Amateur photographer, looking for dslr, CAN YOU HELP?

[sherlock]

Hi,

I'm an amateur photographer and I am looking to buy my first digital slr. I want one which I can have for a while and start a collection of lenses and accessories that I can use if and when I were to buy a pro camera. I have a little over $1000 to spend. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[ktixx]

My suggestion would be to take a look at the canon 300d (Digital Rebel). For about $700.00 you can get one, but when you consider all the rebates you will get when you buy the camera with certain lenses you can save a considerable amount . Go to www.usa.canon.com they will have the rebate form on there. My only other suggestion would be to save and buy the 20D. I just recently did that. The 20D, Sigma 18-125 lens, 1gb CF ultra card and a Tamrac bag was all $1700.00 I decided instead of buying a camera that I would be half satisfied with, I would save, wait and eventually purchase the one I wanted. This is what I did, however I would suggest heavily researching both camera's and deciding which one will satisfy your needs.

Hope this helps,
Ken

[tedsherman]

Kenn,

Where did you purchase the 20D with the accessories for $1700?

Ted

[ktixx]

I purchased the 20d from www.digital1234.com (Terrific company) shipped my camera and memory in 2 days (bought on Christmas) and I never once received a call from a sales person pressuring me into buying something. I purchased my lens from B&H and a new bag from a company on ebay

Canon 20d: $1310.00 - after shipping - www.digital1234.com
CF ULTRA II 1gb: $92.00 - after shipping - www.digital1234.com
Sigma 18-125 lens: $270.00 - after shipping - www.BHphotovideo.com
Tamrac Bag: $35 - after shipping - www.ebay.com

[D70FAN]

Hi,

I'm an amateur photographer and I am looking to buy my first digital slr. I want one which I can have for a while and start a collection of lenses and accessories that I can use if and when I were to buy a pro camera. I have a little over $1000 to spend. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The Canons are nice, but the D70 will allow you to have the best camera in this class, an almost stay within your budget. With the 18-125 Sigma lens were talking $1200. If you want to go pro later the D2X is comming soon.

[sherlock]

Hi,

Thanks guys, your insight helped a lot. I think that I am going to go with the Nikon D70 (sorry ktixx). I'll let you know how it turns out!

[bernnie]

I would buy the best Canon Slr digital body you can afford. Reason, The camera is not as important as the optics used. Canon lenses are the best made. Buy the L series lenses.

My saying is that Canon has the best sand. Plus if you have a Canon EOS film body you can use the same lenses.

Don't get me wrong about the bodies the are also the way to go as well. Canon builds their products in house. The sensors to the lenses. the close others farm a lot of the critical parts to China and other places east. This makes for less quality control even if they do make the others standards.

All aside look at the Companys profits.

I do buy Canon only as you can tell. Have tryed others. Luckly money is not an object in my case. Thanks , Bernnie

[D70FAN]

I would buy the best Canon Slr digital body you can afford. Reason, The camera is not as important as the optics used. Canon lenses are the best made. Buy the L series lenses.

My saying is that Canon has the best sand. Plus if you have a Canon EOS film body you can use the same lenses.

Don't get me wrong about the bodies the are also the way to go as well. Canon builds their products in house. The sensors to the lenses. the close others farm a lot of the critical parts to China and other places east. This makes for less quality control even if they do make the others standards.

All aside look at the Companys profits.

I do buy Canon only as you can tell. Have tryed others. Luckly money is not an object in my case. Thanks , Bernnie

Where the heck do you read this stuff? Your kknowlege of how things work are not based on the reality of turning a profit.

Canon has subcontractors and CM's, just like everyone else. Nikon builds their pro lenses (D-type) in house as does Canon (L type), but you can bet that most of the consumer glass from all of these guys comes out of Thailand or China.

Nikon has an manufacturing/assembly site in Thailand (where they make the D70 and others), and you can bet that their quality control is at least as good as Japan.

[ktixx]

The canon is an UNBELIEVABLE camera (I bought it so of course that is what I think). There are certain things that it offers over the Nikon: 2 million more pixels, more frames per second, WB using Kelvin Temp etc. etc. The Canon glass is also an upgraded feature. Overall these 2 cameras are a close match with the canon leading (in features and in price). It all comes down to how much you want to spend. The more you spend the more you get. I have had the opportunity to use both of these cameras for a couple of hours and I decided that the few hundred dollars that I had to spend in order to get the canon was worth it. It all comes down to your own personal tastes, and what features you would like in a camera. If you can afford it the Canon 20d is a fabulous camera, if you would like to be more budget conscious the Nikon D70 is also a tremendous camera. The final decision is up to you, but no matter what both will give you excellent results.