Under $1,000 - Nikon vs. Canon vs. Olympus

[Dario D.]

I've been browsing for several days, trying to figure out which D-SLR to get for under $1000 (cheaper is better), but the more I browse, the more uncertain I get. It's hard to weight in all the features for what I want to do.

On a whim, is there anything you guys recommend? I'm trying to stick to Strobist (http://strobist.blogspot.com/) standards, using off-camera lighting (strobes, speedlights)... So, preferably, I'm trying to find a cam that supports triggering flashes wirelessly, and that does a great job overall.

I was looking at the Nikon D40 at first (the price helped make this one appealing), but now I'm not sure if it can handle what I'm looking to do with lighting.

Any suggestions?

[timmciglobal]

I'd avoid the d40 due to a few issues including lack of support for af-d lenses, poor AF performance and in general "cheap" quality.

The d80 has a built-in wireless flash commander mode which is really nice. Can do wireless flash with 2 SB-600's then instead of needing to buy a SB800 and 2 SB600s

Tim

[Dario D.]

Hmm, I see. Thanks for the insight. :) And what about the Pentax K10D (review) (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/pentax/k10d-review/)? I'm really digging this camera right now. It seems to have it all (can't find anything on wireless Commander Mode or PC Connection though), though it actually has IS and supposedly a great selection of accessories.

[kgosden]

Well, right now you can pickup a 2 lens kit Olympus E500 for under $700. That will leave your $1000 budget room for a good flash, camera bag and 4-5 GB of memory.

[Rhys]

Well, right now you can pickup a 2 lens kit Olympus E500 for under $700. That will leave your $1000 budget room for a good flash, camera bag and 4-5 GB of memory.

Agreed. The Olympus system seems quite good now and well established. I lke the fact that they have such a lot of really good glass now.

[Norm in Fujino]

Ａｓ　for off-camera wireless flash, you might also try one of the cheap wireless flash triggers (http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29590) available on e-bay.

[swgod98]

I'd avoid the d40 due to a few issues including lack of support for af-d lenses, poor AF performance and in general "cheap" quality.

I don't know where people get off saying it has poor AF performance...? Especially for the OP's needs. And "cheap" quality is something Nikon has never provided in their camera bodies. I can name 1 or 2 other models that fall well into that category (and they aren't Nikon).

That aside, since he wants wireless strobes, he's going to have to buy a wireless remote to attach to his camera anyway (or simply trigger the strobes with onboard flash). That puts just about every dSLR on equal footing.

This means the K10D (which he's interested in at the moment) is a fine choice.

[timmciglobal]

The K10d has banding issues and is very poor for "underexposure" I wouldn't recommend it.

Sorry but the banding issue destroys it for me and I've experienced it first hand on TWO bodies 6 month's apart. It is a reality.

Tim

[swgod98]

The K10d has banding issues

Just some info for the OP about the "banding" issue you mention...a quote from a K10D user who did some tests and reported about it...

It would appear that the banding will occur when the R, G and B values are below 13 in an 8-bit per channel JPG when you do severe pushing like in my example and it will occur when the R, G and B values are below 6 when doing moderate pushing. and after a bit more experimentation ... it would appear that high saturation set on the camere would cause a greator chance of banding to occur... as this could clip channels in the dark regions as well as the bright regions and desaturation tends to make the banding near invisible or completely invisible.

So, what I'm getting out of it is that it's not very apparent unless you are adjusting levels/brightness/contrast/highlight/shadows/you name it, quite a bit. I recommend the OP do some more research on this before choosing the K10D, because it might be a problem for him (and it might not).

[Dario D.]

Thanks for pointing that out. I will indeed be doing tons and tons of post-processing to almost all of my shots that are chosen for use. Can you provide a link to where you got that info? I'm going to look it up and Google and see what else I can learn about, because I'd really like the camera if the banding won't bother me (crosses fingers). 'Gonna read some more about it.

[jcon]

If youre looking for wireless lighting, Nikon speedlights can NOT be beat, its the best out there. The SB-600 and SB-800s are well worth the money and you dont need a wireless flash trigger to fire them, depending on what body you get, the body can trigger them.

I stronlgy suggest reading up the the Nikon speedlights.

[Dario D.]

Thanks, will do. I know the guys at Strobist (http://strobist.blogspot.com/)swear by them (and that's where I get my lighting info).

By the way, I dug this up (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0701/07012301k10dfirm.asp) about the Pentax K10D. Apparently, a firmware update released in January fixed the banding problem (at least it should have), but I need to hear from someone if that's the case. The way Pentax worded it in the press release is a little mysterious: Problems corrected: In rare case, vertical stripe at long time exposure.

I trust that means the banding problem, but if that's the case, then they should just say it outright. Then again, the press release was clearly written by an Engrish speaker, so sometimes the point doesn't come across very clearly.

[swgod98]

That's where I found that post as well. Just searched in the Pentax SLR section for "banding". I found another thread that spoke about VPN and VBN being two completely different things...VPN is the one fixed by the firmware ??, VBN is not ?? :confused: :confused: :confused:

VPN: Vertical Pattern Noise
VBN: Vertical Banding Noise

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=22581897

Good luck.

[some guy]

I don't know where people get off saying it has poor AF performance...? Especially for the OP's needs. And "cheap" quality is something Nikon has never provided in their camera bodies. I can name 1 or 2 other models that fall well into that category (and they aren't Nikon).

hahahah u must've not handled a D40 or the D80. Build quality is no longer synonymous with Nikon I'm afraid. D200 and above still built nicely though.

[RichNY]

hahahah u must've not handled a D40 or the D80. Build quality is no longer synonymous with Nikon I'm afraid. D200 and above still built nicely though.

I don't agree with your comment about the D80's built quality. It may not be on par with the D200 or 30D but it is certainly an excellent prosumer built quality with better ergonomics than our 30Ds.

[some guy]

I don't agree with your comment about the D80's built quality. It may not be on par with the D200 or 30D but it is certainly an excellent prosumer built quality with better ergonomics than our 30Ds.

i agree to disagree to a certain degree. :D

This is how i see it in a nutshell from lowest to the highest that are still on the storefront:

- D40
- bridge cams
- d40x
- higher end bridge cams
- XT/D50
- XTi
- D80
- 30D
- D200/5D
- d2x1dmkII
- 1DMKIII
- Wal-Mart Disposables.

feel free to insert Pentii, Sonys, Olympus etc....

[fionndruinne]

Hmm... my instincts tell me that, uh... some guy around here is on an anti-D40 campaign. People like that bug me.

[swgod98]

Hmm... my instincts tell me that, uh... some guy around here is on an anti-D40 campaign. People like that bug me.

That about sums it up.

[some guy]

Hmm... my instincts tell me that, uh... some guy around here is on an anti-D40 campaign. People like that bug me.

because the truth hurts. ;) The introduction of the D40 made me lose lots of respect on a very respectable camera company in a bid to grab market share instead of delivering high quality entry level dSLR of yonder years.

[swgod98]

because the truth hurts.

No, lies hurt. And you're spreading them to people who don't know any better. That's just messed up.