Okay, here's the teacher in me speaking.
Always consider buying tips for anything carefully.

When someone says, "(Insert brand name here) is the best system for digital photography." It is an opinion because it cannot be proven to be true for all variables. If they had said, "Popular Photography states that "(insert brand name here) is the best system for digital photography," and one can point to the words in print proving the magazine did indeed publish that opinion, then it would be a fact.

Another example:
A well-established photographer claims "The Brand TX is a fine choice."
Is that fact or opinion? _________ (hint: Can it be proven for all variables?)

So . . . if I say, I prefer Nikon over Brand TX, that's my opinion. If someone else goes and says, "Juan said he prefers Nikon over Brand TX," all anyone would need to do is find where I stated that to prove it, thus making it a fact. Additionally, I tell you that the Technical Image Press Association chose the Nikon D50 as the Best Entry Level D-SLR, you just need to follow the links to find it factual. (and to see I've left out the Canon awards, but it sounds like you're looking into entry level anyway.)

What I tell my students is to always be wary of words like "best," "great," "awful," "lousy," etc. Those should be triggers that there's a potential opinion ahead.

</teacher rant>

-Juan

 

Yes, all the recent "EOS" lenses fit the Digital Rebel & 30D. The main difference is that these cameras have a digital sensor (equivalent to film) that is smaller than the 24x36mm frame common on 35mm film. The size ratio is 1.6:1. The practical effect of this is that the image is cropped, looking like it was taken with a lens 1.6 times longer than it really is.

Canon has some newer lenses just for the digital cameras. Since the image area doesn't need to be as big, the lens can be made smaller & lighter (and cheaper).

You may have seen me shooting with a 20D (the Rebel's bigger brother, now rendered obsolete by the 30D), and I always travel with an army of lenses: 10-22mm, 17-85mm, 28-135mm and 100-400mm. At the next DCMM event I can show you how the different lenses work. And if you have fetched them from home, we can use my 20D to see how they work!

On the Canon vs Nikon issues, if anyone has some existing lenses, get the digital body that can use them. Otherwise, look carefully at Canon (it wins IMHO). The camera body will be replaced by a newer, better, faster in a couple of years but lenses never become obsolete. I have many more $$$ invested in glass than in the camera.

BTW, I have a couple of good pix from the Dragon of your new blue dragon top and of you & Sally watching the pano photographer.

Regards, Tom

 

In addition, I recommend Phil Askey's DPREVIEW web site for news on all the facets of digital photography. He has forums for just about any camera you can imagine, as well as in depth reviews of new products. Surf on over to http://www.dpreview.com/.

My personal Canon photos can be seen at http://www.pbase.com/tomcat. One of my personal favorite series involves a pileated woodpecker & a "lawn gnome" plaster cat in my back yard. The series can be seen here.

 

Yes, that's a great site as well...great photos in your gallery!

 

i love this shot, what lens are you using? the depth of the sky is amazing and great use of the rule of thirds!

somewhat along the same lines...
i think it's great that people are posting samples of their cameras, but for the potential buyer who wants to purchase a camera (body and lens) i think it would be helpful to include the lens info in case some one wants to research and see if it is in their budget. it wouldn't be fair to show someone who's looking to spend $1000-$1500 and sell them on a certain brand by displaying samples from a $3k camera and a $1k lens.

nirmit

 

thanks Call i'm a casual/hobbyist photographer that's just begun to take photography seriously. i wish i had more time/money to dedicate to it and possibly turn into a career but it's not in the cards for me now. i have noticed some great photographers here and it's great to see some of the shots that are posted in the galleries and forums (some within this thread). while people can learn tools such as a camera/lens and software like photoshop. i've always pride myself in composition because visualization is something one can not be taught or learned and is one of the more (if not most) important function for a picture at relaying a message/statement.

 

I recommend the D50..
yes it does lack some features from the D70.. but nothing major.

I have used D70, 70s, 50, D2h, D2hs, D2x, (no d200 yet.) 5d, 10d.. etc.. (canon gears are my cousins with all the L lenses.. )

I liked the D50 the best for easy of use and the quality of pictures it produces.. the dynamic range, detail, and many others things from D50 is just amazing.

If I were you, I would get the D50, 18-70 kit lens, sb-800, and a large memory card.

 

My needs are for landscape photography and full frame sensors which are well outside of your budget, so I'll give no specific camera recommendations. That said, as you can see from the others, almost any camera can take amazing photos. It doesn't matter whether it's a Nikon or Canon or Pentax even; in the proper hands amazing results can be had. Just remember that the camera is a tool used for your creative ideas. Almost all of us here have picked the same transportation tool and love it, but it doesn't mean it works for everyone. The trick is to figure out which tool works best for you.

Some other key things to consider that I've learned:
1. Purchase a camera that can shoot in RAW mode. You may not use it initially, but as you get experience with it, you'll use it exclusively. It will always yield better photos. Budget for a large memory card that will allow you to shoot RAW photos too.

2. The camera body is typically the cheapest part of a SLR system. Yeah, I know that sounds strange, but you'll eventually aquire quite a collection of lenses, flashes, tripods, extra batteries and memory, then computer upgrades so you can run photoshop better, etc. I don't mean to scare you because all this comes in time and as funds allow. Just keep this in mind when picking the camera body. Look at the camera design and style of the whole manufacturer's product line because you may be upgrading someday. Lenses can typically be used with future camera bodies.

3. Many years ago when I got more serious about photography, I picked up a used Oly all-in-one fixed lens SLR. My photos really sucked and I blamed it all on the camera's limitations. Looking at a friends photo album with amazing photos showed me the need to move to a true SLR. I spent a bunch of money purchasing a great SLR lenses to go with it. Guess what, my photos still sucked just as bad! This time however I had to face facts and accept that I sucked, not the camera. I was on the road 80% of the time in those days, so I started to read some books to help me out with composition and how to use an SLR in various conditions. Photography is much easier now with DSLRs, but the same basics still apply (right MarkS! ). You had asked about books and these would be my suggestions:
Anything by Freeman Patterson, especially "The art of seeing".
For inspiration and great info on how to get a breathtaking photo, find some of the books written by Galen Rowell (he's done photos for many books, but you want one that he wrote himself)
Other photographer's books that are great to learn from are John Shaw and George Lepp. These may have a landscape photographers bias, but good photography principles are there.
Also National Geographic has a comprehensive guide to photography that would be worth checking out too.

4. Go fiddle with the cameras at a local store. If you can, bring a CF memory card with you so you can look at the photos on your computer later. I've found some of the local camera stores are very helpful and can explain the pros and cons of the various models you're looking at. Then double check what you find with the web sites others have posted. Be careful if you order online as there are a lot of disreputable camera sites out there offering deals. FWIW, I've had very good experience ordering from bhphoto.com numerous times.

Last but not least, please share you photos with us once you've found the camera that's right for you. We'll look forward to it.

Cheers,
Dave

 

True story. This past weekend, my poor PC needed the better part of four hours to convert more than a hundred 20MB RAW files to JPEGs. So I'll most likely be upgrading soon. Then there are those extra two SB-800 flashes I wanted to buy...along with stands for the flashes...and a better backup camera...eep!

Thank goodness my lens collection is complete...





...I think.

 

I agree.. the D50 has a better sensor than the older D70. I gave up the D70 for the D50 and it does provide better pictures. The 18-70 kit lens for the D70 is the one to get.. The kit lenses for the D50 are not as good as the 18-70 lens

 

I just got a Canon Digital Rebel XT a few weeks ago for my birthday and love it. It was my primary choice beacuse I had read a lot of reviews that it had won versus the other digital SLRs in this category. There are quite a few National Geographic photographers that also recommend this camera as a great camera to get started with. I got mine for $650 with the 18-55mm zoom lens. My Dad found a good price somewhere online, printed it up and took it to Best Buy and they matched it, even though they were selling it for $899 with a $100, rebate from Canon, so $799 really. The only complaints I've read about it are that the casing doesn't feel as durable as the upper echelon Canons, but that's about it. I even read one at www.photo.net that compared it to either the 10D or 20D ( I don't remember which now) in a lot of areas of picture quality and they could hardly tell the difference. I don't have any complaints, it's very easy to use and takes great shots. I bought a 2GB memory card so it holds 519 pictures on the highest quality setting, and a Lowepro bag that's just big enough for it, I'll have to get a new one once I start getting some more lenses, but it's fine for now. I haven't had the chance to take any pictures of the MINIs yet, but they are on the way I'm sure.

So yeah, I'd go with the Canon.

 

A few good places to compare reviews on cameras

http://www.dpreview.com

http://www.steves-digicams.com

http://www.imaging-resource.com