Digital SLR Cameras?

[Shades]

I am looking to move up from my Canon Elph digital, which is great, to one of the newer SLR Digitals....with a few extra mmp. Thru e-bay have seen EOS Digital Rebel with 8 mp, 2 lenses etc. for about $600. I'm interested in getting some lenses to go with the camera giving me some zoom for wildlife photography and perhaps a wide angle lens as well.
Any thoughts on this model?
A friend got a Nikon D40 and seemed to be happy with it, but it was only 6.1 mp.
While I am not into blowing up pictures to poster sizes...I do want to go larger than the usual 5x7 and keep good clarity.
Any suggestions would be most welcome.
S

 

[Horney_Senior]

I'm using the Canon Digital Rebal at 8 mp and am happy with it. Prices have come down in the last year and you can now get a 10 mp model for what I paid.

 

[Papi Chulo]

I was thinking of going with the new Pentax 10.2MP

Anyone tried this camera?

 

[l69norm]

I was told that that a Rebel XT (8MP) with an upgraded lens is a better buy than a Rebel XTi (10MP) with a kit lens. Same goes for the D40 and D40X
http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/st...rtmentId=10404&categoryId=10429&itemID=146021

Even the bottom end 6MP/8MP SLRs are being held back by the quality of the stock kit lens.

 

[berzerker]

If you're serious about quality, don't even look at the lens that comes with this cameras...they're the cheapest of the cheapest.

I have D50, 6.1mp, don't have problems blowing them up to 11x14 without real quality loss.

I've tried the D80, seems to be good value unless you wanna go a bit more pro and get a D200...again, I'd just buy the body and get a decent lens. The exception is the D70 that comes with the 18-70mm lens which is very good.

Have in mind, you don't necessarily have to get Nikon lenses, there are third parties like Sigma and Tamron that are just as good for less money.

 

[DATYdude]

For the best quality it's prime (i.e. non-zoom) lenses. I would suggest a long zoom if you need it and a short prime (50mm equiv) for portraiture.

And for all you megapixel heads out there, it's not the number that matters is the mating of the sensor with the lens and the processor chip that matters. A 10MP sensor mated with the wrong lens will not get better shots than a 6PM sensor with the right lens.

Personally I have not made the jump to a digital SLR, the good ones are too expensive for me when you factor in lenses. I also like the live preview and being able to shoot movies, although I admit these are gimmicks.

For less than $320 I recently got a Fuji S6000fd (a point-shoot superzoom) for its good sensor, low-light capabilities, and very good 28-300 lens (not interchangeable). That's a few bucks left over for you-know-what.

Reviews rate the camera highly, as good as some lower-end dSLRs: "comes as near to SLR-handling as any fixed-lens camera ever has".
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms6000fd/page14.asp

I just got it so haven't had a chance to shoot much with it but what I have seen I like so far.

 

[Meister]

For the best quality it's prime (i.e. non-zoom) lenses. I would suggest a long zoom if you need it and a short prime (50mm equiv) for portraiture.

And for all you megapixel heads out there, it's not the number that matters is the mating of the sensor with the lens and the processor chip that matters. A 10MP sensor mated with the wrong lens will not get better shots than a 6PM sensor with the right lens.

Personally I have not made the jump to a digital SLR, the good ones are too expensive for me when you factor in lenses. I also like the live preview and being able to shoot movies, although I admit these are gimmicks.

For less than $320 I recently got a Fuji S6000fd (a point-shoot superzoom) for its good sensor, low-light capabilities, and very good 28-300 lens (not interchangeable). That's a few bucks left over for you-know-what.

Reviews rate the camera highly, as good as some lower-end dSLRs: "comes as near to SLR-handling as any fixed-lens camera ever has".
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms6000fd/page14.asp

I just got it so haven't had a chance to shoot much with it but what I have seen I like so far.

Fuji is the only film company that made a successful transition to digital. Kodak, Agfa... forget it.

 

[Shades]

Thanks for the input folks...I appreciate it.
Last time I ventured into Henry's the guy behind the counter made me feel like an idiot because I wasn't a "knowledgeable" consumer that knew what to ask and could speak the right techno babble. Not a pleasant experience.
I hope I get someone a little more easy to talk to this time round as I work out the best product for my needs.
Cheers
S

 

[Kenwoody]

Last time I ventured into Henry's the guy behind the counter made me feel like an idiot because I wasn't a "knowledgeable" consumer that knew what to ask and could speak the right techno babble. Not a pleasant experience.
I hope I get someone a little more easy to talk to this time round as I work out the best product for my needs.
Cheers
S

A guy at Henrys actually walked away from me while I was talking to him cause I had told him I wasn't going to be buying that day, I was doing some comparison shopping. I FLIPPED. Everyone in the Kennedy Rd store heard me berate him and the manager took me aside and gave me his card and offered to give me a good deal when I was ready to buy. I ended getting an outstanding deal on ebay and have never ventured back into that store. Can anyone tell me if the late 40's guy with glasses and Dr.Who like hair is still there? I always wondered if he got fired cause I couldn't have been the first person he has been rude to.

 

[genie888]

henry's

about a year ago i had a similar situation at the kennedy store.. as i was about to walk the manager came up to me and said that if there is any thing he could do just let him know.. so i told him that i was interested in a camcorder an i showed him the picture.. then he tells me he will match any competitors price. long and behold i said i have a promotional coupon code from dell which gives me 30% off and i was going to purchase the camcorder.. he match it and i left..

talk about customer service..

i am starting to find alot of stores are willing to price match or better..

 

[tboy]

Being into film I can agree with the "attitude" at henry's. If you think that was bad don't even think about going into the downtown store...they act like their shit don't stink down there.

Just a correction to datydude: for protraits you should go with a lens around the 100mm mark. The longer the lens the flatter the image will be and a 105 gives what is just about the perfect balance between a "deep" image of a short focal length lens and the 'flat" look of a long lens.

Unless you are positive you will be blowing up your images to larger than 11 x 14 etc don't worry about getting a high end lens. I mean, you won't notice the difference just viewing them online or on a portable pic viewer.

Same goes for the max image quality aka MP. Unless you're blowing them up super huge, don't worry about the 10+. If you are an advanced amateur or are using the camera for commercial work, then lens quality, higher resolutions are more important but for vacation shots, family shots, or just goofing around, then don't worry about it.

As for which brand is best, I'm an old school canon guy but nowadays any of the major brands work nicely. As I said, unless you're going for pro quality, I'd be more concerned with price/features etc. All the DSLRS take awesome pics.....

 

[Shades]

Something about Henry

Nice to see the other comments about the staff at Henry's and that it wasn't just me! It was the downtown store I was thinking about venturing into...but not without some intrepedation. Are there better alternatives to Henry's? I don't mind buying on line once I know what it is I want.

My intent is to be able to take some wildlife photography...no, not Dani! That is why I am interested in a zoom lense. Also, some close up of small animals, plants etc. will be on the agenda. So lenses that will do for both of these activities would be the add ons that I will be looking for. The rest of the time, with a normal lense would just be the usual family, vacation type of shots.

As far as blow ups...11x14 would probably be it so the resolution from 8 mps might be adequate.

 

[tboy]

Well, if you want to do long and short shots, you won't get a zoom that will do both nicely. You are basically talking about wanting both ends of the spectrum when it comes to shots.

I don't know what your budget is but for wildlife, you will need at least a 500 mm lens (depending on what wildlife you're talking about and how close you can get to them). One of the beauties about digital photo over film is if you use a high res setting, all you need to do is get the animal or bird in the frame then zoom in using your photo editing software to compose the image better.

Depending on how "close" you want to be to plants etc you might need a macro lens for that. If you're just talking about shots like "still life" then a normal lens (50 mm +/-) will do. One thing to look for is it's ability to focus on subjects close to the lens. Some require you to be about 6' away.

From the sounds of it I'd reccommend 2 lens': a 35 mm - 100 mm +/- and something like a 100 mm - 300 mm +/-. Zoom lens' will be bulkier than fixed focal length lens (and a little higher priced) but their strength is in their flexibility to cover many situations.

You'll also want to look at the aperture of the lens'. The smaller the F number means the faster, or more able to let in light, the lens is. Just a warning: faster lens' are also much more expensive than slower lens'.

I just zipped over to the canon site and they have a few lens' in the 28 - 105 range and also a 100 - 400. Although you'll probably spend as much on the 100 - 400 as you will on the body and FFL lens.

 

[torontochris]

I have a digital rebel with 8mp and i LOVE it.

The stock lens is actually a very good lens, but it is very limited in its capabilities. I also have a 70-200mm zoom and recently bought a 18-200 sigma lens for it. This is comparable to a 35-300 on a film camera.

The 18-200 is very expensive, and only accomplishes what my other 2 lenses did, but it relieves me from having to carry around 2 lenses, which is really nice when you're walking around a city and want a decent zoom but still want to be able to snap a picture of a friend or something else that is < 10ft away.

You really do need to upgrade the flash to get decent pictures inside, another 200bucks. You can get away with the built in, but its not nearly as effective when indoors.

The camera is very versatile and lets you set as much or as little as you like. Its a great foray into the higher end digitals. Makes your pictures look fantastic from the start.

I'm surprised at the attitude at Henrys. I usually go to the one on Hurontario and I've found them very helpful, and very patient and nurturing, not at all like the attitudes you guys unfortunately seem to have encountered.

As for the needing a bigger lens for wildlife, I'm in partial agreement. I have some great pictures of wildlife I've taken with the extent of my 200mm lens that look pretty good. It really depends on the subject, lighting, your position and many other things. I can send you some if you like, bluejays and chickadees, couple flying osprey shots. Saying these are good however, I always wish I had more zoom when I'm shooting something more than 10ft away. Definitely a 400+ is very beneficial when you're trying to get something at a distance.

Good luck, can't wait to see some of your shots!

Cheers

 

[DATYdude]

Just a correction to datydude: for protraits you should go with a lens around the 100mm mark. The longer the lens the flatter the image will be and a 105 gives what is just about the perfect balance between a "deep" image of a short focal length lens and the 'flat" look of a long lens.

.

I agree and know about the best length for portraiture, what I was intending to say was that for spontaneous indoor portraits with natural light you are best off finding a fast (like f1.8) prime lens. That's the way I like to shoot and it's a good complement to the kit lenses. You're looking at about $400 for a nice prime that will autofocus.

For my use which is very casual and for my budget which includes lots of poon, I'm really happy with staying away from dSLRs, I'm quite satisfied with my old Spotmatic and its screw-mount (hey that sounds dirty!) lenses if I want to shoot high-quality. Although the last time I did was probably 3 years ago and the film is still in my fridge! (Damn I should get that processed it's probably damaged by now...)

 

[tboy]

F1.8 is a typical normal lens and everyone should have one. When I was really into photography (to the point of processing my own colour film and prints) I would have given my left nut for a 1.4 or 1.2 lens. But at the time, they were around $600.00 and $800.00 respectively.

I went to henry's to see about trading in all my old 35 mm canon stuff and even though it was worth about $4 grand back in the day, it's worth about $300.00 - $400.00 now...sniff sniff.

 

[Shades]

Just looking at this package on ebay. A Canon Rebel XTi that includes;

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens
Canon 90-300/4.5-5.6 EF Zoom Lens
Titanium .45x Wide Angle Lens
3 Piece HIGH Resolution Filter Kit
4GB Compact Flash Card
USB Compact Flash Card Reader
Digital Flash for SLR Cameras
Deluxe All Weather Proof Carrying Case
Deluxe Video & Photo Tripod
Table Top Tripod
Rapid Fire AC/DC In-Home & Car Charger for Canon Cameras
Memory Card Storage Wallet
XTi Camera Strap
XTi Lens Cap
Universal Digital Camera Screen Protector
Professional 3 Pc. Lens Cleaning Kit

The price is about $850 plus another 50 for shipping, probably a few other charges as well. It looks like a pretty complete kit for an advancing amateur photographer! I would appreciate any thoughts any of you have on this price and package.

 

[DATYdude]

I don't know whether it's a good deal or not, but it seems like a lot of equipment for under $1000. The issue is really whether it's the eight camera for you, since if it's not then it's clearly not a good deal at almost any price...

 

[torontochris]

thats a fantastic deal, I was more than that just for the body with the stock lens. alot of good extras in there. Its a good start, no doubt you'll want to add but you'll be good to go out of the gate with that.

 

[tboy]

Sounds like a good deal to me too, considering the basic rebel kit is selling for around $600.00 refurbished at factory direct......so basically for 300 clams you're getting all that other stuff.

Make sure you get shipping insurance and if it's coming from the US, use USPS or you'll be hit with a brokerage fee. You might even get away with no duty, gst or pst. I often have ordering from the US through ebay.