Please help in choosing DSLR

[hoogerhs]

I'm looking for opinions on primarily Nikon D70s vs the Canon EOS 20D. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible. Doesn't matter -

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
I can say that the Canon Rebel XT is too small for my hands.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 6 is fine, not too concerned about 8.1 on the Canon

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
Very Important

Do you care for manual controls? Lenses with both manual and auto focus....

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Nature photography (dusk/dawn, some very long range), birding, some landscapes & nightsky.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? Yes - but I still don't think I need absolutely need 8 MP

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? low light, duxk, dawn, some nightsky

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? Not really

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? Nope

Are there particular models you already have in mind? Nikon D70s, Canon EOS 20D

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Image Stabilization of the Konica Minolta 7D would be nice, but I'm comfortable with purchasing lenses with IS.

[TheObiJuan]

I have the 20D so I am a bit biased. I really love Canon's 'L'ine up. ;)
In the end and over time, the 20D offers the best bang for the buck. It gives the most room for future growth and technological advancement.

Now to play the other side, d70's are going really cheap with the d70s out now. If you can find one with the body only, I would do it and put your money towards 1 great lens. Then gradually get more.

[Ray Schnoor]

Since you said that budget doesn't matter, go with the 20D. I would skip the kit lens and get something like the Sigma 18-125 to start out with. This lens does not have IS, though, so it might not fit your needs.

Ray.

[TheObiJuan]

Another thing, since your budget is flexible, how about getting a sigma 120-300 f/2.8. This lens would be great for birding, low light nature, and etc. I would also recommend a sigma/canon/tamron 1.4x teleconverter to give you a little extra reach.

[timmciglobal]

Persnonally I'd skip the 18-125 I went threw 7 copies all of which I found quite poor > 75 mm and > 15 feet away.

If you want the cheap solution, go with kit lens + 28-135 IS lens. That gives you 29>216 mm range of coverage.

Best choice lens wise would be 17-40L, 24-70 (Tamron I've heard good of) 2.8 and 70-200 F4L costing you about 1500$ for that setup. And covering 27>320 mm in 3 lenses.

Oh and check out the rebel XT + battery grip. I find it amazing versus 20D. Plus then you get to use AA in emergency and vertical shutter release.

Tim

[Rex914]

Another thing, since your budget is flexible, how about getting a sigma 120-300 f/2.8. This lens would be great for birding, low light nature, and etc. I would also recommend a sigma/canon/tamron 1.4x teleconverter to give you a little extra reach.

This is a great lens, but if you shoot during daylight, the Sigma 100-300 f/4 should be sufficient, and it's a whole lot cheaper and lighter too!

[aparmley]

Since others are having fun playing with hoogers money I want to play too.

Canon EOS 20D-
Canon 16-35 2.8 L
Tamron 28-75 F2.8 XR Di
Canon 70-200 F2.8 L

[TheObiJuan]

Canon 1D Mark II
Leica Elmarit 19mm
Leica 28-90
Leica Summilux 50mm (ROM)
Leica 135 Elmarit
Leica 180mm f/2 APO
Leica 1.4X APO.
This should hold you over for a lil' bit.
:eek: :D

edit, or a 300D with an sigma 18-200. Same thing, right? :p

[Bluedog]

If you want the cheap solution, go with kit lens + 28-135 IS lens. That gives you 29>216 mm range of coverage.

That lens actually gets not so good reviews. Most all users claim stopping in down for sharpness and browsing through the PBase galleries turns up some very average looking photos. I know the Sigma 18-125mm has issues too but for the price it costs you can get some tack sharp results wide open.

[timmciglobal]

What lens?

the 28-135?

I personally own it and it's far better then the 18-125 which I owned and returned. The 18-125 has "Sigma color" which I'm not a fan of to start (yellow tone to pretty much everything) and its front focusing issues are very very documented and sigma themselves admit to not being able to fix it.

28-135 wide open is quite acceptable for most situations and stoped down quite good plus IS is huge.

Here is a clip from a photo taken recently from 28-135 lens. Nothing edited except croped to 4x6 proportions and reduced in sized to 1200X800 (was about 2X larger)

http://pictures.divergentservices.com/28135.jpg

Tim

[timmciglobal]

Same image with unsharp mask, slight brightness reduction and slight contrast boost. (0,0.7/275, -5, +6)

http://pictures.divergentservices.com/28135mod.jpg

28-135 deffinitly a quality lens, I've had no complaints for its cost and overall value. sure it would be nice if it was 18-135 but if canon could make one without the hit to performance (like sigma takes) they would.

Tim

[Rex914]

If you go the route of the 28-135, beware that it may be a little too tele at the wide end on a 20D. You will be better off with the 17-85 IS instead if you want the wide end back, but that will cost you $100 more. You will probably be a lot better off with a Tamron 28-75 and an accompanying telephoto of your choice unless the extra bulk is unwanted.

[hoogerhs]

Everyone, thanks for all the feedback! Seems the Canon is pretty popular. Not just in this post but throughout the forums. I guess that makes it a safe bet. As far as lenses go, I'll still have to make a few decisions there.