Need advice on new DSLR Purchase

OK gents, title pretty much says it all. My wife and I are in the market for a new DSLR camera. We feel like the pics we are getting from our Canon SD P&S leave a little to be desired. Primary use...our daughter. At 20 months she is all over the place and our current camera just doesn't seem to get the job done.

We have done some research and probably have settled on the Nikon. We have been reading Ken Rockwell's site amongst others. Now, which Nikon is another story. We were thinking D40 before, however now we are entertaining the D90. We don't want to look back 6 months from now wishing we went the D90 route.

The other advice was to pick up the body only and then a 18-200mm lens.

So what do you guys think? Am I headed in the right direction?

The D90 w/ the 18-200mm is a fine setup. Keep in mind that all the new DSLRs are excellent cameras and will take stellar photos if you know how to use them. Please, go handle the cameras you're interested in first. Turns out I can't stand the menu system on Canons. If I bought a Canon just based on the specs, I'd be getting a fine camera that I probably wouldn't care to use. Figure out which camera feels good in your hand and is easy to use.

Oh, Ken Rockwell is a fine reviewer of photography equipment, but he is a Nikon fanboy and needs to be read with a filter.

Nikons are fine cameras. I owned them and used them extensively for 15 years. However, I currently use Canons. I find them a better bang for the buck. As letterk said, I would highly recommend that you handle the cameras and see which one you like. If you have been primarily a point and shoot user, there will be lots of features for you to learn how to use. I would highly recommend that you take some classes unless you are the type that can absorb a manual and put the information immediately to use.

It all depends on budget. If you can get a D90, a couple of lenses, and a good flash, then go for it. The D40 can take some very fine pictures. I have it with the kit lens, a Nikon 55-200mm VR zoom, a 30mm Sigma f/1.4 fixed, and the SB-400 flash.

I really appreciate the large aperture lens I have when my toddler is in motion. I also like available light whenever possible so given a choice of better glass with a D40, or a D90 with limited glass, I'd go the D40 route.

I currently shoot with a Canon D10, 6mp, and a couple of zooms. It is a great camera and I would recommend a Canon. In fact, I will be upgrading to the new Canon 5D MK II, 21mp, when it comes out next month. If your budget is not that big, the newest Canon Rebel is a good camera. If you want to see what's available go to dpreview.com for a lot of good info on lots of different cameras.

They are all good, so go check them out extensively for yourself. And don't neglect the pentax, sony and especially olympus offerings. Some of them are fantastic value, and will serve you very well. They are often overlooked by those with delusions of prosumer grandeur (and those that already have a lot of N or C lenses). I think if I was going to buy a DSLR (and I'm not, I'd buy a super-zoom style digicam first), it'd be the olympus that the local shop has. A very nice, small camera, with a full range zoom at a very cheap price.

I run a D40 with the kit lens, the 55-200mm VR and an SB400 flash. The 18-200mm lense is a nice package if you just can't deal with changing out lenses and have a several extra Benjamins laying around. I would recommend that you check out http://www.kenrockwell.com for more information on digital cameras and their extras. The one thing I will say is that the D90 from what I know works with a broader range of lenses.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkey-in-a-hat

Different lenses give better results then 1 superzoom. But if you do want to go down the superzoom-route (they really have their uses), only the Nikon 18-200VR gives proper quality you can enjoy for years to come. None other come close to this lens.

Body wise.. A body usually lasts up to 3 years, not longer. I think it's best to invest in a good lens (and cheaper body) if you have the choice. A good lens will outlast almost all bodies, even the most expensive ones.

If you consider the D40(X), you should remember that this body doesn't have a built-in autofocus motor. They focus perfect with a AF-S lens because they have their own focusmotor inside the lens, but all other lenses are just manual focus. So if you want or have a non-AF-S lens, the D40(X) really isn't an option anymore. Nikon has a great line of lenses and not all of them have AF-S yet, but most of them do.

I think you might enjoy the video feature on the D90 as well (if you don't already have a video camera) for your 20 monther...

Whatever you do decide, keep in mind the long term future. The lenses you might buy for the camera you get now will not fit on another brand camera you may want in the future.

I use Canon (a 40D, currently). I wish I'd gone with Nikon.

They seem much more thought out than the Canon cameras. Things like the ability to plug a GPS into the body (Canon is moving in that direction, granted, but I'm not going to pay $750-$800 for a grip just to do that). And yes, I would actually use that feature if it was on my camera.

Nikon's CLS seems to give you more flexibility than the Canon off-camera flash system (especially if you're going to shoot outside).

At least on Nikon's higher end cameras (the D90 and up, for sure) they have optional grid lines built into the view finder (using LCD, like a digital watch face), which would definitely be nice to have at times. For comparison, if you want a grid in your viewfinder in a Canon SLR you either need to switch to Live View, or buy a new focusing screen. That's fine, but what if you shoot in low light using fast glass and want to use the focusing screen optimized for that (like me)? Well, tough. Pick one.

There are some other things as well, and Canons are fine cameras, but sometimes there are limits. I'm sure there are people in the Nikon boat that look at the Canons and lust after them, too. Maybe some will chime in.

The wife and I have a Canon EOS Rebel XTI DSLR. It is a great camera. We've had it for about a year and at 10.1MP the detail is awesome! We took about 8,000 pics with it in the first six months. We save all of our pics (as a backup) on our PS3 and frequently display them as a slide show on our 60" HDTV. Even at 60 inches the pictures are immaculate! We have a 35-90mm lens and a 90-300mm and both are great. We looked long and hard at the Nikons but we were able to get far more for our money with the Canon. Both are great cameras, it really just depends on how much you expect to get with the almighty greenback!

First off, thanks to everyone for taking the time to provide information, it is really appreciated. I guess we really need to head down to the camera shop and handle all the different models, check out menu functionality etc. We are also looking into classes as well so we get the most out of our purchase. Keep the info coming, I will probably have some questions regarding specifics as well. Thanks again, fellas.

Bob, when you figure it out, let me know. I need to replace my D70!

Here's a hard deal to beat. A recertified D40 kit for $375 at eCOST.com. Just add memory.

The D40 is a great camera and Ken Rockwell raves about it on his site. However, it is beginning to get a bit dated, it came out in 2006 which is heading toward end of life in the dslr world.

If I was getting my first dslr today, I would get the D90 if you want a nikon. The nice thing about the D90 and nikons in general is the backward compatibility of their lenses. The D90 will autofocus and meter on many more lenses than the d40, and there are a ton of nikon lenses out there on your local craigslist, keh.com, ebay, etc. Of course you need to take your budget into consideration.

The d40 is the best bang for your buck dslr cameras out there. I have one and it's great and the price allowed me to get things like a nice tripod, more lenses, flash, etc.

I don't have a lot of input on DSLRs but this site helped me a lot with my recent purchase of my DMC-TZ5

They have tons of in depth test and reviews

Camera Labs

Best of luck


SandP

boboakalfb said:

... I guess we really need to head down to the camera shop and handle all the different models, check out menu functionality etc. We are also looking into classes as well so we get the most out of our purchase. ...

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+1
Bob -
Absolutely the right approach. You really can't choose correctly without handling the cameras.

I'd suggest that folks take Mr. Rockwell's writings with a grain of salt. He writes a lot, to be sure, and some of what he says is valid, but my reading (and I did a lot before my recent DSLR purchase) indicates that he's particularly well-regarded by much of the photographic community.

At the end of the day, it will likely come down to feel, lens availability (making sure that the vendor makes what you want -- typically not an issue with Canon or Nikon), and budget. Fer instance, when I recently held the Nikon/Canon/Pentax/Olympus offerings, I immediately eliminated the Canon -- it just didn't feel right in my hands.

For kid pictures, a wide-angle to normal fast, fixed-focal-length (i.e. - not zoom) lens for shooting in available light (without a flash) would be high (if not first) on my list.

And you should be able to find a reasonably-priced used Nikon or Canon offering used that would fit that bill, if cost is an issue. All other things being equal, used Nikon/Canon equipment tends to be more readily available than the other brands.

(Ulitimately, I got a Pentax anyway, after about 30 years of using Nikon film SLRs.)

- Richard (a happy Pentax K200D user)

letterk said:

... I need to replace my D70!

Click to expand...

Why?

Update...

We purchased a Nikon D90 with 18-105mm Lens and SB-400 Flash.

Now to start reading the manual.

Thanks again to everyone for their input.