Digital SLRs

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Hey guys(and gals), I'm hoping to burn a hole in my pocket in the next month or so and buy a digital SLR camera. Any suggestions or comments? I'm just trying to find out what brand would have the best deal. I really like the nikon D70 but i think at the moment im going to go with the d50 because it's cheaper, it's not like im going to make money off of it, this is just for pleasure as of now anyways. So, any ideas or feedback would be awesome! Thanks!
 
Canon Digital Rebel XT. Once you buy Canon you'll never go back. (I have no idea what that means.) Canon is what the pros at Sports Illustrated shoot on so it's good enough for me.

www.dpreview.com
 
I just got a D70s and love it. There's always gonna be debate between Nikon & Canon so I won't argue about it. But I have to lean towards the Nikon. It just felt better in my hands than the Rebel. Some people will try to sway you to the Canon side with the whole 8mp thing but you probably won't see a difference between 8mp and 6mp.
 
I'll repeat what I wrote on another thread.
I have had a D70 since the middle of last year and love it. This is a great camera and the 18-70mmED lens is one of the sharpest zooms Nikon has ever made.
This christmas we bought our son a D50 with the 18-55mm kit lens. He is a photography major in college so we bit the bullet. After spending a couple of weeks with both cameras I have to say that the D50 is an incredible bargain. In practical terms it will do everything the D70 will do. You only need to go to the menu to access some features that were done with buttons on the D70.
The pictures are essentially identical. The default color space on the D50 gives a little bit more saturated color and I'm told it's RAW files are less compressed than on the D70.
BTW you can select the appropriate color space via the menu on either camera. Your choice depends on your image processing software and printer.
Canon does give you an 8mp sensor and that's nice but remember the the inverse square law says that you need to quadruple the number of pixels to double the resolution.
You will be very happy with a D50 and it's kit lens. We found the camera, lens and a 1G card for $750.00 at a local big electronics store.If you shop you can probably beat that price now.
That's a lot of dough but much cheaper than this kind of performance would have cost a couple of years ago.
That said, there's nothing wrong with the Canon line either. I don't want to get into that range war here.
One last thing. I've been taking pictures since the early 1960's and getting into a digital slr has made me a better photographer. The ability to look at what you are doing immediately is a wonderful tool.
Stick a tripod under a D50 and keep the ISO at 400 or less and you can expect 13x19" prints that look like they were taken with a Hesselblad.
Hope this helps.
 
I dont know about anyone else but I looked at the Panny and Minolta SLR's which look pretty cool. Dont know how they do over time and lenses arent as "available" - I just used a friend's at a party. I've liked Canon for film, Nikon for Digital. I'm pretty sure Sports Ill. uses Canon because they had the lenses from the film days and didnt want to spend $$$ on the major tele lenses. Alot of my still friends use the Nikon D2/H/X for work and a D50 for personal... but usually it's a preference thing. Although, I've always felt and of the stabalized Canon lenses look sharper then the Nikon stabalized.
 
I dont know about anyone else but I looked at the Panny and Minolta SLR's which look pretty cool. Dont know how they do over time and lenses arent as "available" - I just used a friend's at a party. I've liked Canon for film, Nikon for Digital. I'm pretty sure Sports Ill. uses Canon because they had the lenses from the film days and didnt want to spend $$$ on the major tele lenses. Alot of my still friends use the Nikon D2/H/X for work and a D50 for personal... but usually it's a preference thing. Although, I've always felt and of the stabalized Canon lenses look sharper then the Nikon stabalized.
 
Originally posted by bassetf5:
you could probably get a deal on a Minolta... since they are bailing out of the camera business. too bad, the SRT-101 was my first halfway decent camera.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0601/06011901konicaminoltaout.asp
Click to expand...
Which is why I wouldn't get one myself - I'm the kinda guy that buys the base equipment now, and keeps adding lenses as I save enough cash.

My girlfriend picked up the D50. It's an excellent camera. The included lens was surprisingly good, too. She'll supplement that with a 70-300mm and call it good for now.
 
I'm really enjoying Cannon's Rebel XT. I've lugged it all over and haven't been dissappointed yet. From shooting landscapes to my new nephew it takes pretty good pictures. I'd recomend it to someone who is looking for a digi SLR.
Full disclosure here: I've been a Cannon fan for a long time now shooting with a first generation Rebel film camera for years. I felt 'comfortable' with Cannon and had some Cannon mount lenses. That and I basically shoot glorified snap shots.
 
If you buy a Nikon you MUST get a Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens. It's a prime lens but it is amazingly sharp. And for $100. Bets bang for the buck lens out there.
I took this the other day with mine. It's a wonderful lens for portraits.

04e5b89e.jpg
 
Every October I go to Montana with a group of still photographers to shoot stills of trains (my hobby)...three of the people I go with happen to be Canon tech reps. So I got to test drive the new Canon EOS 5D this year and absolutely loved it the minute I picked it up.

A bit pricey at $3299, but I like the idea of a full-frame sensor and the fcat that my favorite Canon lenses (17-35, 28-70 and 70-200) would retain their focal lengths on a full-frame camera.

I'm testing a 20D and that wide-angle (10-22, I think) on a four-day junket to Eastern Canada this weekend and will be excited to see how that setup works.

I just got a new computer, so the new still camera will have to wait a few months. I still enjoy shooting film (Canon EOS-1vHS) but love the instant gratification of digital and the oustanding imagery in less than stellar light.

Another factor to consider with digital cameras is ease of repair. Canon has a factory service center nearby and gives pro users 2-3 day turnaround on repairs. Have you investigated ease of repair in your neighborhood?

Out here, among professional shooters, Nikon is a sinking ship. Virtually all the pros I know are longtime Canon users or recent converts. I think there's one Nikon user left at the LA Times. An earlier poster speculated SI shooters were influenced by something other than quality to stay with Canon. The fact is SI doesn't care what kind of cameras the shooters use...most of them are freelance and own all their gear anyway. I would think that people whose living depends on the quality of their images, day-in and day-out, would be pretty good judges of who makes the best stuff these days. Go to any sporting event and the majority of lenses on the sidelines are white (Canon).
 
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