New Camera Time
 

Ok, I've got my running shoes and am back at that (which is awesome).

But I've been looking into DSLR's lately since I am taking more photoclasses over the summer and in the fall just to fill in credits. No more film classes (darn). So I was looking at a Nikon D60. Anyone here have one?

D60 is a nice camera, great for non-professional photo buffs. Good pics and plenty of options with scene selectors. Have to say I have used a D40, D60 and D80. For the money I would go for a D40 just as good cheaper and there aren't a whole lot of reasons to buy a D60 over a D40 or a D40X. But thats just my 2 cents worth. Or if you can really afford it the new D90 is really really cool (the one I am going to get when my wife will let me)

I was looking at the D80. I'm not sure if best buy had the D90 on the shelf to play with.

Wouldnt a Canon be better?

- Peter.

I've used the Nikon brand before.

The D60 doesn't have an auto focus feature(If I start to get lazy lol)..hmmmm

They're all good
 

Picking a brand for the camera body depends on what lenses, flashes and other accessories you already own [or can get cheaply].

If you have no current investment in photo hardware, you can be more flexible. [See what fits your budget, hands & brain]

I would recommend the reviews [and forums] over at http://www.dpreview.com/ [the forums have a fairly good signal to noise ratio].

Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Leica use lens based optical image stabilization [not all lenses will have the feature]

Pentax, Olympus and Sony use in body 'sensor shift' image stabilization. This is usable with almost any lens - but not optimized for any particular lens

A new alternative to a DSLR is an 'EVIL' [Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens] camera. The first production camera in this category is the Panasonic G1.

D90 is a 12.3 MP still has all the great Nikon features but this one can take Full res. video clips. Its sweet. and it does have faster FPS than the D80 (if you take sports photos or live aciton type things)

I believe it does.

this might help

http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-SLR/25438/D60.html?KAC-olmkwd08&ATTR=srch08good60&cid=srch_08good60&gclid=CPqw09_J15gCFQVuswodJxCqcA

And when you “Find-your-Nikon”…. See what Canon has to compete with it, and buy that. :D


Check with B&H for whatever you decide on. They may have a demo (or G-Market unit. sorry, no warranty there) that could save you some $$ too.

dlevitt’s post is a good one. X2, what he said.

We’ve used that review site quite a bit as well. Nice site.

Check out SONY Minolta Alpha 700 or 900, uses Minolta's legendary metering and focusing technology and lenses with SONY's CMOS, SONY makes CMOS for Nikon and Canon as well.

I had a beautiful pentax picked out, not to the scale you are looking at, but after I saw it had a big bulky charger and a special plug on the communication cable, i ended up going back to Canon. they have very nice plug in cableless chargers and us common usb cables. I guess now a lot are wireless but I still like the canon chargers best of all.

I've been looking on the dpreview forum. Best Buy has some canons and sony DSLR's to handle. If not I can head out to the massive camera shop in orlando.

IMHO sony's are good but I don't think they have the kind of accessories that Nikon does. And there is a reason why Canons are cheaper.

D80 is good but
 

The D-90 has all the bells and whistles and supports a larger format (true 24x36mm CCD and much sharper images due to more pixels per image %).

I have the D-80 and really like it and I am a lifelong Nikon user that still has my original Nikkormat Ftn on the shelf.

The VR lenses are really fine (I like the Image stabilization for Sports and long lens shiots to lose the vibration and shake) but the Nikon wide angle lenses are the best, the 10.5mm 2.8 Fisheye and 20mm 2.8 are AMAZING in their sharpness. The long zooms (80-200 and 70-300) in the new glass fiber/plastic housings seem a bit light and I tend to use my older D series metal housing zoom (80-200 2.8) instead. The 18-200 is really a nice lens but the design results in a really slow maximum apreture at the 18mm end of the lens. I'd rather have the wider F stop of a wide angle single focal length or short zoom over a small apreture "do it all" zoom.

Cameta camera
 

Cameta buys Nikon trade show demo units and sells them at 30% off B&H price with std Nikon warranty.

Canon glass is great but bodies are over rated and break way too easily.

Just remember, all the stuff is Made in China...Japan has not produced a Made in Japan SLR in 15 years!

quote=WVOtoGO;2108280]And when you “Find-your-Nikon”…. See what Canon has to compete with it, and buy that. :D


Check with B&H for whatever you decide on. They may have a demo (or G-Market unit. sorry, no warranty there) that could save you some $$ too.

dlevitt’s post is a good one. X2, what he said.

We’ve used that review site quite a bit as well. Nice site.[/quote]

I've used my dad's Sony Alpha a few times, and I really like it, and I have also played around with the Nikons. For the Money, the a200 is a very good deal.

Some thoughts...
 

Remember, the camera body will be obsolete quickly but the lenses last a lifetime. Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc all make great bodies but once you pick one it is difficult to change to a different brand after you have an investment in lenses. Choose wisely!

Go to some camera stores and handle the different brands. See what they feel like in your hands. Look at the menus and buttons and see what you would have to do to change shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, etc in a shooting situation. See how user friendly the interface is or isn't.

I shoot Nikon because I first started shooting with my brother-in-law. He has a fortune in Nikon glass and lets me borrow anything I need. That's one of the main reasons I chose Nikon to begin with. Now that I have Nikons I am very comfortable with their equipment and it is easy to use and all makes sense. I can pick up any Nikon DSLR and immediately know how to operate it.

My thoughts on Nikon bodies...
The D40 is a great little body for the money. Just make sure you buy AF-S lenses because it won't autofocus with the older screw type lenses.

D60 - I wouldn't buy this one right now because it's the next body in the Nikon lineup due to be replaced. Either wait and buy the replacement or get the D60 really cheap when the new one comes out. Also, make sure you buy AF-S lenses because it won't autofocus with the older screw type lenses.

D80 - this one was just replaced by the D90. The D90 is MUCH better than the D80. I would rather buy a used D200 than a new D80 if you can't afford the D90.

I have a D200 and a D300. Both are fantastic.

Other thoughts...
Nikon is the only major camera manufacturer that actually makes their own glass. Their bodies and glass are a system.

As was mentioned earlier, Sony makes the sensors for Nikon but, Nikon designs the sensors and Sony buys the "steppers" from Nikon to manufacture the sensors. Steppers are the big pieces of equipment that are used to etch the circuits on the silicon wafers. Nikon also designs the image processing hardware and firmware inside the camera body. Nikon doesn't pick a bunch of parts from Sony's parts bin and assemble DSLR's.

I was looking at the Cannon EOS XSi, I think, today. It felt pretty good in my hands and the controls were easy to figure out and use without the manual at my disposal.

Soon I'll venture out to orlando to a real camera store. Best Buy isn't a place to buy a DSLR

I'm on B&H just browsing but the Canon I looked at yesturday at best buy had a 3.0" screen compared to the 2.5 on the nikon.

I stopped in to my photography prof's office and talked to him about camera's. He uses cannons and he did tell me B&H is the best place to get the camera since they are very competitive on price and no sales tax.

Thinking back I kinda liked the controls on the Canon XSi Rebel I was testing. It seemed to have more features and a bit better image on the screen than the nikon d60.

I've been asked to write and take photo's at the next big concours the delorean owners association is involved in so I do need to select a DSLR before april ish



B&H has a nice kit with the XSi that has the following

2gb card
lithium ion battery(charger included)
card reader
3 year warranty and accident protection
stock lens(18-55mm)
uv filter
lens cleaning kit
lens hood
camera bag


sucks its out of stock at the moment.. all this for like $890 plus shipping. I'd say thats a good deal. The reviews on the XSi are pretty good and I did notice it was quieter than the D60

think im going to pull the trigger on this one


Canon Rebel XSi 12.2 megapixel

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart&A=details&Q=&sku=542180&is=REG

and a 4 gig card, filter kit and lens cleaning kit since I can pick the bag up locally and other cool stuff.

only thing now is to decide... silver or black..hmmm

got my tax money back so I think I am about to pull the trigger.

I'm going for the XSi but I noticed B&H have the D60 for $600 with a $50 rebate.

looking over the two the Nikon has some things that stand out that the XSi doesn't have

the XSi has bulb, like the nikon but the bulb feature on the canon is limited to 30 seconds, I'd like to have more than 30 seconds if need be.

The XSi has 42 bit RGB and 12.2 megapixels where as the D60 has 36 bit RGB and 10.2 megapixels.

Both use SD cards, which my laptop has a built in card reader for.

XSi has the 3" LCD and the D60 has a 2.5"... I saw the difference in the two..

both have free shipping and no tax.


In my cart the total for the D60 is $530 and the XSi is like $680... thats $150 saved. both are great cameras but I have outlined the differences that I have seen looking at them


but reading even more reviews it seems the XSi comes out on top

decisions... aaarrggg

Sony Alpha..

http://gizmodo.com/379634/entry+level-dslr-battlemodo-canon-rebel-xsi-vs-sony-alpha-a350-vs-nikon-d60-vs-olympus-e+420


I'd like to know where they are getting their prices...

about to buy the XSi... about to.. So hard to choose the D60 or the XSi


well.. bought the XSi.. it will be here early this week... wooooo

It came today. I have to work today so not much time to use it. I'll let it charge and go try it out tomorrow. So far I have it figured out but need to read the manual.

Nice choice. I have the earlier XT and I've been really happy with it. The only thing I've noticed on a black camera is that it gets scratched and marked up quite a bit in handling.

If you're shooting for magazines, they'll wan't 300 DPI minimum which shouldn't be a problem for that camera at all.

I do a lot of car shows and air shows and the next thing I really need is a good tele/zoom.

I got the black so it wont show up in relfections as much as a silver body would.

I'm going to the camera shop tomorrow to see if they have any nice/used EF-S tele lenses.

This is the lens I want but I just can't justify spending that kind of cash right now... :(

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/162616-USA/Canon_2577A002AA_100_400mm_f_4_5_5_6L_IS_USM.html

pricey...