Choosing a SLR or DSLR

[variaas]

So a couple years ago I bought a regular point and shoot camera and loved taking pictures with it. Now the time has come to start making my move in to amaetur photography. I've been trying to decide whether to get a Nikon n80 (slr) - used for $350 including lens from my friend - or a DSLR from amazon (not sure which one).

I could really use some advice on what to get. I am a college student with a part time job not earning much money but am still putting some cash to the side for a camera. Should I buy the SLR camera or wait and save up some more cash and get like a $900 DSLR? I want to make photography a real hobby and incorporate into my website design business.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[DownByFive]

Speaking as a fellow college student, my advice would be to go digital. If you take a lot of pictures, you'll end up paying more in film development than the difference between a film and digital SLR. Photography is a hobby of mine, and I'm glad that I don't have to pay to print every single picture that I take. If I have a couple pictures that I want to have framed, I can just put them on a CD or upload them for printing. I also think that digital is better if you're doing web design. If you want to put film pictures up, you either have to have the lab put them on a CD (usually at an extra cost) or get a high quality scanner, which is an extra investment. So IMHO, digital photography is actually the most budget friendly option, even though the initial investment may be more...

[variaas]

Down by Five:

Thanks for the quick response and I'm thinking you're right once you consider the costs of everything. So I now it'll be post every where on the forum but in your opinion what would you consider a good camera to start with. I was thinking about the Canon Digital Rebel that is starting at 900 bucks and then get the regular 28mm-100mm lens for it. I'm trying to keep the cost under 1000 bucks just because of low funds as college student (you know what I mean ).

I'll take a look around the forums and see what other people are saying too

Thanks!

[DownByFive]

Always have to ask the sticky questions...If your budget is $900, you basically have two options, the Canon Digital Rebel or the Pentax *istDS. All things being equal, I think this one is basically a toss-up. I almost bought the Rebel and I think it's a great camera, but the *istDS also looks to be one heck of a value. If you already have either SD or CF cards, that might be the biggest influence on your decision. You'll probably also want to find a shop where you can play around with the both of them. They Rebel is pretty small and light, and the *istDS is even more so. This is good for some people and bad for others. Also, the Rebel uses proprietary batteries, and the *istDS uses AAs. Once again, good for some, bad for others...Basically, just see how each one handles and choose the one you like best, either way, you're getting a great camera.

Or you could wait a while and spring for the D70...hehe.

[variaas]

Thanks again Down by five!

You've helped me out a lot. I think I may get the canon rebel....I'll see if I can wait to save enough cash for the d70 but that'd probably require me to wait another month. It may be worth it....but I really want to get into...i'm tired of waiting!!! Hahah, but we'll see...maybe I can borrow an old SLR from a friend and play around with that a little and save up enough for the d70.

Just so I'm positive...the d70 is about 1200 bucks and is light years ahead of the digital rebel?
\

[DownByFive]

Actually, the D70 is inching its way towards $1100, and Nikon is now offering a $200 rebate on the kit. I wouldn't say it's light years ahead. It just has a few features that the Rebel doesn't like FEC, 1/500 flash sync, user selectable metering, etc...I also think the D70 is built better, but it does cost more, and the Rebel is built well enough.

[variaas]

I hope you don't mind me asking all these questions, but being new to the field I'm still learning. I took a look at buydig.com and they had the d70 with the tamron lens kit for about 1200 bucks. And one with the Nikon lens kit for almost 1500 bucks.

Here's the link: http://buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=NKD70

Are Tamron lens good or should you always go for a manufacturer made lens?

[DownByFive]

If you add the kit to your cart on the website, you'll see the real price of $1103. Subtract the $200 rebate from that and you've got a D70 with the kit lens for $900. I have a Tamron 75-300mm, and it's a good lens, just like most other Tamron lenses, but I wouldn't get the Tamron 28-80 in lieu of the kit lens. A Tamron lens at that price won't be able to match the wideness, speed, and quietness of the kit lens.

BTW, I got my D70 from www.buydig.com, and I would recommend them wholeheartedly...

[Ryguyinlj]

The digital rebel is a superb camera. And I would not say that the D70 is lightyears ahead of it. I used to work in a camera shop and I used to sell both, and both are great cameras. Personally, I didnt like the pentax too much, It just felt too light and too much like a toy.

I am also a poor college student and I got myself the digital rebel. I use it a lot, mainly for sports photography and other small freelance stuff. I will admit that the D70 is a better camera on paper, but not by a lot. It has a slightly better rate of fire and faster flash synch, but I personally like canon's CMOS sensor's renditions of colors better.

The main reason why I got the rebel as opposed to the D70 is that canon has better mid to higher end digital slr's (in my opinion) and someday I want to upgrade. I have 4 lenses now, all are canon EOS mount. Plus, I am a fan of their L series lenses, which I wish I owned....

But, I will also admit that I am slightly partial toward canon, since I have always owned canon, ever since my first 35mm manual slr.

[peted56]

The digital rebel is a superb camera. And I would not say that the D70 is lightyears ahead of it. I used to work in a camera shop and I used to sell both, and both are great cameras. Personally, I didnt like the pentax too much, It just felt too light and too much like a toy.

I am also a poor college student and I got myself the digital rebel. I use it a lot, mainly for sports photography and other small freelance stuff. I will admit that the D70 is a better camera on paper, but not by a lot. It has a slightly better rate of fire and faster flash synch, but I personally like canon's CMOS sensor's renditions of colors better.

The main reason why I got the rebel as opposed to the D70 is that canon has better mid to higher end digital slr's (in my opinion) and someday I want to upgrade. I have 4 lenses now, all are canon EOS mount. Plus, I am a fan of their L series lenses, which I wish I owned....

But, I will also admit that I am slightly partial toward canon, since I have always owned canon, ever since my first 35mm manual slr.

I can only agree with a small amount of what you say. But it sounds to me that you are trying to justify what you have done for the wrong reasons.

You bought a 300D because other cameras in the Canon range are good???

You like the Canon colors better, all this is adjustable, in camera or after!

You like L series lenses but can't afford them anyway, hardly a reason!

You bag the Pentax for being light feeling, the Pentax is most certainly built far more solidly than the 300D??? the diference is a few grams but only becomes considerable when you add the almost compulsory extra battery holder to the Canon.

You probably should have bought a second hand 10D.

Really you bought the Canon because you have had Canon before and the 300D was the cheapest option for you.

[mdmc]

variaas,
Spring for the d70 kit.
As for image quality, if you cansee much of a diferrance, youre looking through a pretty big magnifying glass. As for camera body, I would say its a scaled back pro model. this one wont leave you wanting as others will. very versatile. built in speedligt is exccelent.Fast. Did i say its Fast. as for kit lens, 18mm-70mm, f 3.5-4.5, its =to 27-105mm in terms of 35mm film cameras. 28-100 is=to42-150 on d70. the wider angle is more usefull, you cant crop to a wider view. as far as lens quality goes, its in the top 10, and if there is a better lens for the same price, its #2, if you catch my drift.
Oh alright, i could go on, Check out the reviews on this site. and if youre still not sure go to ken rockwell.com. He compares it favorably to the cannon 20d. i've finaly taken my own adviceand bought one. i paid less than a grand and got it used at keh camera brokers. their honest people. i got the kit for 949$ +shipping. no complaints.
Let me know how it goes, good luck,
Mark.
keep in mind about the included pic that its a very small web file and the noisy banding is not in the original.

[gary_hendr]

Hi you may want to look at this page which list the top 10 advanced digital cameras out there.

http://www.basic-digital-photography...l-cameras.html

[peted56]

Hi you may want to look at this page which list the top 10 advanced digital cameras out there.

http://www.basic-digital-photography...l-cameras.html

Gary ,

Although that page is interesting I don't think it gives enough info to answer his question as there is a lot of point and shoot cameras that can't really compare to an SLR camera.

If you want to compare features then use the comparison tool at www.dpreview.com

Cheers.

Pete