 Monica J. Pileggi |
1st digital SLR - Which to purchase? This is my first posting. I am looking to purchase a digital SLR. I am considering the Canon EOS D40, Nikon D40X, and Nikon D80. I travel a lot and take photos in cities, towns, villages, landscapes, flowers, people, markets (love doing macro), etc. I currently have the Canon Power Shot SD850 IS, which I love, but want to upgrade to the SLR. My other past cameras have been the Nikon N80 and Canon AE1, which I still have. Any recommendations is greatly appreciated and if there's another digital camera I should consider, I would appreciate hearing about it too. I also understand that shooting in RAW is better than JPG, but I'm really not familiar with this. Thank you, Monica
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Stephanie M. Stevens |
It's possible that the lenses you already have for your old film cameras will fit a digital from the same company, so look into that, it might help your decision.
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John G. Clifford Jr |
Your Nikon N80 lenses should work on the D70 and D80. The D40 is iffy... it doesn't have an internal focusing motor (the lenses need to have focusing motors to work with this camera). There ARE good dSLRs out there from other manufacturers than Canon or Nikon. I think the Sony Alpha has some very interesting features. I like the Pentax dSLR line because they'll work with any Pentax k-mount lens... and some of those lenses are among the best, in terms of resolution, ever made yet they're available for pennies on the dollar on eBay because very few people understand that the lens IS the most important camera-related aspect of photography. And, I'm a big fan of the Sigma SDx line of dSLRs, with their unique Foveon sensor. My 4.3 MP Sigma SD14 produces images that are as detailed and sharp as 10 MP Canon and Nikon cameras, yet the file size is much smaller... and my pictures take up-rezzing (resizing to larger sizes for larger prints) much better than 10 MP images from other brands. In other words, you (and everyone else, including me) are extremely lucky in that it's really hard to make a bad choice... because there are so many good choices.
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Monica J. Pileggi |
My apologies for not responding sooner. I have decided to go with the D80. Now to decide which lense(s) to go with it. I want the best and understand the VR lenses are the best. Any suggestions? Thanks! Monica
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Andy |
How about the Nikon 18-200 with VR? Good for all purposes you mentioned above except macro. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/408518-GREY/Nikon_2159_18_200mm_f_3_5_5_6G_ED_IF_AF_S.html
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Monica J. Pileggi |
Thanks for the suggestion! I did look at that lense. Definitely want one that's VR. I was also thinking about times when I probably wouldn't want to have the 18-200 zoom, so is there a fixed lense that is recommended? thanks! Monica
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Monica J. Pileggi |
PS: I have a friend that has the Canon D30 and she has a fixed lense. She tells me she keeps the camera at the highest resolution and just crops her photos, rather than buying (at least for now) a zoom lense. Is this a smart way to go? I'm thinking not because that means extra time in going through the photos and spending time cropping.
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Amy JACKSON |
When you crop your image you decrease the size and reduce the quality. Most people crop at least a little on most images but whenever posssible you want to avoid cropping. I have several zoom lenses and only one fixed lense which is my 50mm macro. I use my 28-135 most of the time. Good luck! :)
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Andy |
It depends on your shooting style. But I also will not suggest cropping instead of using a zoom lens. My favorite prime is the 50mm (on a film camera, that's about 35mm on your D80). About 95% of the time I will use a good quality zoom lens. Hope this helps.
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Monica J. Pileggi |
Thanks for your replies. No, I have no desire to do any heavy cropping. For my travels I would definitely use just a zoom (don't want to mess with taking 2 lenses unless the fixed is light enough to carry), but for shooting, say, at home, at parties, general outdoors, etc., I think a fixed lense would be good. This Saturday I'm going to Penn Camera in my area, as a few Nikon reps will be in the store and I can check out the various lenses. I do appreciate your comments and suggestions! thanks, Monica
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