buying my first dslr

[slayer7124]

hey guys, i just had some questions for you concerning a dslr camera. im new to this site and new to using a dslr camera. ive been looking at the nikon d80 as well as the canon xti. ive looked everywhere on reviews and whatnot and see that the nikon d80 seems far superior than canon. i currently have a canon powershot A620 digital camera. i'll mainly use the dslr camera for nature shots, vacations, etc. i just wanted to know which one would be best. also with the nikon, what lenses would be the best? ive seen kits with nikkor, sigma and tamron lenses, all 28-80mm and 70-300mm lenses. ive looked at reviews for the lenses as well and it seems you can go either way with all of them.

any feedback will be much appreciated.
thanks!

[Frog]

Which body is best is a toss up. We have deidicated nikon users and dedicated canon.
Even Olympus and Pentax.
All have advantages and disadvantages. Most common advice is to go somewhere where you can hold each and see which one feels best.
I'm pretty sure you can still get the 18-135 lens with the D-80 which is the lens I got with mine last August. Its a great carry around lens, light, fast, and quiet. Does have some vignetting problems wide open so you have to watch your f/stop.

[slayer7124]

yea, ive been to best buy and tried them out. im used to the canon set up with menus and changing the options, but i would need the manuals for either of them to really figure it all out. i'll probably be buying one within a week so im trying to get some last minute info and advice. thanks!

[Franglais]

hey guys, i just had some questions for you concerning a dslr camera. im new to this site and new to using a dslr camera. ive been looking at the nikon d80 as well as the canon xti. ive looked everywhere on reviews and whatnot and see that the nikon d80 seems far superior than canon. i currently have a canon powershot A620 digital camera. i'll mainly use the dslr camera for nature shots, vacations, etc. i just wanted to know which one would be best. also with the nikon, what lenses would be the best? ive seen kits with nikkor, sigma and tamron lenses, all 28-80mm and 70-300mm lenses. ive looked at reviews for the lenses as well and it seems you can go either way with all of them.

any feedback will be much appreciated.
thanks!

I think that the best lens to start out with for the D80 is the 18-70 (I have one). It is reasonably cheap, well-made (metal lens mount) and has no optical defaults (I've tried to find them). I use it sometimes for my semi-pro stuff.

The 28-80 lenses that you see in kits are designed for film so they don't have the resolution necessary for the 10Mpix sensor of the D80. Plus the zoom range is wrong for a DSLR. 28mm gives you a "normal" view of your subjects - you have no wide-angle possibilities (this is where the 18mm setting of the 18-70 and 18-135 come in). This is a serious problem for some landscapes, group pictures, interiors, etc.