Whicj digital SLR?

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The children finally grew up and after years of taking family snaps with my Dad old 35mm camera Im about to purchase my 1st digital SLR.

I've been looking at a few Canon cameras and Im considering the Canon EOS 550D or the Nikon D5100. Both look good, but what do I know? Not a lot!

People ask me, "well, what do you want to take pictures of?" Im not sure. I keep bees and would like to take some pictures of them, but at the other end of the scale there was a beautiful moom the other night and I thought Id love to take a picture of it. So Help!!
Which camera do I purchase and when I have purchased the camera what differnt lenses should I invest in? Any advice appreciated

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cgipson1

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I am Nikon biased.. so it is easy to guess my answer! ;)

Lenses all depend on:

#1. budget ( I don't recommend the cheap kit lenses... only the low midrange stuff and up)

#2. Intended use

Moon: Nikon 70-300 F4 used around $300-400.. good range for a lot of different things. Amazon.com: Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

Bees: macro lens... your choice.. preferably 85mm and up... (nikon, tamron or tokina) anywhere from $300 used to $1000 new

if you shoot kids / people / pets much... you might want something in the range of 18 to 24 short end... and 70 to 105 long end.
 

redessa

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Just so happens I have one and my dad has the other. We both like our cameras quite well and either will do just fine for bees or moons. The big difference in equipment you'll need for those types of shots comes down to lenses. For good moon shots, you'll want as big of a zoom as you can get. For bees, you'll proabably want to look into macro lenses. Again, either of those two camera bodies is sufficient.
 

Buckster

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What is the make and model of your dad's old 35mm, and what lens(es) does it already have? You may be able to use it/them on your new digital camera.
 
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Hi All, thanks for your opinions and advice. Already checked out the possibility of using Dads old lenses and it's a no go, however, Jessops have told me the large selection of filters could be used on most of the new digital SLR's.

I dont think I will be taking people picture so much. I like the idea of scenes, animals, bees.....and the moon!

Hoping you guys will be there for some advice and constructive critisism when I purchase the camera next month. NMow my biggest task is saving up for the lenses!

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