Need help D-SLR Shopping

[Thordic]

Oh, and if you do buy aftermarket lenses, stick with Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina.

And for Sigma and Tamron, stick to their "Professional" series lenses (EX for Sigma, I forget Tamron's designation). Some of them are excellent. For example, the Sigma 24-70 2.8 EX is around $400, and is nearly as good as the Canon 24-70 2.8L, for MUCH less money.

[trevorjk]

i fully understand that the lens plays a HUGE part in taking great pics. and i will be getting better lenses down the road. as for right now, im mainly looking for a great platform to build upon.

so ive narrowed it down to

nikon d80, cannon rebel xti.

and possibles Cannon D40.

so if you had to choose 1 of the 3 and only had $800 to buy NEW with probably a warranty plan on it. which one would you do?

btw, i have a friend who works at best buy and gets things for cost so that helps... abit

[KevinA]

I vote for the rebel, it can go quite a ways, and it has lots of features for a very reasonable price.

[joelbird]

my vote

nikon D-80.

i bought my d-70 (not d-70s) 20 months ago on clearance for 450 body. 6000 pictures later never looked back since. i got the warranty also. if it busts they fix or replace no charge. nice piece of mind.

[Indignant]

i fully understand that the lens plays a HUGE part in taking great pics. and i will be getting better lenses down the road. as for right now, im mainly looking for a great platform to build upon.

so ive narrowed it down to

nikon d80, cannon rebel xti.

and possibles Cannon D40.

so if you had to choose 1 of the 3 and only had $800 to buy NEW with probably a warranty plan on it. which one would you do?

btw, i have a friend who works at best buy and gets things for cost so that helps... abit

Canon. one N. and it's the 40D, Canon cameras are (number)D and Nikon's are D(number). IE Canon 1D, Canon 20D, Canon 350D vs a Nikon D3, D200 or D50.


the D80 is more comparable to the 20/30D in my mind than it is to the XTi. Also, if you are trying to stick to a budget (or not and just trying to save) take a look and see if the XTi's features over the XT are really ones you need. If not, spend that money on better glass.

I love how the 20/30D cameras feel in my hand. I really like Canon. Some really like Nikon. One of the photo forum guys on PBN recently switched from a D80 over to Canon if you'd like to hear someone who has used both a lot.

[drg]

I shoot Olympus myself. GREAT lenses, but most people wouldn't recommend that brand.

[senghing27]

Is this package off of Best Buy any good?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=999987900050007&type=product&id=pcmprd88000050007

[Swampy]

Is this package off of Best Buy any good?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....prd88000050007

Personally I wouldn't buy anything like that from box stores. A camera shop you will pay a higher price but you'll get more support out of them then say best buy.

I'm a film guy, not to much a digital guy (to me you always get better pictures from film, but thats my thinking). But I've always love Canon's, my first camera was a ebay special AE-1, now I have a Rebel Ti. The Rebel series is great, for how old mine is I've had to send it in for repairs once when I dropped it down a stair well.

[Thordic]

Personally I wouldn't buy anything like that from box stores. A camera shop you will pay a higher price but you'll get more support out of them then say best buy.

Best Buy charges ridiculous prices for a lot of DSLR gear, camera shops are cheaper.

Best place to order from, generally, is B&H. Biggest camera store in the world. Adorama and Sigma4Less are good too. Be VERY careful when ordering cameras online, there are HUNDREDS of scam sites. ResellerRatings.com is your friend.

[Steelrat]

I've bought from Adorama, it was a good experience.

However, now that my ex ended up with my 20D, I'm in the market for another myself. I was seriously looking at the A700, since I have to get all new glass. The other options were the D300 (?) and the 40D. I like the stabilization built into the 700, but I LOVE Canon glass.

[Indignant]

I'd rather never shoot Sony. Nice enough camera, but even with the Minolta glass to choose from so many lenses i've seen for it make me want to gouge out my eyeballs in price

40D :thumbsup:

[trevorjk]

so 40D is a winner over the nikon D80?

[drg]

Different classes of camera ...

[trevorjk]

er, meant the canon 20d

im a lil inhibited

[Indignant]

i know some Nikon shooters that shoot Nikon today. I know more Nikon shooters that switched to Canon, including an AF photographer that bought his own Canon camera despite having thousands of dollars in free Nikon gear in front of him. would rather use the Canon when he wasn't working and had to shoot the Nikon.

The 40D is definitely a one up on the D80. 20D, i dunno as far as tech specs, but I would pick the Canon equivalent nine times out of ten. I don't care much for how the Rebels feel in my hands but anything 10D and above... i love it. can't be beat