Capturing the Magic - A "Which Camera Should I Get" Thread

[IamTrike]

Wow!! Great advise! I never thought about the friends sharing lenses!! And I really don't need a brand new OOB camera!



It's soo overwhelming with research of DSLR cameras! I can find the same amount of bad reviews as good on the same model!! Ahhhh!! I really don't care if I purchase last years model or this years.. I want a camera that I don't hve to take four shots and pray that one comes out good.. I will start scouring the resources and hopefully I find something that will make me happy!!

Carl researching DSLRs can be hugely complicated. People can be fanatical about there camera's. I love my nikons DW and I have had a D50, D90 and now we have a D300s. We are friends with pro-photographers and some shoot Nikon and some shoot canon. All love their camera's. The important thing to remember whether your looking at a D50 or a canon T1i is that the weakest link in the picture taking chain is most likely going to be you. Most any DSLR is going to take great pictures and it will take a long time for you to outgrow it. Don't stress so much about which camera. Just get one that feels comfortable in your hand that is good in your price range. In this price range the other weak link is the lens. Upgrading the lens can make a big difference.

 

[wasnotafan]

Carl researching DSLRs can be hugely complicated. People can be fanatical about there camera's. I love my nikons DW and I have had a D50, D90 and now we have a D300s. We are friends with pro-photographers and some shoot Nikon and some shoot canon. All love their camera's. The important thing to remember whether your looking at a D50 or a canon T1i is that the weakest link in the picture taking chain is most likely going to be you. Most any DSLR is going to take great pictures and it will take a long time for you to outgrow it. Don't stress so much about which camera. Just get one that feels comfortable in your hand that is good in your price range. In this price range the other weak link is the lens. Upgrading the lens can make a big difference.

I have a Fujica STX with a bunch of lenses from before I got married (when I had time and money). Are converters relatively easy to find. I am at the point where I don't have money but will have a little more time and the great thing about digital is you don't have to pay to print the pictures!

 

[AJRitz]

I have a Fujica STX with a bunch of lenses from before I got married (when I had time and money). Are converters relatively easy to find. I am at the point where I don't have money but will have a little more time and the great thing about digital is you don't have to pay to print the pictures!

Converters exist, but I don't know a whole lot about them. Your best bet with converters is to go to a local camera shop. The downside of converters is that changing lenses takes longer, because you have to remove the lens, but not the converter.

One alternative might be to see what you might be able to make from selling the Fujica (you may get more for the body and components separately - some camera shops will sell for you on consignment), and then apply that to the purchase of a DSLR.

 

[IamTrike]

I have a Fujica STX with a bunch of lenses from before I got married (when I had time and money). Are converters relatively easy to find. I am at the point where I don't have money but will have a little more time and the great thing about digital is you don't have to pay to print the pictures!

I don't know a lot about converters but I seem to remember rental mentioning them to me in one of the past threads. You may also have a conflict between the lens and the body. Some low end bodies ( like the Nikon D40) don't have an auto focus motor in them. They assume that they lens will have an autofocus motor in it. As a result those bodies aren't compatible with certain lens or if they are compatible all functionality isn't guaranteed to work.

Converters exist, but I don't know a whole lot about them. Your best bet with converters is to go to a local camera shop. The downside of converters is that changing lenses takes longer, because you have to remove the lens, but not the converter.

One alternative might be to see what you might be able to make from selling the Fujica (you may get more for the body and components separately - some camera shops will sell for you on consignment), and then apply that to the purchase of a DSLR.

I think this is really good advice. Consignment/trade could be a really good way to go.

 

[BigTex71]

Carl...

I'm going to jump on the Nikon bandwagon. I own a D90....so does BigTex....and I love it...he'll say the same.

Yes, I absolutely LOVE my Nikon D90. I am a real n00b when it comes to photography, but I am learning more with each session I use my camera. When I go to edit the pics (cropping, exposure tweaks, contrast, etc.), that helps me learn ways to incorporate those 'tweaks' in-camera before I take the next round of photos. The more pics you take, the better eye you will start to have.

Like I said, I am new to this field... but my D90 does the heavy lifting for me. Here is my Flickr photostream to see some pics I have taken with it. Even if the exposure is not a great composition, the D90 makes it look much better than my P&S did. So the Nikon D-series come highly recommended by me.

 

[AJRitz]

I really want to upgrade my D50. I'm actually very happy with the pictures it takes. But it has one design flaw that is currently driving me batty. It only supports SD cards up to 2 GB - it doesn't have high capacity (SDHC) support. That wouldn't normally be a big deal. My own opinion is that more than 2 GB of photos on 1 SD card is sort of like begging to lose your entire vacation's worth of photos if anything happens to that card. I'd much rather work with multiple SD cards. And 2 GB is a lot of space, unless you're shooting huge RAW files.

BUT, I'm an EyeFi card user - I absolutely LOVE the ability to download photos off of my camera without having to take out the SD card and plug it into a computer or connect the camera to a computer. And EyeFi has finally released the killer combo that I've been waiting for since I got my iPad last year. Their new card will connect to the EyeFi app running on an iPhone or iPad - it will connect if they're on the same wireless network OR can set up an AdHoc WiFi connection if your WiFi connection is a public network.

With photo editing software on the iPad, it makes it just that much easier to travel without taking the laptop. BUT, they're only making the new cards in SDHC format. So I can't use them in my D50.

 

[IamTrike]

I really want to upgrade my D50. I'm actually very happy with the pictures it takes. But it has one design flaw that is currently driving me batty. It only supports SD cards up to 2 GB - it doesn't have high capacity (SDHC) support. That wouldn't normally be a big deal. My own opinion is that more than 2 GB of photos on 1 SD card is sort of like begging to lose your entire vacation's worth of photos if anything happens to that card. I'd much rather work with multiple SD cards. And 2 GB is a lot of space, unless you're shooting huge RAW files.

BUT, I'm an EyeFi card user - I absolutely LOVE the ability to download photos off of my camera without having to take out the SD card and plug it into a computer or connect the camera to a computer. And EyeFi has finally released the killer combo that I've been waiting for since I got my iPad last year. Their new card will connect to the EyeFi app running on an iPhone or iPad - it will connect if they're on the same wireless network OR can set up an AdHoc WiFi connection if your WiFi connection is a public network.

With photo editing software on the iPad, it makes it just that much easier to travel without taking the laptop. BUT, they're only making the new cards in SDHC format. So I can't use them in my D50.

I had been looking at getting an Eye-fi for DW. I was looking at pushing stuff from her Camera to an ipad when she does shoots in her studio at our house so her clients could get a quick preview. This looks like a better option.

 

[carlnix30]

Thank you all for your advise.. It has allowed me to narrow it down to t3i and the d5100. Both are more than I wanted to spend but the t3 and d3100 are only about $200 cheaper. It seems like canon and nikon have buildings right next to each other.. They compete and copy each others features. One has an edge over the other in so many different categories. One has this but the other has that. From all the reviews canon is slightly better at video but nikon is slightly better at photos. So if I wait just another month or so I think the price will drop and I get d5100 a little cheaper.

 

[carlnix30]

Yes, I absolutely LOVE my Nikon D90. I am a real n00b when it comes to photography, but I am learning more with each session I use my camera. When I go to edit the pics (cropping, exposure tweaks, contrast, etc.), that helps me learn ways to incorporate those 'tweaks' in-camera before I take the next round of photos. The more pics you take, the better eye you will start to have.

Like I said, I am new to this field... but my D90 does the heavy lifting for me. Here is my Flickr photostream to see some pics I have taken with it. Even if the exposure is not a great composition, the D90 makes it look much better than my P&S did. So the Nikon D-series come highly recommended by me.

Great pics!! I love the flowers and the water!! And who wouldn't like the squirrel!

Carl...

I'm going to jump on the Nikon bandwagon. I own a D90....so does BigTex....and I love it...he'll say the same. I had a D50 before this one and it was great as well.

I would also recommend looking on Craigslist for a pre-owned D70 or D80. Both would suit you fine and should be in your price range.

I was able to sell my D50 with 2 lenses for $450. So I would imagine a pre-owned D70 or D80 with lenses would be right around where you want to spend.

Good Luck!

Pricing the D90 it is yet another $100-$200 more than the D5100 so that is tempting also! They do this on purpose.. Hmm.. This is x amount but $200 more I can get this.. And for just $200 more I can get this.. Ahhhhh..

Another important thing to remember is that, compared to a point-and-shoot camera, a DSLR is heavy and somewhat less "rugged" (especially with regard to water, because removable lenses mean the possibility of getting water inside the camera body). If you really want to use a DSLR to get shots of Splash Mountain, you're going to need to spend another $75 - $150 on a waterproof housing to protect your camera.

Are they really that sensitive? A little water could damage it? Or will I be able to just clean the sensor?

I held a DSLR for the first time and noticed a huge difference in weight of the P&S and the DSLR.. Couldn't believe they wieghed that much! Going to have to get used to that.

 

[jmwest]

So I took the plunge and picked up a Nikon D5100. Excited to learn about this and see if I have an artistic eye or not. Even if not DW and both DD's are beautiful subjects. Unfortunately the SDHC card I picked up to start with is bad. It's a 16GB class 10 made by PNY. Anyone else have issues with this brand?

Also interested in what lense other Nikon users have. Do you stick strictly with Nikon branded lenses or are there comparable off-brand lenses that are more cost effective?

 

[AJRitz]

So I took the plunge and picked up a Nikon D5100. Excited to learn about this and see if I have an artistic eye or not. Even if not DW and both DD's are beautiful subjects. Unfortunately the SDHC card I picked up to start with is bad. It's a 16GB class 10 made by PNY. Anyone else have issues with this brand?

Also interested in what lense other Nikon users have. Do you stick strictly with Nikon branded lenses or are there comparable off-brand lenses that are more cost effective?

I have a couple of Nikon lenses, but also use lenses from third-parties including Quantaray (who really just relabels others' lenses) and Sigma. When it comes to lenses, read reviews and make your decisions - almost every lens has plusses and minuses. You need to weight those and decide what's most important to you (sharpness/bokeh/weight/focus slippage/etc.).

As for memory cards, if my camera would support SD cards larger than 2GB, I would be pre-ordering an Eye-Fi Mobile X2 card.

 

[BigTex71]

For memory cards, I prefer the SanDisk Extreme Pro 45Mb/s UHS-1 cards for super-fast writes.

 

[IamTrike]

Wife and I both shoot nikon. We use mainly SanDisk Ultra 2 or Cards. You can get them at costco pretty cheap. We typically use 8 or 16 GB cards. As for lenses we've shot a variety of Nikon and non-nikon stuff. Our first non-nikon lens was a Sigma 55-200. It was pretty cheap and we wound up returning it after only a day. We didn't like the picture quality. That was several years ago the new Sigma version of that lens might be better. We currently have the tamron 17-50mm. DW was looking for performance closer to a prime lens and that lens came highly recommended. The lens takes great pictures, when it works. It seems to have issues locking focus and so neither dw and I really like to shoot with it. There may be a firmware update for our bodies that resolves that, but I haven't tried it yet. We have the Nikon 18-200 and its a great lens. There is a really good podcast on betamouse from a week or 2 ago that discusses the best lenses for shooting Disney.

 

[scott2997]

So I took the plunge and picked up a Nikon D5100. Excited to learn about this and see if I have an artistic eye or not. Even if not DW and both DD's are beautiful subjects. Unfortunately the SDHC card I picked up to start with is bad. It's a 16GB class 10 made by PNY. Anyone else have issues with this brand?

Also interested in what lense other Nikon users have. Do you stick strictly with Nikon branded lenses or are there comparable off-brand lenses that are more cost effective?

I have this exact same SDHC card for my D90 and it works great....must be a lemon.

I have one lens currently....the 18-200 VR Nikkor Lens. It's great for a walk-around lens. I'm also keeping my eye on the Nikkor 50m 1.8 lens for shooting fast and low light. Would be nice for Disney and it's many "dark" rides.

 

[jmwest]

Went back to BB and exchanged the card. All is good now. Man, now I have a lot to learn about this machine!

 

[AJRitz]

I have this exact same SDHC card for my D90 and it works great....must be a lemon.

I have one lens currently....the 18-200 VR Nikkor Lens. It's great for a walk-around lens. I'm also keeping my eye on the Nikkor 50m 1.8 lens for shooting fast and low light. Would be nice for Disney and it's many "dark" rides.

The 50mm isn't really wide enough for dark rides. The speed is nice, but you're really too close for proper 50mm focus most of the time (remember, with a smaller sensor, a 50mm lens is really about an 85mm lens). The king of the dark ride lenses is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Lens. The downside, of course, is that the Sigma 30mm is an almost $500 lens.

 

[IamTrike]

The 50mm isn't really wide enough for dark rides. The speed is nice, but you're really too close for proper 50mm focus most of the time (remember, with a smaller sensor, a 50mm lens is really about an 85mm lens). The king of the dark ride lenses is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Lens. The downside, of course, is that the Sigma 30mm is an almost $500 lens.

They raved about that lens on the betamouse podcast. I've been thinking about the Nikon 35mm F1/8. I need to compare that to the sigma to see if its worth the $300 extra for the bigger aperture.

 

[scott2997]

The 50mm isn't really wide enough for dark rides. The speed is nice, but you're really too close for proper 50mm focus most of the time (remember, with a smaller sensor, a 50mm lens is really about an 85mm lens). The king of the dark ride lenses is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Lens. The downside, of course, is that the Sigma 30mm is an almost $500 lens.

They raved about that lens on the betamouse podcast. I've been thinking about the Nikon 35mm F1/8. I need to compare that to the sigma to see if its worth the $300 extra for the bigger aperture.

Aaron - after I posted this, I too listened to the Betamouse podcast about lenses and realized that the Sigma 30mm or the Nikon 35 mm would be the best using a DX camera.

Thanks for the betamouse tip Trike!

 

[panixx]

I was doing the same thing....trying to decide between Nikon D3100 and Canon T3......then it was the Canon T3i and Nikon D5100.

I decided on the Canon T3i. Just got it last week so havent gotten tplay too much with it. So far I love it. We have a car show at our church this weekend so looking forward to see what kind of pictures I get from it