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An affordable, quality 35mm SLR digital camera?

Hi, all. I'm taking a photography course and would like to get a high quality, affordable digital camera. I am looking to spend as little as possible, but I want something that is nice. I have a Nikon N80 film camera, which I like, but I'd like to move on to digital.

I am a novice photographer. I'm not looking for a lot of fancy features, at the moment. If I enjoy the course, I'll upgrade. I can't give you a budget, but, as I said, I don't want to spend a lot... I am a fan of Nikon.

Any advice would be great!
 
Nikon's lower-priced DSLRs get good reviews (I'm a Canon man, myself), but if you are accustomed to a better level of film camera, you might be happier with a used DSLR, perhaps one that has been replaced in the current lineup. There are at least a few reputable on-line dealers, such as B & H Photo. There may be a few things about lower-priced DSLRs that you won't like, beyond the bells and whistles, such as the size of the viewfinder or the ergonomics of the controls for aperture and shutter speed.
 
Don't be afraid to buy used. Then if you upgrade, you likely won't lose much if any money when you sell it. Also, if you already have lenses for your Nikon film camera, stick with Nikon so you can use them with the DSLR as well. Be advised, though, that some of the new cheaper model Nikons can only use the newer lenses (don't remember which off-hand).
 
+1 for used. With digital, yesterday's wiz bang camera is today's bargin. Digital cameras become obsolete quickly. D40 is a good recomendation and finding a nice used one should be no problem. Spend your money on lenses, not cameras.
 
I would hunt around and try to find a used Nikon D80. I still have mine and it is a great camera- the used prices have come down even further since the release of the D90. This will give you a focus motor in the camera body (not the case with the D40) and will allow you to use almost any Nikon lens.
 
I bought a used Rebel XT a couple years ago for a great price - Used digital Rebel's can be had at really great prices these days.
 
I'd also recommend on buying a used digital camera...Since you are only experimenting on whether you like photography or not, I can understand why you want to get a cheap camera instead of going all out.
 
Hey guys, thanks for all of the advice. I'm going to go to B&H Photo in Manhattan later this week to check out the used cameras. I may not be able to afford anything until after the present semester as I'm not working and am broke. It all depends on how much these suckers cost.

Is there anything I should be on the look out for if I'm buying used? I trust that the B&H sales rep will be honest, but just in case...
 
If possible, find out how many actuations are on the shutter. Obviously, the lower the better. A new shutter assembly would run you a couple hundred beans.
 
My local camera shop had a D100 body going for £80 ($120) recently. when I asked how much he'd give me for my much-loved and well-used D50, he reckoned no more than £40, even if it was mint.

So yeah, 'nother vote for used. But bear in mind most of Nikon's D-series have sub-35mm sized CCDs, which means your lenses will appear longer than they are listed as, usually by 1.5 times. That means a lens which is 100mm on your N-series will behave as a 150mm on a D-series.

Camera bodies come and go, lenses are for life. I bought an 18-200mm VR Nikkor some four years ago and it's barely lost a £ in value since then. Still an awesome lens.
 
What is considered low? Below how many would be ideal?

I believe Nikon does not publish their camera bodies' shutter life expentancy (Canon does), but the D40 should last around 50,000 - 75,000 actuations. Many will last longer and some won't last as long. You really only need to worry about it if a professional was the original owner, as they would be taking a lot more shots than your average soccer mom!
 
The only thing that matters in a consumer digital SLR is that you can adjust the apature and the shutter speed at the same time with seperate dials (wheels? clickerthings?), cameras with out this feature are plus sized point and shoots made to think for you, cameras with it are meant to be used in manual and have you do your own expouser.

Lattitude is more important then megapixels (as long as you have 10 you can blow stuff up perty big) but good luck getting a streight anwser on "how many stops of lattitude does X have?" on non-pro models.

Also go to a store and phisicaly hold every camera you are going to consider buying, then shop around online for the best price, all the features in the world mean nothing if you cant hold your camera steady, tightly, and react fast with it.
 
Salvador:

The way you worded the title of this thread has an implied meaning that you might not be intending. Most DSLR's have a smaller format sensor (commonly called "DX", more correctly APS-C or APS-M, etc) which results in a crop factor. What I mean by that is, if you take a photo with the same lens on a 35mm film camera and a typical DSLR, you'll get a different picture. Here's an example:

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Now, you probably don't care - I don't think you meant that you wanted a full-frame DSLR, like Nikon's D700 or drool-worthy D3. But if that's what you mean, I'm not sure it's compatible with words like "affordable".
 
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