Help me decide on a D-SLR for a beginner.

[edsav]

Franglais,

Point taken on the 18-70mm lens; I will make sure I included it. Now as far as the camera goes will I be OK with the d50 body and the 18-70mm lens as apposed to the d70s with the 18-70mm lens? Which is a lot more money. I am a D-SLR newbee and if I can save a few hundred dollars and put it towards memory cards all the better. What do you all think? Will I be losing that much camera?

By the way I really appreciate all the help and advice I have been getting. Camera people seem to be very pleasant and helpful, especially too repeated topics.

Thanks again,

edsav

Ken Rockwell's opinion is confirmed by the reviews I've read on this lens. As usual, Nikon has come up with a lens that will delight the casual snapshooter that the D50 is aimed at.

But you aren't a casual snapshooter. You are intending to use your system more intensively. It's a tool that you will have often in your hands in the coming months and years.

And there's the problem. Plastic lenses just don't feel good and they get worse as time goes on. You may find that you become frustrated with the 18-55 and you regret that you didn't go for the 18-70 which is a really nice piece of work. Still not as nice as the f2.8 constant zooms but they cost 8 times more..

Charles

[Franglais]

Franglais,

Point taken on the 18-70mm lens; I will make sure I included it. Now as far as the camera goes will I be OK with the d50 body and the 18-70mm lens as apposed to the d70s with the 18-70mm lens? Which is a lot more money. I am a D-SLR newbee and if I can save a few hundred dollars and put it towards memory cards all the better. What do you all think? Will I be losing that much camera?

By the way I really appreciate all the help and advice I have been getting. Camera people seem to be very pleasant and helpful, especially too repeated topics.

Thanks again,

edsav

The essential functional differences between the D50 and the D70S are:

- No depth of field preview button
- Can't use the built-in flash to pilot other flashes in i-TTL mode
- No light source behind the LCD panel on the top plate
- 450 pixel exposure meter is less accurate than the 1005 pixel one on the D70 + others
- Only one control wheel instead of two

Hmm. None of these are showstoppers to start out with. I would say go with the D50 kit - even with the 18-55. And get a SB600 flash - essential if you want to do pictures of people inside or in bright sunlight. I would find the D50+18-55+SB600 much more useful than the D70S+18-70, for the same price.

In a couple of years you may have grown out of the D50 but then you'll be wanting a D200 anyway.

Charles