Digital SLR...Which one?

[Jdubya]

Okay, I am currently using a Pentax 35mm :oops: SLR kit but want to upgrade to a digital SLR. I'm not too phased about keeping the lenses from the pentax kit so any make is cool. I just need to get a really good but reasonably priced bit of SLR kit. I'm not after an "entry level" camera but more of a semi-pro bit-o-kit unless the entry level is of as good a standard as the semi-pro stuff...

Any suggestions :?:

[wyrdness]

There's three main choices at the moment, for a decent semi-pro:
Nikon D80
Canon EOS 400D
Sony Alpha 100

Practical Photography this month gives the D80 an amazing review, calling it "the best d-slr an enthusiast photographer could buy at the moment". It doesn't have some of the nice features like anti-shake or sensor dust cleaning though.

Sony took over Konica-Minolta's camera division, so the Alpha 100 is the successor to the Minolta 7D. Build quality might not be quite up to Nikon levels but the anti-shake technology is *very* impressive.

I haven't read a review of the Canon yet, but it looks like it will also be a superb camera.

Your best bet is to read all of the reviews that you can get your hands on (www.dpreview.com is the best site on the net for camera reviews) and make up your own mind.

Pentax have announced the new K10D which might be worth investigating.

The dark horse is the Sigma SD14. I've no idea of price, but it features the amazing Foveon sensor

[Beenz]

Well there has been a lot of chat on the pixel front recently.

OK, this is my personal view from experience. Oh and don't just count pixels as better image quality, it ain't always.

Nikon has the build quality and handling that the others dream about, D50 is a bargain, D70s is likely to be cheap as it's been replaced by the D80 (that has a much better larger viewfinder view). The stock 18 - 70 is also probably the best of the bunch.

Canon had just released the EOS400 that replaces the 350, the 350 will be going cheap. The semi pro 30D is a better build but will cost. From experience, consumer Canon kit has arguable quality control.

Sony is a new bod, feature rich but if you want to put other makes lenses (Sigma or Tamron) on it you might have problems, same goes for Pentax. The Sony used Minoltas' lens mount so there will be a ton of stuff on e*bay. This model is good value but allegedly feels cheap in comparison to the others.

Pentax is about to launch a 10MP new camera that will be well built and perform very well all round and will accept your exiting Pentax glass but with the lack of independant lens support will probably sell about the same as the Sony.


For your money, I'd wait a tad and see the new Pentax with 10MP and image stable stuff.

Canon may have the spec but may not last. The sony is worth a try, Nikon will seem expensive.

My money, I'd not bother, as I've already been using a D70 for clients for the last 2 years. For my own photo stuff.... well I'll stay with that old film stuff, using a rangefinder or use my very old medium format Bronica.

[Vfr400]

The first question is What type of photography do you do? it may have a bearing on what camera you require also try to handle as many cameras as you can some will feel more comfortable in your hands than others. Both Nikon and canon have great lens choices from themselves and 3rd party suppliers.

Have a look at Ephotozine .co.uk probably the best on line Photo resource in the UK.
[Shameless plug on] if you want to look at my work I'm vfr400 on there too [shameless plug off]

chris

[Beenz]

Just a thought, the Olympus system of cameras is worth a check. Not used them myself so cannot comment on em. The reviews seem to like them.

Good luck with your search.

[Peter Henry]

The Canon EOS would get my vote. I have a friend who is a former FI official photographer and even he swears by them. :wink:

[Sudoxe]

The Canon EOS would get my vote. I have a friend who is a former FI official photographer and even he swears by them. :wink:

Funny this should come up, as I was in Jessops this morning trying out the EOS 400D and Nikon D80

To me the EOS felt a bit lightweight, you could feel the difference with the Nikon. It feels better made.

They both have very similar image quality when they are used with a good lens. The canon lens that comes with the 400d kit seems a bit cheap, where as the nikon is a 300quid model.

Or you can of course buy the body only and choose some £5,000 Canon L lens ;)

Im currently considering the Nikon D80 or a D50 +extra lenses with the spare cash.

10mp vs 6mp, but its only a 30% difference in print size (proportional to the square root). So im not sure, given the 40% price difference as I wont be able to use the D80 to the full, but its nice to have toys.

Anyway, I have found www.dpreview.com is quite useful in these matters.

Im going back on friday to take a look at both and take some test pictures.

Also, if you would prefer to buy this off the high street (i.e. jessops) they will price match off of the internet. Which is nice.

Dan

[bobit69]

Nikon D50

£200 cheaper than the D80 and the same functions. Feels a little lightweight but will take better pictures than you can belive.

I got a D50 + 2 lenses for £500 new

I am a bit of a buff and find that it will do everything that is needed and MORE.

Can't go wrong with a nikon... Also ALL lenses Nikon made will fit straight on :shock:

[Rob S (Yella)]

Iv,e been lucky enough to be using the Nikon D50 and D200 recently plus a panasonic 8MP bridge camera. FZ30 (£500)

The 6mp D50 produces much sharper pictures than the 8MP bridge camera so its much more than Megapixels that make a good camera. Also the D50 produces better looking J-pegs than the D200 at first glance but with minimal tweaking the D200 produces amazing photos with amazing sharpness and colour saturation.

The D80 seems to have all the ease of use and compact(ish) size of the D50 with most of the image quality and advanced spec of the D200 and is probably the best sub £1000 DSLR on the market. (but some Canon fans might disagree)

I am thinking of selling the D50 soon, (butI dont really want to let it go)

[Say_Cheese]

I use Canon kit. I have an EOS 10D (now been replaced by the 30D) and I think it is the best camera I have ever owned.

I have used it at professional Guiness Premiership Rugby in conjunction with a 70-200mm IS USM f2.8 L lens and the results are amazing.

Just my 2p worth.

[philipMac]

Yeah. My old man has a Canon EOS 5D I think. Its a very nice body. Didnt seem cheap at all, when I was looking at it.

According to him... he went with Canon because the auto-focus is the fastest you can get. And, it is very quick. That delay that you get with auto focus cameras is minimal.
It can also do this tracking thing, where it will lock onto something, like a bird flying towards you, and the focus will track. You can fire off loads of shots then.

But, I think the main reason was the lenses you can get to bolt on are exceptional. Allegedely. :?

[wyrdness]

Nikon D50

£200 cheaper than the D80 and the same functions. Feels a little lightweight but will take better pictures than you can belive.

I got a D50 + 2 lenses for £500 new

I am a bit of a buff and find that it will do everything that is needed and MORE.

Can't go wrong with a nikon... Also ALL lenses Nikon made will fit straight on :shock:

I've got a D50 too, though if I had the money I'd probably go with the D80 or EOS 400D. The D50 is a solid, well built camera that takes far superior pictures to my 5 megapixel compact. I've bought a longer lens off Ebay, which was not only cheap but in perfect condition. One thing to note is that it will not take ALL Nikon lenses. There's a table in the manual which states which ones work and which don't. Most will though.

[Viney]

D80...nuff said.

90% of the reviews i have read say its possibly the best you can buy!!

[mudge32]

I went in to Jessops to have a look at all the cameras mentioned and the main thing I noticed was that the Canon felt tiny :shock:

My little finger was floating around under the camera body and I don't have large hands. Most disconcerting!!! They suggested getting the extra battery pack to bulk it up...for another £160 :roll:

The Sony and Nikon feel a hell of a lot better, but, it all comes down to the old "You pays ya money etc etc" 'cause the top 4 makes are all great cameras 8)

[Jdubya]

Right...thanks for the info. :thumbsup:
I've narrowed it down to two...the Canon 400D and the Nikon D50 because my budget wont stretch as far as the D80. Mainly because they both received pretty good reviews for various reasons and they both have pretty good sensors. I like the Canon for the weight but the size does put me off slightly. The Nikon felt good but also a bit bulky...these though are not problems just little issues that can be worked around. My only reservation with the D50 is the fact that it is a 6MP camera and a lot of the pics would be printed to A4 size... :? Is that a problem :?: Has anyone encountered any problems with this at all :?:

[Ping]

I say sweet bananas.


Oops sorry, wrong thread...


:lol:
;)

[Jelster]

I went down the EOS route (I have a 350) but this was mainly because I also own an old (but very good) EOS620 35mm camera and the lenses interchange. I already had an f1.2 50mm, and a 70-210, so to replace them as well would have been a lot more money.

I'm very pleased with the EOS, and unless you are blowing things up to A3 proportions, I don't think 10MP is going to give you a lot more than 6MP (waits for purists to shout me down....)

But, whatever you chose must suit what you do, and you must be comfortable with it...

.

[Rob S (Yella)]

My only reservation with the D50 is the fact that it is a 6MP camera and a lot of the pics would be printed to A4 size...
I recently had some portraits printed in 12 by 8 inch from the 6mp D50 and some of them were too sharp. You could see every blemish and make up line on the models skin.

I might have to print some again with less sharpening so A4 is no problem with 6mp. A 6 or 8mp SLR will always look better than the 10mp compacts now out.

Canon and Nikon are both great makes so its down to personal preference in the end. I liked the solid feel of the D50 and the price was about 100 quid less than the Canon so that swung it for me.

The D50 might be going on Ebay soon so get your bidding fingers ready.

[Beenz]

I'd not worry too much about the pixel count for A4 size. I've had no complaints from clients from a D70 (6 MP)about colour sharpness or anything. Personally I think the quality control not just the build of Nikon is better. The AF is not as fast as Canon but I'd bet it will last longer and get better support.

The more expensive Canons are good, a different universe to the EOS400D. The 10/20/30D are all well made, the 5D (full frame but still has a small view finder image) is a lower build 1DS mk2 which is very good, at more than the cost of my bike new for the body only I dare say it should be. It will not give me the number of smiles that my bike has though.

[Scooby Drew]

Just buy a Nikon :lol:

[adamfool]

D80...nuff said.

90% of the reviews i have read say its possibly the best you can buy!!
i did buy one, fantastic!
it's everything i wanted and such good results. totally happy :D