My first System,

[john_lin2]

Hello, well I've narrowed it down my choice for my DSLR. First I would like to

mention that I am on a very very tight budget-$800 to be exact. I'm interested

in the canon xti with the kit lens and that will run me about $780. I'm also

thinking about the nikon d40 + the 55-200VR lens-$800. Now I held both camera

and like the feel of both of them. The XTi seems like a better camera system

than the nikon d40 in terms of camera capabilities, but also looking at the

future lens it seems that the canon line up is more costly compraed to nikon.

The nikon d40 has all the basic needs for me I assume (6 mp is enough to me,

2.5fps is enough, I'm fine with the lens limit). I'm hoping to go down the line

that the camera system doesnt matter too much and that the lens will be more of

an important factor.

canon xti or nikon d40 + 55-200VR lens

 

Any thoughts?

 

thanks

John

[sgpix]

HI John - there's an excellent article on this very site...

 

http://www.photo.net/equipment/building-a-digital-slr-system/

 

Oh - and be careful poking the old "Nikon or Canon" nest... you'll likely start a riot on the thread :)

 

Simon

 

PS. Canon rules...

[peter_daalder]

If you are worried about the cost of the canon lenses, why not consider the very latest <a href="http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25424"> Nikon D40x?</a> You can buy that one with the kit lens for the money that you've got available.<br>Oh, and I don't buy into the Canon v. Nikon debate. I own three Canon DSLRs and have no problem recommending another brand. These cameras are tools and you should use what you are comfortable/happy with. That includes their price range.

[john_lin2]

Oh thanks for the reply, I'm not trying to turn this in a canon vs nikon. The d40x doesnt seem worth the extra 200 to me. I was just wonderin if anyone would have a suggestion on the d40 + 55-200vr or the canon xti. They both seem to produce good image quality. Just some thights would be nice.

[sgpix]

OK, OK - I was only kidding re. Canon vs. Nikon!

 

John - have you actually used both cameras? I think there is a pretty big difference between the user interface methods with Canon and Nikon. Personally, I find the Canon one more intuitive but that's subjective and you might prefer the other.

 

Another consideration could be ownership of one type or another by people you know. All the people I know who own DSLRs have Canon, which contributed to my original decision a few years back (eg. for borrowing lenses, etc.)

 

One thing that is pretty sure (IMO) is that whichever way you go is a long-term investment as changing after you've bought lots of lovely lenses means selling a lot of kit second hand (OR duplicating lenses for the other brand)...

 

Simon

[mark u]

The only real gotcha with the Nikon D40 is its reduced functionality with lenses that don't have their own focus motors - and you might want to add say a cheap but good 50mm f/1.8 for indoor candid shots without flash at some point. You might also want to consider a Nikon D50.

[ott_luuk]

I`m with Mark U: the recently discontinued Nikon D50 would be a better choice as the D40 can AF only with AF-S/AF-I lenses.

 

The Canon XTi is fully compatible with all EF and EF-S lenses. The EOS system is 20 years old, so it`s a lot of lenses. Many manual focus lenses can be used on EOS cameras via adapters: Nikkor, Leica R, Zuiko (Olympus OM), Yashica/Contax, M42 screwmount, Pentax K (requires modification). EOS cameras provide light metering through any lens you can mount. The lower end Nikons require CPU-equipped lenses for metering thus making most MF Nikkors quite useless on them. This may or may not be important to you.

 

BTW have you considered Pentax? They seem to have very good feature/cost balance and they make some very interesting lenses. Their system is also backwards compatible with tons of good (and often dirt cheap) manual focus K-mount lenses.

[robin_sibson1]

Am I misunderstanding something here? Are you talking about the Nikon with ONLY the 55~200 lens? Because that's a very odd setup. What you should be comparing is the body with a standard-range lens in each case.

 

Folks on this forum have generally chosen Canon, either recently or further back, on the basis of what they thought were good reasons, but your priorities may be different, and indeed at your present stage may not point strongly in one direction or the other. If you choose Canon, the 400D/XTi with the kit lens sounds fine, but a 350D/XT and the 17~85IS might be worth a look - the 350D/XT is still available. I don't know enough about Nikon kit to advise on the details, but I would tend to regard 8MPixels rather then 6MPixels as the cutoff, whereas 10MPixels may indeed be more than you need.

[yakim_peled1]

1. On a "very tight budget" - do not buy a new body, buy a used one. That will leave you more money for better lenses.

 

2. You consider the Canon with a 18-55 lens or the Nikon with a 55-200 lens. That's very peculiar comparison.

 

3. A good start-up lens for any body will be the Tamron 17-50/2.8.

 

4. A search will be most useful. There's plenty of info here.

 

5. You do know you are posting in a Canon EOS forum, don't you?

 

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[gdanmitchell]

I can't speak for the Nikon's since I am a Canon user. I do know that people do excellent

work with both of these brands and others, so both are excellent and useful. You are on

the right track to be thinking through future lens acquisitions, since your selection of a

camera does commit you - more or less - the that manufacturer's lens line-up. (Excluding

for a moment the viable option of third party lenses.)

 

I will say that the 400D/XTi plus the kit lens is a fine starter setup. Sure, this lens is not

the best thing going, but I've seen some very good work done with it... and it is within

your budget.

 

While the difference between 6MP and 8MP was less significant than many people might

have imagined (but a difference, nonetheless) the difference between 6MP and 10MP is

significant.

 

The ES-S 17-85mm could be a good choice instead of the kit lens. It does provide image

stabilization and a wider focal length range. However, my experience with the lens

suggests that it is not any big optical improvement over the 18-55 kit lens, and I don't

think it will be within your budget limit even if you get a used 350D/XT instead.

 

By the way, if you are really cutting it close on the budget, the 350D/XT body is fine and

could be an excellent and slightly less expensive alternative to the 400D/XTi.

 

Dan

[jo7hs2]

I must re-emphasize the suggestion of getting the Canon 350D/XT rather than the other two options. Now that there are cheaper dSLR options, I highly recommend people entering the digital realm start there. Don't waste money paying the "new" tax, especially when there isn't a huge difference between the old and the new.

 

As for the XT/XTi over a Nikon offering, that it mostly a matter of personal preference.

[bsd230]

They are both fine cameras however I would go with the XTi. This is from someone who has no loyalty to either company. One thing to remember is that your lenses will outlive the body due to technology improvements. I know it isn't important to you now but the XTi has all EF/EF-S Cannon lenses available to it as well as 3rd party. Getting into SLRs you will find over time you want different lenses you may want a faster lens to shoot sports for instance. The D40 uses a new mount system and who knows how many lenses will be available and for how long for that matter. You may in the future want to buy a better body but then you will have to buy all new lenses. It was a strange decision in my opinion to change because they are not going to change the the rest of their line because of backwards compatibility, they have learned their lesson from Cannon and the EOS transition that made so many photographers mad. If you were comparing the D80 to the XTi that would be another story. XTi is close to the performance of the D80, the D80 is better but also more expensive. I am not sure what you will be shooting but a lens of 55-200 would be somewhat limiting especially on a digital. That with a 17-50 would be nice.

[ott_luuk]

The D40 does NOT have a new mount system. It`s a standard Nikon mount, just without the screwdriver blade that drives AF in lenses that don`t have an integral AF motor.

[bsd230]

Ok, so you can use all the lenses only with no auto focus, sweet.

[mark u]

To avoid further confusion, the Nikon D40 is supposed only to be sold in a kit with an 18-55mm lens and not as body only, so adding a 55-200 gives coverage from 18-200.

[m_barbu1]

I agree with Yakim and Joshua. If 6 Megapixels is sufficient, don't get a new XTi -- get a used XT (8 Megapixels) for US$450 or so, and buy a better lens. Yeah, the kit lens is only about $50, but there's a reason for that.

[brian robinson]

Get the canon and stay with the kit lens (18-55) for a while. Get a canon 50 f1.8 now and

save up for a 17-85.

[jacob_brown]

8MP Canon EOS-20D DSLR kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens - Refurbished By Canon U.S.A. for $750 at Adorama.

[m_barbu1]

Being an owner of the 20D, and having used the XTi extensively, if the budget was $800, I'd suggest a used XTi and a better lens, before I'd recommend the 18-55f/3.5-5.6 lens.