Good Beginners DSLR?

[minicoop1985]

Sony makes great cameras but they are expensive for what you get. I loved getting started with my Nikon D5100 and I have David Busch's book on the D5100 and two practically brand new Nikon batteries for it. I just recently bought the D7100. I can send you a picture if you message me. Great price for a practically brand new camera in excellent condition.

How do you figure? You get much more bang for the buck with Sony as opposed to canon or nikon.

I agree-Sony is out of the big 2 by a pretty large margin. To attract people, Sony tends to pack their stuff with features and upgrades you may not find on similarly priced/targeted cameras. The SLT tech works extremely well, and it reduces vibrations by a huge margin, even compared to my trusty 7D.

 

[ConradM]

Sony makes great cameras but they are expensive for what you get. I loved getting started with my Nikon D5100 and I have David Busch's book on the D5100 and two practically brand new Nikon batteries for it. I just recently bought the D7100. I can send you a picture if you message me. Great price for a practically brand new camera in excellent condition.

How do you figure? You get much more bang for the buck with Sony as opposed to canon or nikon.

I agree-Sony is out of the big 2 by a pretty large margin. To attract people, Sony tends to pack their stuff with features and upgrades you may not find on similarly priced/targeted cameras. The SLT tech works extremely well, and it reduces vibrations by a huge margin, even compared to my trusty 7D.

Yep. It blows my mind how often they're overlooked by people looking for their first DSLR. When I was shopping for mine years back the Sony easily stood out specs and features wise. But I guess there's a lot of power in a name.

 

[manaheim]

FYI, the best camera "for a beginner" is the same as the best camera for a pro. It's really just about budget.

Cameras are an exercise in "you get what you pay for", and we're not talking about whether or not the car comes with power windows and heated seats, we're mostly talking about how big of an engine... how good are the brakes, etc. What's more is we're in an era where the TOP END camera is the equivalent to a Volkswagen Golf GTI. It does pretty great in most situations, but there are still some things that it cannot do. This is simply a matter of growing improvements in technology.

Going back to cameras for a moment, it's all about max aperture, max resolution and minimum light requirements. Toss in shutter speed, flash sync and a few other things, but the point is that even the best camera is going to fail in a pitch black room illuminated by a candle in the corner.

The more money you spend on a camera the more capability you will get. Do you NEED crazy low-light capabilities or ultra high resolution? Probably not. However, if you have the money to buy a D4S or a D800, then having that camera will ensure you do not bump into a situation where you need those things and you don't have them.

If you don't have that kind of money, that's totally cool. You buy what you can afford and it'll work awesome most of the time- just like the Volkswagen.