Which camera to choose?

Stratman · Jan 20, 2008

meganc said:
So yeah, I'm still not sure, but I'm definitely going to a store tomorrow or Monday.
Anyone else's personal opinions?

don't forget to check out pentax :wink:

hpi · Jan 20, 2008

I own an Xti and haven't one complaint so far, it's not an expensive camera and it has quite a good amount of features and settings on it.

Go to the store and hold them see which you like better and you can even ask an employee to help you chose assuming he knows what hes saying.

BPALMER · Jan 20, 2008

doesnt anyone here shoot with olympus?? when i shopped for a new camera i read every review i could get my hands on,including dpreview. the olympus (e510) @10.1 mp rated very high in all reviews and i liked the fact that dustless sensor was also available,when i found it @ 599.00 w lens i jumped on it. only real complaint at this time is the onboard flash is a little weak,but that is remedied easily.
are there problems that i dont know about with this camera or is the marketing for the other 2 that much better ??
bp

Saint-Brown · Jan 20, 2008

here is my .02
my wife has the xt, i have a d70 (i can't wait to get my d300). Both cameras make great quality photos. the only question is making changes on the fly. I personaly hate having to go to the menu when I want to change a setting on the camera. The best this to do to go to a store and check them out. How are the controls, are they where you can easly get to them.

The other thing you want to think about is what is going to happen next year or the year after, you will probably fall deeper in love with photography, crave the control you wish you had and then start looking to upgrade. You want to make sure you are not double paying. By that I mean buying something now and then having to buy something that you should have bought in the first place. I have had my d70 for 3 years now and it's time to upgrade, I'm not going to have to change any lenses, so it's just an upgrade and not a double purchase. Just something for you to consider in your up comming purchase

meganc · Jan 20, 2008

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, I thought about that, but in a few years when I do upgrade, I'll probably upgrade the whole thing, which is also one reason why I'm not getting something better now (well main reason, I don't have the extra money right now

)
But I don't know...so many different choices...that's why I was trying to stick with Canon and Nikon lol. And I'm trying to stay as cheap as I can too, lol. The XT is like $10 cheaper than the D40 on bhphoto...but for some reason I feel preferred to Nikon, but I really just have to go see which one I like in person.

Saint-Brown · Jan 20, 2008

have you gotten a chance to see how they feel in your hands yet?

meganc · Jan 20, 2008

No, unfortunately not yet. Either today, or if not today, definitely tomorrow I will get to a store. Probably Wolf Camera?

fatsheep · Jan 21, 2008

Gotten to go down to the store yet?

Sorry to bug ya but I'm a bit curious as to how this turns out. As I said before, I'll be going down this path eventually (probably next winter).

meganc · Jan 22, 2008

Not yet :/
Was supposed to go yesterday but I didn't get to, hopefully tomorrow though.

meganc · Jan 23, 2008

Well still haven't gotten to the store yet, but on bhphoto now they have the Canon XT used for $400 with the 18-55 kit lens. The d40 is still $470 with the 18-55 kit lens....I can't find the D40 body only anywhere though, cause I was thinking about getting the body and maybe a different lens, but that depends on how much it would be, but I can't find it anyways.
But yeah, hopefully within the next few days I'll get to the store.

Mav · Jan 23, 2008

If you search on B&H and possibly Adorama.com also, they do have some D40 kits with different lenses. At least they did before Christmas.

meganc · Jan 24, 2008

Yeah, b&h has the D40 with the 18-55 kit lens for $470
With the 18-135 mm for $660,
and with the 18-55 and the 55-200 mm lens' for $650,
but I was trying to stay under $500
Haven't checked out adorama but I will look into it and see what they have them for, but when I go to see which one I like more in person, and I like the D40 more, I think I could manage to pay the $70 extra

meganc · Jan 28, 2008

So I still haven't gotten to the store yet, I'm debating if I should wait a little longer to get one anyways so then I could get maybe a better body or the D40 with 2 lenses, but B&H now has the D40 used for $390, with s&h it's $400, the XT would be $472 with s&h...
So I might go with the D40 because then I could get it sooner, possibly in a month or two. Hopefully I can get to the store this week and see which one I like better.

Mystwalker · Jan 28, 2008

D40x seem to work smoother when I test drove one six months ago. Did not know about the AF-S lense requirement ofr autofocus though. I love my 50mm f/1.8 (on Canon) and no-AF would be a bummer

I ended up buying Canon 30D because it felt more solid and shoots faster which was primary reason I went to DSLR.

Antithesis · Jan 28, 2008

I had a d40x for a few months and then switched to a d80. The d40 is a cool little camera, and I can recommend it. It's one of the smallest dSLR's out there and weighs next to nothng. The only issue is adjusting aperture in full manual mode, where you have to hold a little button while you spin the adjustement wheel.

Other than that though, if you look you can find a pretty full line up of AF-S or equivalent lenses (Sigma 30mm f1.4, Sigma 10-20, Lots of Nikon glass, just not the 50mm f1.8 and a few other key lenses). It's not as debilitating as some people make it out to be. In hindsight I certainly wouldn't let it deterr me from purchasing the camera, especially for $400.