Ive decided to buy an SLR, suggestions?

[scott5050505050]

Hey everyone, I want to thank you all for the comments on my previouse posts, I greatly appreciate your advice. Anyways, yes ive decided to buy an SLR. I basically have zero experience shooting SLR so Im going to be looking for a beginer's camera. My pal told me that he started out with a Canon EOS Rebel 2000 and it worked out great. Ive also heard that the Nikon N65s are nice, aswell Pentax ZX-M or ZX-50. What do you guys think?

 

[MDowdey]

scott!

i just bought an n75 myself. I could not be happier with it, considering that it has the best of both worlds.

1) Its got all of the presets for landscape, close-ups, portrait, action,...blah blah blah. BUT, it also has that awesome ability to go completely manual in one touch. so if you get a wild hair up your butt, you can do some experimentation.

2) The prices for the nikon's cannot be better! I had the money so i bought the n75. but the n65 i saw(with a 35-90mm lens), was 249.00. thats great for that camera. good luck and let us know what you choose!

md

 

[ismael]

Scott,

Congratulations! Here are a few points to help you in your decision:
First, take a moment to decide what the application will be and how much money you can spend. This will help you decide the features you want. Do you really need a 1/10,000 shutter speed? or 1/2000 will do? Do you want autofocus or manual? Will you take a lot of pictures of scenery or posing people needing red-eye reduction etc.
The most important step is to decide on a brand, and stick to it. Stay away from obscure or cheapie imitation brands. Go for a brand with a solid reputation. You can't go wrong with Pentax, Nikon, Canon or Minolta, just to name a few. The same applies to lenses. A factor in this decision can be warranty and service. Do you have a service shop nearby or would you need to send the camera overseas for 3 months if you need service?
Remember that SLRs have two major components: The body and the lens.
A rule of thumb is great body+crappy lens=crappy pictures.
crappy body+great lens=better pictures than the above
So choose the lens wisely. For versatility, you can't beat a zoom in the 28mm-80mm range. This will be much better than fooling around with 3 separate lenses. Again, get the best lens you can. Watch out for combos of good bodies but "brand name" lenses.
As for choice, being a Pentax guy, I would recommend theZX50. It is an excellent "first SLR" choice. The ZX-M is manual focus only, and the body costs about the same as the ZX60 but lenses are less expensive.
In summary, shop around and get what you feel most comfortable with.
I hope I didn't scare or confuse you more than necessary

Thanks,
Ismael

 

[Chase]

My first camera was an N50 and then I upgraded to an N70 to get a few more features.

I couldn't have been happier with the choices I made!

I would definitely suggest going with a mid-range Nikon and you may never need/want anything more. For the price, they are an excellent deal.

Good luck!

 

[MDowdey]

I agree with ismael on that one...A great camera+a crappy lens does make things suck horribly. But when I bought my nikon, it came with that quantarray 90mm. Wow what a good first lens! I couldnt be happier!


md

 

[dlc]

ismael covered it pretty well. All cameras do the job, but spend a little more for a good lens. If you can handle it, a smaller fast f2.8 zoom lens(28-70, 28-80) would be a good start, especially if you do a lot of shooting in low light. You can always get a good flash for your camera later and use your on camera flash until you do. Don't feel the need to buy everything at once. You will short-change yourself by trying to buy cheaper. Remember the old photography saying---It isn't the camera stupid, it's the photographer!

 

[jazze]

I have a Pentax zx-30 and I love it. I use it all the time for a wide variety of things, from taking pics of my kids having fun to doing the photography for a wedding a couple of weeks ago. I'm really into filters, I have alot of fun with them.