First DSLR suggestions!

InTopGear · Jul 27, 2013

Hello, stumbled upon this forum and it looks great!
Im in the market for my first DSLR, currently using a point and shoot.

Im a bit overwhelmed by the options and I'm looking for some suggestions. Im looking to stay at or under $500, preferably new.
I plan to mostly shoot cars and landscapes. I'm looking for a camera that will perform well with moving cars and also
have the capability to shoot decent video of them.
Im open to all suggestions since this will be my first DSLR, and I honestly don't have a brand preference yet.
I used a film slr back in high school and I preferred the Canon over the Nikons we had, but it has been a few years now.
I appreciate your help and I am eager to hear what you have to say. Thanks!

brunerww · Jul 28, 2013

Hi InTopGear and welcome to the forum! At your price point, the standard entry level DSLRs are the Canon T3i, which you can get for $528 new at BigValue via eBay, or the Nikon D3200, which is $479 at DigitalRev.

Either will do a good job for stills and video.

Since your car and landscape work is likely to be outdoors, you may want to consider spending a little more for the weather-sealed Pentax K-30, which is on closeout for $540 at Amazon due to the recent release of the follow-on K-50.

The K-30 is a great camera and the least expensive weather-sealed DSLR on the market. It also has two control dials and 100% viewfinder coverage - all features that cost a lot more from Canon and Nikon.

Here is a short sample video shot with the K-30. The first segment is shot in a heavy rain shower - something you rarely see in videos shot with entry level DSLRs:

[video=vimeo;46036601]http://vimeo.com/46036601[/video]

Hope this is helpful,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

texkam · Jul 28, 2013

Consider used. People are always upgrading and a lightly used starter camera can be a good value, freeing up money towards a lens or other accessories. A used Canon T2i would be a fine choice.

InTopGear · Jul 28, 2013

Thanks for that great info! Those all look like great cameras. Do you think the D3200 is worth the extra cash over the D3100?
Also as I was looking at the T3i I came across the T3 which is about $100 cheaper. Do you have any thoughts on these?
I will be going to the store in the next few days to try these out.

ShaneF · Jul 28, 2013

Amazon canada 40% off - $299.00 Can

[h=1]Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DC III Zoom Lens [/h]

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_t=101&tag=montode0d-20

brunerww · Jul 29, 2013

InTopGear said:
Thanks for that great info! Those all look like great cameras. Do you think the D3200 is worth the extra cash over the D3100?
Also as I was looking at the T3i I came across the T3 which is about $100 cheaper. Do you have any thoughts on these?
I will be going to the store in the next few days to try these out.

Hi ITG - yes, at $479, the D3200 is worth it for the higher resolution images as well as the higher resolution LCD.

As for the $384.32 T3, it is a significantly less capable still and video camera than the $527.71 T3i (12.2MP resolution stills, 720p video and no mic jack versus the T3i's 18MP stills, 1080p video and external mic jack).

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution