be under 2 grand if possible and any suggestions are welcome.

[KoolAide187]

anybody? anybody wanna help?

[KoolAide187]

Really? 26 views and nobody knows anything?

[rylan]

i dont think mega pixels is a huge issue unless you will be printing the photos in a large size. ummm theres tons of DSLR camera out there for way under 2000$ i know the Canon Rebel Xti retails for about i think like 799 here in canada, and the rebel XT for 599ish
i know canon and nikon are great camera manufacturers and i also know you cant go wrong with either. will you be buying online or at a local store?

[KoolAide187]

I plan on buying online most likely. I'll do the research on finding a good deal in the near future but I am looking for something that is going to be great quality, will have a lot of nifty settings for exposure, maybe a time laps, multi shot, and the regular black & white stuff. I don't mind spending over 1 grand but I want to find something that will be good to have 5 years from now and have everything I need. I am sure i'll have to buy one of those big flashes that attach to the top of the camera. Unless maybe one of them has one built in.

[KoolAide187]

What's the diff in picture quality of a Canon Digital Rebel XTi to a Canon EOS 40D? I mean the EOS 40D is about 600 dollars more than the other but will I get the same quality pictures or what? What am I paying the extra 600 dollars for if they will both give me professional quality pictures?

[Frog]

The 40D is newer. Both good cameras but I'm a Nikon guy so don't know specifics.
When you start shopping on line be sure to see our dealer feedback forum to avoid the rip off places.
Just about all Dslr will have all the settings you'll want plus more. They all have multi shot(frames per second) capability though some have more than others. I think they all have black and white capability but most photographers convert to black and white in post editing. It comes out better. Time lapse is available on some and not others. I think xti has it but not sure. Anything below D200 won't have it for Nikon but D200 and up do.
The statement that concerns me is that you want to spend up to 2,000 and have everything you need. That will never happen. You'll have everything you need until you want to do low light and find out you need a faster lens and/or tripod. Then you find out on camera flash doesn't really cut it and you need to buy a flash. And of course memeory cards, cleaning kits, long lens, short lens, filters, diffusers, editing program,etc.
There's no way to tell how much you'll need and believe me they will continue to come up with stuff. I think I spent about 1800 on my original purchase and have spent at least that since and I don't have the high quality "pro" lenses as it's a hobby for me. Lenses are where most of your expense will come if you need the high quality necessary to be professional.
I'm getting from your post that this might be a surprise gift. I advise against that as what a photographer prefers is really a personal choice.
What experience does your wife have?
What type of photography does she want to do?
Do you have a camera now? What brand? Is it a dslr with lenses?
Have you looked into Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus? All make good cameras and have their own followings.
Don't mean to overwhelm you but just want you to get an idea of what you're getting into.
And I really, really, want you to bring it up with your wife and find out what she wants/needs.
Best of luck and don't give up but keep coming back and ask questions. Read the reviews section on dif cameras, ask more questions and learn the vocabulary.

[KoolAide187]

Basically she loves taking pictures but she wants to get the professional quality that you would go out and spend 300 bucks on from a professional photographer. She wants to be able to do it as a hobby by inviting over friends and family and sitting them down for an hour and go through several different poses and stuff then turn around and give them pictures as presents or whatever with professional quality printing. I mean I don't have a problem going to walmart to get picture perfect quality or whatever but I'd like to buy a printer that could do it just as good as walmart. Right now we have a little digital 130 dollar camera it's just a hand held small one that fits in her purse and we connect it to the computer when we want to get pictures off it. That's good and all but the quality we are looking for needs to be much better then one of those cameras. I don't have a problem buying new lenses and what not but I just need to know if what is a good camera under 2k that will do it. If I can get a camera for 600-700 dollars that will give me that quality even better. Even if I have to spend another grand on lenses and stuff as long as it will do it. I am sure she will end up buying alittle bit at a time once she has it.

[Frog]

Only thing I can add is that Walmart does ok for family snap shots but if you want pro printing I'd go to mpix or adorama or others.
It's generally cheaper to have prints made than to print them on your own printer...ink isn't cheap.
I'm hoping others with more knowledge will chime in here.

[KoolAide187]

That is good to know. Will a 600 dollar camera give professional quality pictures like I am talking about though? With or without a new lense?

[mn shutterbug]

What is your definition of "professional quality"? There are plenty of advanced dslr like point and shoot cameras on the market these days that will give awesome results. You can find some excellent ones for under $300. They come with zooms up to 12X and more and plenty of megapixels and 3 fps in high speed. They have manual settings for total control by the photographer. This may not be such a bad way for your wife to get started. Unless she is going to open a studio or go into this as a profession, she may be totally happy with this type of setup.

But, if you have the bucks and don't mind spending them on speculation, $600 will buy you a good camera, without a lens. Good lenses can run aywhere from a few hundred to many thousands. Also, for most people, one or two lenses is never enough.

[KoolAide187]

Thanks for the help guys.

[rovowen]

I'm fairly new to this hobby. Getting my first Dslr about 18 months ago. But will tell you a little about what I have done.
First, I looked at the XT and Xti but found that my stubby short, "fat" fingers didn't fit the camera to my liking. So, purhased the Canon 20D. The 20D does have faster frames per second. But after many months realize that its not really that important for the hobbyist. When I first got my 20D, and not really knowing anything, I had it set up as if it were an expensive P & S. The 20D has a loud mirror slap, seems not to hurt anything but is loud. At first I loved to hear that noise and would use my camera as if it were a machine gun. Shooting off as many as16 to 20 shots in just several seconds. Not getting many great shots but got a lot of them. After on this short of time I now have over 180,000 actuations on the camera. Supposely that is a lot for a 20D but still is going strong.
Now, I shoot a lot of in-door sports and use bounce flash with a Canon 430 flash. Now only shoot one frame at a time.
I feel that any Dslr will give you good quality photos, but the glass is what you need. Go and look at all the brands, even the 4/3rd cameras. Then decide what you like and go with that system.

rovowen