I'm thinking of buying an SLR camera next month, either Nikon or Canon. I honestly don't know which SLR is the best for $800 budget. I'm willing to pay more (maybe $1k at most) if you can honestly tell me it's worth paying extra $200 to get a much better SLR.

Thanks in advance...

 

The Nikon D700 looks pretty nice. If I ever go digital SLR, I'd be looking hard at that one.

 

I was leaning towards Nikon (I found it to be cheaper than Canon SLR), but I was looking at the new D80 model. I'll look into D700 and compare.

Thanks!

 

I like my Nikon D40. I'm no expert photographer but being that it's a few years old they are fairly cheap. They still do a great job for my use.

 

D700 is way over $1k. The D80 has been out for a few years, it was recently superseded by the D90. The D80 is still considered to be a very good camera. It's relatively compact and feels like a very high quality piece. The other obvious option is a Canon XSI. That's the one I'd get as it is cheaper than the D80, has a faster focusing mechanism based on my experience, and arguably has the better CCD.

 

I have the Nikon D50, but that's way too old to consider buying new - there are better values out there.

A friend of mine has the D40, and it's a great little camera - takes awesome pictures, has a big/bright display, and it's smaller than many other DSLRs, so it's nice to carry around.

The biggest drawback is that it doesn't have a focusing motor in it, so if you want autofocus, you're limited to lenses that have their own focusing motors. But if you don't have a collection of lenses already, that's not too much of a hardship.

 

Canon Rebel XTI or the newer XSI!!!

 

Yeah, I have a D50 and a D80. Love em both. The D80 will be discontinued pretty quick here, so I would go with the new replacement, D90. The camera body sells for $1K. Its user friendly, and offers high performance. 12.3 MP is pretty much amazing. I would stick with Nikon. More comfortable in your hands as well, compared to Canon Rebels.

 

I have a Canon XTI with the Canon 50mm F1.8 MKII and the pics I take with that combination still continues to impress me and my friends.
If I'm on the market right now I'll get the XSI and a Tamron 17-55mm F2.8 lens.
I'm bias toward fast lens so take my advice on the lens lightly.

 

I appreciate the feedbacks.

I never knew the D80 will be discontinued/old model already. The D90 cost so much...but probably worth the extra bucks for better upgrades.

I did hear the Canon XSI is awesome camera as well, but majority of Canon owners continue to say, the 40D is still a better choice.

Man...picking a camera is harder choice than picking rims for my MINI.

 

I am a forever Canon user. Have had an AE1, Elan, 60D, and currently 20D. While the camera body is one factor in the equation, quality lenses make a huge difference in the quality of your photos, as well as a certain amount of skill. The Canon 50mm 1.8 lens is a superior lens for not much money. You can even get reasonably priced L (pro quality lenses) especially if you shop used at KEH.com. (I have a little photography business on the side.)

 

I have heard they are great!

 

I just got it a few months ago. I didn't have any prior lenses (been out of the SLR side of photography for about 10 years now) so the limitation of lens on the D40 wasn't an issue for me.

 

I've always found http://www.dpreview.com/ to be a great site.

 

OK, I am 48, have my own home darkroom, old school and new school both. I've been at this a very long while.

Canon?
I have had 3 Canon's and all 3 are now pretty much useless. I will never buy another one. The lenses were fine, had several Sigma lenses too, but the Canon body's just doesn't last. The plastic parts crack, break and just wear out if you really use your camera and I do. I take my cameras everywhere I go. All 3 were 35mm SLRs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PENTAX
I have an old Pentax K1000 that I still use for Infrared and I swear, it could be run over with a truck and still work. But it is mostly metal parts, a bit weighty but I wouldn't trade it for nothing. Very well made.

Go to below link, click on "watch video" then click on the link in the top right "K10D SLR Camera Product Tour" and enjoy
Don't over look one feature I really like...
EVERY PENTAX LENS CAN BE USED ON THIS DIGITAL, EVERY LENS.
Just set the camera to accept it, and focus manually. Now I buy old pentax lenses and get some of the most awesome pix. Also, I have bought several Tamron lenses for the K10D which render great images and are super fast. I'll share more if you wanna know, just PM me :D
http://www.pentaximaging.com/product...n--digital_slr

More data
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxk10d/

and yet another
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/spec...entax_k10d.asp

The Pentax K20D is worth looking into. For now, I am delighted with my K10d!

Here's a few examples from a recent shoot of my daughter Hayley with the K10D








Happy hunting

 

Olympus makes the E520, which incorporates many of the features of their top of the line E3. Has in body image stabilization so you dont have to spend extra on lenses with stabilizing and even legacy lenses become stabilised. You could also look at Sony's or Pentax (many of which have the added benefit of having weather seals).

The nice thing about olympus is that even there cheap lenses are really nice. That said there arent as many options as you might have with Nikon, which I suppose is the biggest problem. But if you dont mind using manual focus olympus makes an adapter that lets you mount there old OM lenses on their digitals, and there are tons of those around.

 

Thank you for that!

I wanted so badly to mention the gloriousness (is that even a word?) that is Pentax cameras. I also have a K1000 that I've had for years (I also used to do a lot of my own darkroom work), and it works just as good today as the day I bought it.

I was also looking into getting the K20D. Most reviews are a little unfair on that camera because the reviewers don't take the time to adjust any of the cameras many settings, which result in photo quality better than the Nikon's and Canon's of the same price point.

If anyone wants a good camera, look at the K10D or K20D. You will get a lot more bang for your buck!!

 

A friend of ours has a Cannon, and it has been in the shop twice to have little plastic bits repaired or replaced. This is one of the things that bugs me about digital cameras. They're more fragile than film, and the live and die on batteries. If the battery dies on any of my film bodies, I can switch to full manual/mechanical mode, and keep shooting. I've got honest to god dents in my older Minolta SRT201, and it still works fine. Hit a digi that hard, and pick up the pieces with a dustbuster.

However, digi has ONE advantage over film. Convenience.

 

You are very welcome

I forgot to mention the price. Spinely was mainly asking about quality for the price.
I think the Pentax D series covers both. Add to that, the use of any old Pentax, new PentaxD and Tamron lens, you can't beat that. I have a well over a 1,000.oo set up but because I shopped around online I paid alot less, its a skill

I bet there are more Pentax users here at NAM than we know.
My pal "everytimeidie027" won the July Contest here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149835 and he's a Pentax man.

I could go on------->

Shall I start us an Official Pentax of NAM thread?

 

Amen to that! I have learned to keep charged up for just that reason. I have a battery in the camera body, in the battery mount and an extra in the bag....you never know. The thing is, I have a 4G and a 2G card and even if I shoot RAW, I still have a gazillion pix I could take. I don't know what would give out first, my batteries, the cards filling up or finger cramps. I think I run out of light in most cases.....so I may never know~

Oh, and my trusty K1000 has what I call War Wounds. It was owned by a Police photographer and had seen alot of bad things before I bought it from him. Kinda makes me think of my old Singer sewing machine, it has all metal parts and weighs about 100 pounds and its older than me. But just lube that baby up and its just like new. Digital cameras may weigh less but is almost like carring a bag of eggs, so fragile.

 

There are some great deals on the Canon XSI with the kit lens and the 70-200 zoom. I think it all can be had for under $850. I have this camera and lenses and I think it is a fantastic starter kit.

 

I forgot about making the Pentax thread, but it should be made. and I love my Pentax K10D