new to this what camera to get?

HotWire · Dec 20, 2009

not sure about the kiss model never seen it.

I dont know where you can pick up a d90 and lens for 800. If I could I woulda done that in a heart beat. Cheapest around Ive seen is 900 for just the body.

Wolverinepwnes · Dec 20, 2009

get the D90 for the your price range! much better camera

bmsgangster · Dec 20, 2009

NIB Canon T1i Digital SLR CAMERA BODY + EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS Lens

Vicelord John · Dec 20, 2009

I got my D90 for $749 and I got a 50mm lens for $129. I know it's closer to $900 but it really is worth it man. I feel like the D5000 is a toy and if you want to adjust aperture or other settings on the fly in a quick situation, forget it.

I always think getting a camera with one lens, especially when it's your first SLR, is a good idea. Many people will go out and buy 2-3 lenses knowing nothing outside of what the salesman told them, then find out months later that they want something else and don't use one they have. Better to get one lens and spend a couple monts assessing what you really want and then buy that second lens.

I don't know if I just made any sense.

Also, to me the Canon v Nikon thing came down solely to feel. I hold a Canon camera and they feel cheaper to me. Canon makes printers, copiers, etc. Nikon makes optics. I also find with Canon that using their stupid little wheel thing on the back of the camera is hard especially when your face is against it. Also, the front wheel is on top of the camera on a Canon, and Nikon puts it on front, which for me makes it easier to get to. It's all about ergonomics to me.

KmH · Dec 20, 2009

bmsgangster said:
whats the Canon EOS Kiss X3 500D Rebel T1i , whats the diff bettween the t1i and the kiss t1i?

There is no Kiss T1i.

It's just different names Canon has for the same camera.

In Japan Canon calls it the Kiss X3, in the US it's the T1i, for the rest of the world it's a 500D.

chip · Dec 20, 2009

enjoy your new Nikon camera Hotwire! and welcome to the Nikon club. Take a lot of pictures this Christmas.

Bambi · Jan 19, 2010

I went back and forth between these two cameras and decided on the Nikon. I made my choice after going into the store and playing with both of them. I liked the feel of the Nikon. I also love the LCD that swings out. I am sure that I would have been happy with the Canon too but believe that I made the better choice for me.

HotWire · Jan 19, 2010

Congrats on your purchase. I dont regret mine at all. I am however still trying to figure it out lol. Much more buttons and what have you than my 80's Minolta 35mm.

Natalie · Jan 19, 2010

Well, here are the reasons I went with the the Canon T1i over a comparable Nikon...

1. It has the lenses I want. Someday in the distant future when I actually have money, I want to be able to buy some f/2.8 super-telephoto lenses, because I really want to get into bird photography. Canon is renowned for their 300+ mm L-series glass, and as far as I know none of the other brands offer anything that can truely compete with Canon in this segment of photography.

2. At the other extreme, only Canon has a 5:1 magnification macro lens. This is something I want to master someday, since I am greatly enjoying photographing arthropods with my 100 mm macro. Sure, with other brands you get a lens with lesser magnification and then add some extension tubes and whatnot to them, but that seems like an unnecessary hassle and the image quality is bound to suffer somewhat. I'd rather be able to just buy a single, high-quality lens dedicated to extreme magnification.

3. Nikon lenses screw in the wrong way (counter-clockwise). Sorry Nikon fans, but this was just incredibly annoying when I was playing around with various Nikons and I just couldn't get used to it. Oftentimes I need to change lenses quickly, and that sort of thing would piss me off pretty quickly when I would need to remember to screw the lenses off in the opposite direction than what is second-nature to me.

4. The Canon T1i is a smaller camera. Since I have small hands, the Canon was more comfortable for me to use than the bigger Nikons. It is also very lightweight.

5. Canon, from what I've heard from photographers, camera store employees, and people on here, seems to have better, faster customer service and repairs. In fact, I've seen many people complain that Nikon's customer service (at least when it comes to entry-level cameras) is just plain shoddy sometimes, and more expensive as well. I haven't had to get any repairs on my T1i, but last year when I sent in my PowerShot G9 for a broken lens pin (as a result of me dropping the camera one too many times), the repair took just a week and a half and cost me only about $170. I don't know if it's different for DSLRs, but I read on here that Nikon takes two weeks just to process the repair order and there is a minimum charge of $250 just to look at the camera. :shock:

Anyway, I would say for most forms of general photography, it doesn't really matter which camera you get, because both companies offer very similar products in that range for a similar price. For both the T1i and the D5000, the image quality is going to depend on your photography skills and the lenses you have much, much more than the camera itself... The camera can't make you take good pictures, only you can. When it comes to the more specialized, niche markets mentioned above, however, I do feel that Canon has the edge.

Whatever camera you do get, I think you should skip the kit lens for both brands though. When I was trying out both the Canons and the Nikons in stores, I found the lack of sharpness and definition from the kit lenses very frustrating indeed. But I think that was because I was used to the crisp, colorful images from my PowerShot G9, which sort of spoiled me. Many people think the kit lenses are fine, at least for a while.

EDIT: Here are some images I've taken with my T1i: