SLR camera 101

[viNz86]

Hey all,

Anyone know anything about those SLR cameras? I went to best buy to check them out and they range from $700 to as much as $1500+!

i am looking to buy one for the purposes of just taking still pictures, nothing fancy. it would be really nice if anyone could give some information about the camera's, since i have NO experience or don't know anything about them. i've looked up information on the net, but it keeps giving me stuff i don't understand.

can you recommend one as well? maybe most bang for buck.

best buy/future shop carry "Nikon" and "Canon", which is better!?

..thanks all just need a point in the right direction, since i don't know what i should be looking for! open to all suggestions/comments/opinions.

- vince

ps. wasn't sure if i should put this in the vancouver general chat thread ... ><

[Capt Canuck]

The Watercooler section has a Photography forum. You might wanna have a dig around in there :-)

[smatts]

check out london drugs too they have a decent selection of cameras.

[marc-o-lishuz]

Please don't start a Nikon vs Canon debate... that's like Mustangs vs Civics LOL

I'd go for a Canon XT or XTi. (I have both ) You can get them for way less than $1000. Check out Craigslist or Beachcamera.com.

[Pukuyo]

Originally Posted by marc-o-lishuz

Please don't start a Nikon vs Canon debate... that's like Mustangs vs Civics LOL

I'd go for a Canon XT or XTi. (I have both ) You can get them for way less than $1000. Check out Craigslist or Beachcamera.com.

sorry to hijack your thread vince, but hey marc, did you buy yours new for less than 1k? i'm planning on buying one too, and looked at the xti. but somehow i heard it's beginners dslr? or is that wrong?

[kelmar]

***Camera Functions***

Camera is up to personal preference....

[Cr8tive_leo]

You can get a Canon XTi with lens for $749+shipping and tx, or XT for $599 and tax.

I have Both the Canon (Rebel XT) and Nikon (D40). Why? *shrugs* My wifey got me the Nikon for my Bday, a month early *it was on sale and we had $100 gift cert for Best Buy, so it was under $700 for two lenses body for the Nikon D40. (not a d40x, not worth the price difference, might as well spend the extra cash and jump in for a D200 or better, D80 isn't worth the difference either)

Whichever you decide on, each Camera has it's pro's and con's . Both are fantastic Dslr's everyone will say theirs is better than the other. I like both, the Canon has a nicer feel to the images than the Nikon.

Go to Best Buy and take a memory card with you (SD and CF) and try taking some pics with similar settings, take them home (your cards) and compare.

I like Nikon for the SDHC, I have an 8Gig ($70) card and with raw and basic jpg saves, I get 1k images. If I do Large format with fine quality, well, it's over 5k images, if I set it to small and fine, well, more shots than three batteries could every take.

I find the battery lasts a little longer with my Nikon than my Canon, almost 500 shots with full auto compared to just over 380 on the Canon.

I like the quick start of the Nikon over the Canon, turn on and snap with the nikon, nice to get quick photos , and the response time on the autofocus on the lens is a bit faster (at least I find it a little quicker)

I've had the Canon longer, and have had Canon for years, T70, T90 Eos, and now the Digital Eos Rebel XT, all the lenses fit.

What else... try them , like I mentioned, do a bit of searching on different camera sites that do full tests, exposure, colour, focus, etc.

Links above are good ones to use, this one has a selection of terminology too that is helpful

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/glossary/

[Cr8tive_leo]

Originally Posted by Pukuyo

sorry to hijack your thread vince, but hey marc, did you buy yours new for less than 1k? i'm planning on buying one too, and looked at the xti. but somehow i heard it's beginners dslr? or is that wrong?

There is no such thing as a beginners DSLR.

They are rated to make you feel like you're spending your money on something better. *grins*

Seriously though. You give a pro photographer a point and shoot and you get magic, you give an amatuer a hasablad or top of the line 30K Dslr with full light kit and you get crap.

They have Consumer, Prosumer and Pro grade cameras. The differences between them that make them different are usually the sensor size (giving you either 6mp, 8mp, 10mp or higher) , and a few other options that may or may not benefit you. (and what would you rather drop, a $600 dslr or a $2K dslr?) (I've dropped 2 $1.2k dslrs.. whaaaa)

If you look at what you want to do with a DSLR you can decide what camera you want to sink oodles of money into.

If you want a good all round camera, inexpensive , gives you flexability of lenses, get a consumer model or prosumer model (difference, image size, maybe slightly faster and slight battery improvement)

Pro cams, quicker yet again, a lot more expensive, but why? If you're doing
major photo shoots for a modeling agency or making oodles of money with it, printing building wall sized images, it's usually overkill for most users that want a dslr. (they get blinded by the 'prosumer' consumer labels put on the cameras)

Using Nikon as an example, D40, Gives you everything the other models have , you even get camera control, remote bulb. The only thing it does not have that I wish it did was the external Grip that I have with my Canon Rebel. Would give you extra power and better grip when using a flash.

Look at what you want to take pictures of, look at what you want to do, now look at the cameras that give you all that. Usually (99%) you will see that the consumer level camera has all the bells and whistles that it's brothers have, just priced at a point where anyone can get the full range of functions a pro camera offers. (just not with the 20mb+ raw image file sizes)

Am I ranting.. maybe.. hee hee.. anywho...

[20strong]

I love my Canon Rebal 350XT. I am learning alot about shooting a proper picture. Even though I cant remmeber all the names ofthe functions that I am using.lol. Oh and get a good tri-pod.

[Cr8tive_leo]

Oooo, just incase you don't know what Camera control is (the XTi has it, I think the XT has it)

You hook up a usb cable, install some nifty software (you can find demo version that work for 30days) and you get total control of your camera. Shutter speed, iso, apature, fstop, you can save presets. You have the option of doing timelapse over days and longer, shots go directly to your pc/mac to where you specify, it's an awesome feature to have. I invested the $70 for the actual software, I use it to take model/product shots for commercials I producer, fantastic feature (and it's on a consumer grade DSLR, which blew me away)

K, done for now. Peace, out.

[viNz86]

THANKS GUYS! YOU HAVE BEEN REALLY HELPFUL...i can't thank you all enough for your advice/opinions. thank you thank you thank you

[marc-o-lishuz]

Originally Posted by Pukuyo

sorry to hijack your thread vince, but hey marc, did you buy yours new for less than 1k? i'm planning on buying one too, and looked at the xti. but somehow i heard it's beginners dslr? or is that wrong?

Agreed with Leo - no such thing as a "beginner's dSLR". If you get a pro with an entry-level dSLR, he/she can still take magazine-quality shots. A n00b with a Canon 1Ds and some L-series lenses will take crappy pics.

It's a balance of skill (on the camera) and equipment (including photo-processing software).

I have the XT (350D) which I bought when it first came out... spent over $1000 for it. Last week I bought the XTi (400D) and spent only $600 on the body. I haven't actually tried the XTi because my brother has it for the MotoGP in Laguna Seca. All I know is it's faster (3fps), higher res (10.1MP), better image processing, bigger buffer (can shoot 27 frames in 1 burst), and has picture styles (lighting modes and settings for standardized scenes). I'll write up a full review when I get my XTi on Wednesday night.

[Cr8tive_leo]

And a quick note. (on buffer stuff)

*grins*

If you can tell the difference between 2.5 fps and 3fps you're a speed god. (okay, if you burst 100 frames, you'll be slightly ahead, unless your memory card write speeds are crap)
I've held the button down on the Nikon with a 2gig and an 8gig SDHC.

The 2gig card let me go for almost 45 shots before the buffer started to slow the frame rate down. (large format fine quality) and absolutly no slow down when I dropped to med or basic fine mode.

The 8gig SDHC card, I shot over 220 frames and got tired of holding the shutter release and there was no slow down for the write buffer. Large format fine mode.

With my Canon I have a 4gig micro drive and a 2gig flash card, the micro drive out performs the flash card by a lot, again, very similar buffer write times to the Nikon, with no slow down using the micro drive. (micro drives use a small glass disc to store information on, and are very fragile, a drop on a table could make in NFG easily)

So you have to consider that too when you purchase a dSLR (DSLR) the memory card you use for storage, yes you can cheap out and buy a bargain brand, but spending $10 for the increased write speed is well worth it, even if you are a novice, it will make experimenting a lot more fun.

Buffer size is important if you want to take a series of shots, say at a race, or other sporting event. Or if you want to capture a succession of frames to capture a flow of action, be it bird wings or water drops.

Playing with settings and storage media will net you results you want, manufacturers rate their cameras with standard memory cards widely available and moderately priced for consumers.

Slow card writes will net you worse buffer performance, hence a larger buffer is a good thing. Fast card writes give you faster buffer writes, and you can almost get unlimited 'burst' shooting if you balance your image size and quality.

(buffer size and burst speed is negated once you start doing flash photography, use auto focus, you are only as fast as your slowest component. If you have a speed flash, with an ac adaptor, then you're set, burst away, auto focus needs time to work, so either set your focus to manual, or set your focus with auto focus and lock focus to save that extra time)

Phew.. I think Mark and I should dedicate a thread with this stuff.

[Pukuyo]

wow, that's alot of info to take, but very good info's altogether.

[marc-o-lishuz]

Originally Posted by Cr8tive_leo

Buffer size is important if you want to take a series of shots, say at a race, or other sporting event. Or if you want to capture a succession of frames to capture a flow of action, be it bird wings or water drops.

Yup - that's exactly why I upgraded. Although the 350D got 2.5fps on average, it feels like it was struggling to dump the buffer after about 10 to 15 burst shots in RAW. As I said (somewhere), my 400D was used for the MotoGP this past weekend, so that quick buffer was put to good use. The 350D will be used for macro/general shooting only.

[MiKeY_84]

Hey Vince its Mike, check out "Multiple Electronics" on Victoria drive. Thats where I got mine, got a pretty good deal. Gimme a shout and I'll try and find the number and stuff.

[marc-o-lishuz]

^ Welcome, new guy!

Oh, and just in case you guys didn't see my new toy... here it is (again)

[8thgenuser]

Oh my, Marc, that's some lens you got there!

[marc-o-lishuz]

Originally Posted by 8thgenuser

Oh my, Marc, that's some lens you got there!

My lens is bigger than your lens.

[8thgenuser]

Your's is long and skinny. Mine is short but has girth. I'll send you pics of it when I play with it tonight!