What is the best Starter Digital Camera?

Mel · Jul 24, 2006

Hello! Well i'm interested in digital photography. I've been using my N65 for the past 6 years and i would now like to go to a Nikon Digital camera. I'm also interested in taking a few online classes for photography. What is the best digital camera to get? I would soon like to have my own small studio. Any suggestions??

Unimaxium · Jul 24, 2006

Well, there is no single best camera out there for everybody, but I'll give you some pointers at what to look for. Since you're used to shooting with an SLR and you are looking to take classes, you definitely want to go with a DSLR (but you probably already know that). Since you're looking at Nikon (I'm assuming because you want to use the lenses you have for the N65), the D70s or D50 are the cameras to look at. If your budget allows, the D200 is also a very nice camera. I would suggest going to a camera shop and playing with each of them and deciding which suits you best. I don't know with how much money you're willing to spend, but you'll probably be happy with either of those cameras. If I were in your shoes, I would most likely go for the D70s, unless I were richer and could afford the D200. But that's me. Also, check out the comprehensive reviews at dpreview.com*. There you'll be able to read about pretty much every difference there is between those cameras, and see if there's some feature one has that another doesn't that you really want.

But basically, the more money you spend the better the camera you'll get. But that doesn't mean you'll take better pictures because of it. Any of Nikon's DSLRs will be able to take great pics, and you'll likely be better off investing in quality glass than a in a fancy body. But it's really all up to you. Go to a store and play with the cameras, read reviews, learn about them, and then make a decision about which suits you best.

* Review for the D70/D70s here, for the D50 here, and for the D200 here. Also, here's a quick side-by-side comparison between them

Mel · Jul 24, 2006

Thank you so much for your input! i greatly appreciate it. And yeah I'm looking for a Nikon digital hoping that my lenses will fit the digital body. Will any nikon lense fit either type of body? I have a 28-90mm and a 100-300mm.

Big Mike · Jul 24, 2006

Yes, those lenses will fit on any of the Nikon DSLR cameras...D50, D70 etc.

Be aware that those lenses will have a different Field of View on those digital bodies, than they have on your N65. It's the much talked about CROP FACTOR

Unimaxium · Jul 24, 2006

I'm not familiar with your lenses, but pretty much any nikon lens (even including very old ones) will still fit modern the bodies (including the DSLRs). There is one issue that I know of, though. For some reason with the D50 and D70/D70s, the internal light meter does not function if you're not using an autofocus lens. But since you got your lenses to work with an N65, I'm guessing that they are autofocus and will work just fine. Just another reason to go play with them at the camera store and make sure they work

And like Mike said, don't forget about the crop factor (those are two links there). Any lens on a D50, D70 or D200 will have a Field Of View that is equivalent to the 1.5 times the same focal length on a 35mm camera. For example, your wider lens when zoomed out will only produce a FOV as wide as a (28mm*1.5=) 42mm lens would on a film camera. But that also means your telephoto will be able to zoom in as far as a 450mm lens would on your N65. I'm sure you get the idea.