photography buffs, help me buy a DSLR camera

DING-DONG YO · #1 11-25-2007, 05:45 PM

My wife and I have had the Canon S3IS for about 1 year.

S3IS

It takes pretty good pictures and my wife has been getting a lot better with it. I'm thinking of upgrading to a digital SLR camera (xmas gift for wife) and figured some of you might have some suggestions.

Right now I'm torn between the Canon Rebel XTi

and the Nikon D40X

and I have the following questions:

1) Lenses - How concerned should I be about the stock lenses? Should I go ahead and buy a better lens right out of the gate or learn with the stock lense first?

2) zoom - My current point and shoot has 10X optical zoom. What is the equivalent zoom on an SLR lens? I've tried googling this but haven't found a good answer.

3) in general, what should I be looking out for? I'm going to have this camera for a long time, so what should I be concerned with? Any tips on good books or DVDs for using an SLR? This camera will be for my wife but I would like to learn how to get the most out of it too.

Thanks OOT!

kerowo · #2 11-25-2007, 06:02 PM

www.kenrockwell.com has good reviews of DSLRs, he shoots mostly Nikon but has recently been shooting with Canons as well.

I have a Nikon D70S and am very happy with it. I haven't heard anything bad about Nikon stock lenses and wouldn't imagine Canon's to be any different. Before you start thinking about new lenses you should have an idea of what you are going to be shooting. Critters require longer lenses, landscapes and people shorter. The longest lens I've used was the Nikon low-end 70-300mm zoom and was very happy with it. Out of hundreds of images I think I saw chromatic aboration a couple of times, it wasn't very fast, but for what I was shooting it was fine. I can't imagine 10x zoom is more than 200mm but I don't know.

Googling around will give a bunch of different photography sites where you can see other peoples work and get tips. I would also recommend a beginners class at either a community college or through a local camera shop.

The D70S is a 6 megapixel camera and I haven't had any problems printing images up to 10"x14" for a 16"x20" frame, so don't be lured by high pixel counts. You can see the stuff I've done at http://gallery.mac.com/kerowo

cwsiggy · #3 11-25-2007, 06:09 PM

dpreview.com

the ultimate photography review site - just like avsforums.com - the forums there are full of neurotic people but a wealth of info. Great camera reviews.

xxThe_Lebowskixx · #4 11-25-2007, 06:11 PM

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=1&vc=1

DING-DONG YO · #5 11-25-2007, 06:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=1&vc=1

[/ QUOTE ]

good stuff in that thread, sure, but it's a year old. A lot has changed.

xxThe_Lebowskixx · #6 11-25-2007, 06:20 PM

what has changed? the cameras you are considering all more than a year old.

bigbootch · #7 11-27-2007, 09:32 AM

[ QUOTE ]
www.kenrockwell.com has good reviews of DSLRs, he shoots mostly Nikon but has recently been shooting with Canons as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT, /thread. Go to the "Technical" section of his webpage, and you'll find many articles that will answer all of the questions about your specific situation. This guy really knows his stuff, but just as important, he's not some snooty photography buff who looks down on any point&shoot. quite the opposite, he's very no nonsense, use whatever works, type of guy.

That, and dpreview.com can be helpful too, but that I think mostly for reference information and such.

-bigbootch

4 High · #8 11-27-2007, 11:17 AM

I like DCresource as well.

Anyone know a good site to figure out if i should get a photo printer or not, and if so which one?

gusmahler · #9 11-27-2007, 12:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I like DCresource as well.

Anyone know a good site to figure out if i should get a photo printer or not, and if so which one?

[/ QUOTE ]

Rockwell says to use your local Costco or drugstore.

To me, one of the conveniences of digital is the ability to make my own prints without having to go to the drugstore to pick them up. The only site I know of with printer reviews is http://www.photo-i.co.uk/

4 High · #10 11-27-2007, 01:01 PM

I was at Walmart yesterday doing a return and getting Digital Photos printed just seemed so damn cheap. It was like 14 cents for each one if you are willing to wait 2 days or 19 cents if you can wait an hour. With it being that cheap i just have to wonder should i really get a printer? With how expensive ink is i wonder how many photos i would have to print per year to make it worth it.