New to Digital SLR not Photography

<p>Hello Fellow Snappers,<br>

Please let me introduce myself, I'm in my early 30's and am looking to get back into photography after selling my old film equipment about 2 years ago. My film years were with Minolta and had some photos that were on display at a local art show won some awards with them. So as you can guess I'm not new to photography. I also have been using a P & S for work on a daily basis, but I really can't get the pictures I who to out of this camera. <br>

While my budget is tight at the moment I expect it to open up over the next few years, with that said I'd like to get into the DSLR market sooner than later. From my research I've done so far the two manufactures I need to consider are Nikon or Canon especially because I will probably need to rent some lenses when I'm traveling. I am not looking for a full frame camera.<br>

As I know I have no camera line and it's the system that you need to build please understand at this time I only have money to purchase either a Canon 30D or Nikon D200. Some things I'd like to do in the future with the system, body may change by then, are Underwater and Action shots. The important interests I'm interested in now are: Architecture, Gardens & Landscapes, Street & Documentary, Macro, and finally Nature.<br>

I'm interested in finding a good system one that will support my interests now as well as allowing me to grow into my other interests. With all the said I'm looking for the best system I can develop with the two cameras mentioned above with the ability to grow from there. I do not plan on doing this professional, but that may change in the future.<br>

Thank you for your suggestions.</p>

<p>Welcome to the digital world. I, too, jumped aboard a couple of years ago. The instant feedback you get with digital along with your previous experience should make your learning curve quite steep. I don't think you can go wrong with either Canon or Nikon--go to a store and play with them and see which you like best. If there is a way to push your budget a bit you might look at the Nikon D7000 or the Canon equivalent (Canon 60D?). If not, no worries, the two cameras you mention will certainly get you going...and it is the eye of the photographer, not the equipment, right?</p>

Hi Joseph Welcome also. Would your local camera club be able to help? Here on photo net we have the classifieds for saleYou will find that undedr the blue community tab main page Wish you well Regards miken

<p>As you say you will need to rent lenses, Canon and Nikon make the most sense. Had it not been for that, Olympus, Pentax, Sony and others too would have been just as good since you do not want "full frame".<br>

I'd say that your stated needs would be met if you had two lenses: a wide-to-medium-long (28mm to around 100mm, equivalent) zoom and a "macro". Neither kind of lens is terribly expensive, regardless of maker.</p>

If you're starting from scratch I would suggest taking a good look at the Micro 4/3 cameras from Olympus and Panasonic. I have always used fairly large SLRs (e.g., Nikon D200, D700), but like the smaller size more and more. (There are other similar choices, but the lens selection is very limited.)

 

It's still true, though, that there's no substitute for the D700 sometimes, such as a recent awards ceremony with very poor lighting. I shot at ISO 6400 with excellent results. There are only a few SLRs that can do that.

 

But on tour of Europe, for example, I would definitely take my Olympus E-P1 instead. Same for street photography, family photos, and hiking.

<p>Joseph</p>

<p>There are some major paradigm differences between digital and film SLRs. One of these is that there is no longer any significant differences between the features of any DSLR. They all support all the traditional SLR features plus all the P&S features found in modern camera. Nikon has a slight advantage only because a lot more of the old Nikon lenses will still work on their DSLRs than old Canon lenses will work on their DSLRs.This is important even for renting as no store can afford to immediately replace all their lenses. So you may find the rental selection to be better if you can use the older lenses.</p>

<p>DSLRs have been on the market long enough that both brands have significant numbers of used digital lenses on the used market. Half my lenses were historically bought used and they were great bargins. So besides renting, consider buying used lenses.</p>

<p>The only significant difference between DSLRs nowadays is ergonomics. The size of the camera, the location of the controls, whether they are dials or push buttons, etc. can all make a significant difference for many people. My recommendation is try them out in a store and buy whatever literally feels right. Both camera systems will fully meet all your current and future needs.</p>

<p>The real fun starts when you get the camera. As I wrote, there are many paradigm changes between film and digital. For example, with digital you can change the ISO from shot to shot. It becomes another exposure control along with shutter speed and aperture. Also with digital, a lower ISO does not mean a better quality image. Digital noise can actually increase at a lower ISO because the ISO algorithm is optimized for the higher ISO settings.</p>

<p>Danny</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>There are some major paradigm differences between digital and film SLRs. One of these is that there is [<em>sic.</em>] no longer any significant differences between the features of any DSLR.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>These statements are misleading at best.</p>

<p>The biggest "paradigm difference" between film and digital bodies is that the latter have <em>much more</em> influence over image quality than did the former, given that the light capturing medium (sensor) is now built into the body, whereas it (i.e., the film) was not built-in before. And sensor quality varies hugely, just a film quality did.</p>

<p>Also, DSLR's vary in their feature sets just as film SLR's did. For example, only "better" DSLR's have spot metering capability, the ability to interchange focusing screens, penta<em>prisms</em> rather than penta<em>mirrors</em>, etc.</p>