Which DSLR is best for me?

[F1addict]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I've been thinking about getting a DSLR for a while now, and have been kicking myself since last December for getting my Canon powershot SX100IS and not just waiting a while and getting a DSLR. Don't get my wrong, I love my SX100IS its a great camera, but I want something more.

I'm looking for something below $800. But not necessarily a beginner camera. I want something that will be a good investment and will last me for a long time, but still easy to use. I'd mostly use it for automotive photography, car shows, and races, and for landscapes and wild life photography, I spend alot of time in the Adirondack Mountians in New York. But I also need a camera that is good with low light and indoor photography, this is the only problem I have with my current camera it doesn't do great with low light situations.

I've been looking mostly at the Canon XTi and XSi, and the Nikon D60. But I have recently started looking at Sony's A300k because of its price and it sounded like it had better live view then the others, plus the tiltable screen would be great.
Which of those three would be the better camera for what I'll be doing.

I belong to an automotive forum that holds photo competitions every week and the guys there got me addicted to photography. However most of them use Nikon's and a few use Canon, so I wanted opinions from people with experiance with other brands.

oh, I also have a Minolta X-370 35mm that I recently started using and I love it. But the whole film thing is annoying. I prefer to be able to take 1000 pictures without changeing film But I do love that if I wanted to I could get a 500mm telephoto lens for it for $100:thumbup:

 

[skiboarder72]

You can't go wrong with either a canon or a nikon, go to the story, play with them and see what one feels right, you won't be disappointed with the performance of either

 

[Mystwalker]

is that 500mm lens a "Phoenix brand"? When it come to lens, you get what you paid.

Based on your interests you will want a long lens for wildlife, wide lens for landscape, and I'm guessing long and fast lens for "cars" depending on if race/show is at outside with sun, indoors, or at night.

If I had your budget, I would look an "entry level DSLR" - XT or XTi, I would not go XS because then you will not have enough money for lens. Am recommending "entry level" because camera bodies devalue faster then lens. Play with entry level today, upgrade in a year or two. Lens are more important.

I'm guessing you will have about $400 left if you go for XT or XTi. You may want to look at Tamron or Sigma for wide lens - look for lens that start at 17mm (Tamron 17-50 I believe is one). Am not recommending Canon because most of theirs will put you over $400 or put you so close you can't get a long lens. For long lens, also look for Tamron or Sigma, soemething that ends with 200mm to 300mm.

I do not think you can get a "fast" lens unless you only buy one lens, but then you have to leave out "long" or "wide". For car racing (is this what you wanted to do?), I think you want "long" and "fast" which gets more expensive. If racing is in daylight, you can probably use your long wildlife lens.

 

[F1addict]

I don't really need to upgrade lenses right when I buy the DSLR because my current camera has 10x zoom and I planned on keeping that for a while if I needed long zoom. I figured I'd get the good camera now and wait a while for the lenses, seeing as I'll probably be buying it this winter I won't be useing it much until spring when we get our boat back in the water and the car shows start up again.

Which is why i was looking at the XSi/XS and D60, because I'd like to avoid having to buy another new camera in the near future seeing as this would be my second camera in a year.:roll:
But I did start looking at the A300 becuase I liked some of the features it has (tiltable screen, comes with 18-70mm lens instead of the 18-55mm that the canon's and nikons do, and the price.) Is that camera really comparable to the XSi and D60 and is it really better then the XTi and XT?
From what I have read it seems like it wuold be but I have never used one.
In fact the only DSLR I've ever used was my friends XT and that was only for a minute or two, although my uncle got an XT from his sister inlaw and he might let me borrow it sometime.
However the price of the XTi has gotten really tempting ($539.99 for just the body:shock and I've seen what it can do.

oh, and yes I do believe the 500mm is a pheonix brand, but when it comes to buying equipment for a 20 year old camera, I'm kinda limited on my sources, and I don't trust used things I'll never get it because I'd never used it though, I just like the thought of being able to have something that would cost over a 1000 for a DSLR for $100


when I do decide to buy lenses I'd be looking at a zoom lens in the 70-300mm range, a wide angle, and a macro lens. I don't need a super long zoom lens, 300mm would be the max I'd ever need, and the max I'd want to pay

 

[sabbath999]

My answer is, as always, the same.

First, decide which company's lens systems you like the best... compare lens quality, availability, prices, bells and whistles, whatever... but concentrate on the LENSES you are wanting to own in the future.

Then, one you decide which LENS system you want to own, buy the cheapest DSLR that will get the job done for you. DSLR's become obsolescent within a couple of years and completely obsolete soon thereafter... but good quality glass can last you decades.

Lenses are what matters, not camera bodies...

Buy a Canon because you like Canon lenses, buy a Nikon because you like Nikon lenses, buy a Sony because you like Sony lenses, etc.

 

[F1addict]

^based on that...I have a new question.

Seeing as whatever I read all three of the main cameras I'm looking at (XSi, D60, A300) are all rated pretty high and are similar and body wise I don't think I can really go wrong with any of them. And I can get them all for relatively the same price

But of the three, which one am I going to be able to spend the least on for good lenses.
I'm more then likely only going to get 2 lenses within the first year of owning the camera, a zoom and a wide angle, and beyond that I may get a macro in the future but thats not likely seeing as my point and shoot does very well with macro. I'd like the zoom to go up to 300mm, but I could live with 250 or even 200mm.
I don't want to spend any more then $300 on each lens and at the absolute max $350, above that and it simply gets too expensive for me.
So for which camera am I going to be able to get the best lenses for for below $350 or $300. I don't really care about selection of lenses, I know Sony has fewer, but for which can I get the best lenses at the lowest price. That will ultimetly make my decision for me. thanks again for all the help