Help with D90 and 50D kits!

[wltb]

Hello,

I'd love to buy the 50d for all its features, but aparently the lens in the kit is not so good, so I can buy the Nikon D90 18-105 IS with the "better" lens or the Canon 50D with 28-135 IS.

Before you say buy the Canon and upgrade lens, I don't have an extra $300-500 to spend on a better lens.

What are you thoughts?

Thanks for your help!

[SmartWombat]

Kit lenses tend to be built down to a price, so that the kit comes in at the right price.
I don't rate kit lenses highly enough for it to be a buying decision.
When I bought my 20D the Canon and Nikon kit lenses were about equally awful.
Now that both kits include IS lenses, I don't think there is much between them.

To me the most important thing is how the camera feels, and how it works.
You're buying into a system, not just a body and kit lens. As soon as you invest money later on in better lenses, you're hooked.

For me, the position of the main control wheel on top of the Canon right by the shutter release was so much more usable than the Nikon placement on the front of the camera that I bought the Canon despite the Nikon feeling more comfortable in my hand.
The grip fit my small hand well, but I didn't feel as good using it.
So having spent nearly an hour in Jessops, I left and bought the 20D body only from a Canon professional retailer a couple of hours drive from home

[Photo-John]

There's nothing inherently wrong with the Canon 28-135 IS lens. I used it for years with no complaints. However, when I bought the EOS 50D, I bought the kit with the 18-200mm IS kit lens. And I've been really happy with that lens. It's got a great zoom range and it's performed really well for my mostly outdoor photography. The one problem with the 28-135mm IS lens is that the 28mm wide end has a 45mm angle-of-view on the EOS 50D. That means no real wide-angle photography. So with the Nikon you get wide, but you give up the reach of the 28-I35mm IS. Optically, the Nikon may be better. But that's not really something I'd worry much about. The 28-135mm is an absolutely proven lens. Is it the best ever? Nope. But it's not a crappy kit lens, either.

But I'm not done.

If you aren't invested in either system, do as SmartWombat suggests and try them both on for size, And then consider that the Nikon D90 blows the 50D out of the water as far as high ISO image quality goes. Frankly, the EOS 50D image quality disappointed me. Not that it's bad. But I'd already used the Nikon D90 (testing in the studio for a review). And at high ISO the EOS 50D doesn't come close.

So does that mean the Nikon D90 is a no-brainer? Not at all. The most important consideration is still the system you're investing in - unless you're never going to buy another camera body or lens. Like SmartWombat, I am more comfortable with the controls on the Canon cameras. I will happily use a Nikon body. But I've been using Canon for so long that it just feels like home. And I also really like the Canon system. Nikon's system is also awesome. But I'm just more comfortable with Canon because I've been using them so long. Nikon has the current edge as far as image quality goes. But Canon will come back.

If the system isn't an important consideration, then I encourage you to look at Olympus, Sony, and Pentax. The truth is, there are no bad digital SLRs now. They're all excellent. It's just what shade of excellent and what kind of features and system you want that matters. Sony, Pentax, and Olympus aren't as popular. But they all make great cameras and they all have built-in image stabilization. So you get the benefit of image stabilization no matter what lens you're using. That's invaluable, in my opinion.

[SmartWombat]

If I was making the decision again today, with the competition to what was almost a Canon/Nikon duopoly, I would probably choose Sony.

[Photo-John]

If I was making the decision again today, with the competition to what was almost a Canon/Nikon duopoly, I would probably choose Sony.

And you know how much I use the Olympus DSLRs. You really can't go wrong these days. It's easy to get caught up in the hype and start judging cameras on their micro differences. But it's crazy what you get for your money now.

[wltb]

Thank you very much!

I guess the topic could go on and on, but I think I've decided to buy the Nikon D90 body only and with some extra cash buy the 18-200mm and be done.

But haven't purchased yet so who knows what I'll do later today.

[Grandpaw]

Thank you very much!

I guess the topic could go on and on, but I think I've decided to buy the Nikon D90 body only and with some extra cash buy the 18-200mm and be done.

But haven't purchased yet so who knows what I'll do later today.

I have the D80 with the Nikon 18-200vr lens and I am extremely happy with it. If you get the D90 and that lens your making an excellent choice. That combination will cover everything you probably need for some time, Jeff

[Franglais]

Thank you very much!

I guess the topic could go on and on, but I think I've decided to buy the Nikon D90 body only and with some extra cash buy the 18-200mm and be done.

But haven't purchased yet so who knows what I'll do later today.

That seems like a good choice. I have the 18-200 and the D300 (almost the same sensor as the D90) and they go well together. The resolution is slightly less than other lenses I've owned (18-70, 16-85VR, 28-70 f2.8) but in practice it's more than enough.

[Photo-John]

Thank you very much!

I guess the topic could go on and on, but I think I've decided to buy the Nikon D90 body only and with some extra cash buy the 18-200mm and be done.

But haven't purchased yet so who knows what I'll do later today.

I think that's a great choice. I love the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens for general and outdoor photography. Combine it with the high ISO capability of the D90, and you've got a really powerful and flexible, compact, all-purpose DSLR kit.

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