I made the "mistake" of checking out a DSLR

[Leftyplayer]

I was all set on buying a superzoom for a million reasons I felt good about. I've done a bunch of research and had a list of decent ones from reviews. I went to Best Buy to spend time looking at them in person. I did. They sucked. I brought my kids and they were like little monkeys the whole time running and wresting on the floor and I took the opportunity to photograph them with a bunch of the superzooms. These kids don't stand still. All the pics were blurry. Of course, I didn't really know how to USE each camera other than guess work through the menu, but still, I was frustrated.

Then, sitting there was a DSLR (5000D - canon? nikon?). Picked it up to play and just on auto setting I took beautiful shots of them. Even when they were bouncing off the wall at max speed, sharp!

Soooooooo, now that I have seen the light, I'm actually kind of upset because, well, I was only going to spend $400 on a camera. Clearly, now I have to spend more - that will be very very bad. How do I fix this problem?

 

[D-B-J]

probably a nikon d5000. a great entry level dslr.

 

[mrpink]

Soooooooo, now that I have seen the light, I'm actually kind of upset because, well, I was only going to spend $400 on a camera. Clearly, now I have to spend more - that will be very very bad. How do I fix this problem?

Get a Cannon G11.




p!nK

 

[Leftyplayer]

Yes, drank the cool-aid indeed LOL. Glad I didn't just order something online sight unseen.

Honestly, I even hated how lightweight they were. I know that's supposed to be a plus, but it felt "toy'ish" to me.

I guess my photography background from about 20 years ago was still lurking in my cells. I just thought, it's been about 20 years, surely no camera can be that bad nowadays.

Ok, the 5000D is on my list.

mrpink: tell me more .. the G11 seems to be some sort of faux-DSLR?

 

[Stormchase]

Welcome!
Its a new game nowdays with equipment. You can learn a LOT here on the forums. Any camera is a good camera to get back into it again. Any entry lvl canon, nikon atleast. Spend what you can on as little as you can. build up your gear and have a ball...Glad to hear of your adventures. Tho the day I did that, I just wanted to look. so I walked out with my new camera... and lens ... and bag ... and tripod...
lol

 

[ifi]

Soooooooo, now that I have seen the light, I'm actually kind of upset because, well, I was only going to spend $400 on a camera. Clearly, now I have to spend more - that will be very very bad. How do I fix this problem?

Get a Cannon G11.




p!nK

+1

Not a bad idea.

 

[Fedaykin]

Get a Canon S90. <$400 and ability to go full manual, a.k.a choose your shutter speed to freeze your kids.

 

[IlSan]

Well, cannot agree more with erose86 on this - once the DSLR has you in its spell there is no way of escaping it.

 

[Pgeobc]

>Get over the desire to photograph your kids, clearly<

Best answer, so far.

 

[reznap]

If you don't take the plunge now, you'll end up doing it later. I bought a superzoom that does decent full manual and quickly outgrew it..

I'd try to find a used d5000 on craigslist, or a comparable Canon kit.

 

[KmH]

I know that's supposed to be a plus, but it felt "toy'ish" to me.

Who told you that?

I add weight to my dSLR's in the form of a vertical grip and a second battery.

 

[Stormchase]

leftyplayer,
I did a 2 sec search for my camera. 420.00 for a canon full DSLR and 18-55mm IS lens. 20 more dollars is worth it!
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=ca...non&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313

I know that's supposed to be a plus, but it felt "toy'ish" to me.

I felt the same way. I was looking at the D40 or the EOS XS. The D40 just felt like a toy. Really like a kids plastic toy. I have always got nikon in the past until i felt their Dslr's. The SLR's felt very sturdy. I now know nikon still makes a nice camera but first impressions go a long way. Dont get me wrong ... Nikons are top knotch quality all the way around.

 

[dak1b]

get a canon 1000d. great starter!

 

[NateS]

leftyplayer,
I did a 2 sec search for my camera. 420.00 for a canon full DSLR and 18-55mm IS lens. 20 more dollars is worth it!
canon eos xs items - Get great deals on Cameras Photo, Books items on eBay.com!

I know that's supposed to be a plus, but it felt "toy'ish" to me.

I felt the same way. I was looking at the D40 or the EOS XS. The D40 just felt like a toy. Really like a kids plastic toy. I have always got nikon in the past until i felt their Dslr's. The SLR's felt very sturdy. I now know nikon still makes a nice camera but first impressions go a long way. Dont get me wrong ... Nikons are top knotch quality all the way around.

This is funny because about 99% of people (myself included) think the entry level Canon's feel a lot more "plasticy" and cheap compared to the entry level Nikon's. That is the entire reason my initial purchase was a D40 over an XTI.

D5000 is a great camera...I just ordered one for us to use as the "family" camera and my backup. Similar use to what you will have. If budget is a concern, you can get a refurb D5000 kit from B&H Photo for $509. It is what I've done and people speak very highly of the refurb cameras from B&H, Adorama, etc...if you need to save a couple hundred bucks. Add in a 8gb class 6 kingston card and my total was only about $550. $150 is not that much on a camera that might last you many years of use.

 

[Stormchase]

Yeah preception is a funny thing lol.