Zip, zero, nada experience. What to buy?

[elgatogrande]

My experience level is clear in the title. Im interested in starting photography as a hobbie. Ive had an interest before but never the time/money. Now I do! I plan on soaking up as much knowledge online and through forums such as this. If anyone can recommend beginners photography classes in Chicago that would be great also. So what equipment to get? Ive had P/S digital cameras and have never been satisfied. Im lookin for an entry level DSLR that I can grow with as I learn about light and its manipulation.

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible. probably around $750 +/-

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you? Size doesnt matter but Im a big guy w/ big hands. Its important that it feels subsatantial and not toy like.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? The more the better.

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

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) 8-10

Do you care for manual controls? Yes! Im looking forward to learning how to use them!

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Nature, street scenes, carshows, artisitic

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? possibly

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? Probably. I work nights and am therefore, by default, a night person.

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? Yes. At the very least I will be taking many pictures of my tri-colored tornado of a beagle!

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? No. I try not to hate inanimate objects, or people for that matter.

Are there particular models you already have in mind? So far Im leaning toward the Sony A-200 or 300 2 lens kit or the Canon XS or XSi 2 lens kit.

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD) The more the better. Id like image stabilization and for it to be rugged (weatherproof).

[mattdm]

Pentax gets you weather sealing and image stabilization in-body. And the K20D isn't huge but has a nice sturdy feel. The recently-discontinued K200D is available for around $500 if you can still find it in stock. The K20D is under $700.

Of course all DSLRs have manual controls, but if you're serious about this, I think you want a camera with at least dual-wheel control — that means Nikon D80/D90, Canon 40D/50D, Olympus E30, or Pentax K20D, rather than the entry-level or upper-entry models. That strains your budget a bit when looking at lenses, though, and that's the most important part.

(Gotta go now; more on lenses later.)

[elgatogrande]

Thanks Matt! I will look at the K20D more. One of the things I liked about the Sony was that the IS was in the body.

[jekostas]

Thanks Matt! I will look at the K20D more. One of the things I liked about the Sony was that the IS was in the body.

Sony, unfortunately, has terrible, terrible kit lenses. If you go the Sony route, you'll have to budget to replace them.

Olympus also has In-body stabilization, and the E-520 and E-620 are both excellent bodies.

[SpecialK]

Just about any current camera body is adequate for most needs.

Sony, Pentax and Olympus have stabilization the body, meaning any lens you use will be stabilized. Pentax has a lot of backwards-compatiblity so even older manual-focus types will work (with various limits) and used ones can be inexpensive in many cases.

Olympus and Canon bodies are smallish which may be a drawback to large hands. Olympus has a smaller sensor which is a drawback for many people.

Canon has stabilized lenses (with the IS designation) but most are a bit pricey.

People will tell you a kit lens is "good for the money", but nearly everyone will replace it at some point, normally for something that is "faster". his meaning it has a larger maximum aperture (smaller number) such as 2.8 or even less. Others love what is known as a "nifty fifty". The 50mm is considered a "normal" focal length in 35mm film cameras, but with the crop factor of digital cameras, it will be a short telephoto. They have apertures such as f1.8, f1.7 or f1.4. The price ranges from about $200 new for a f1.8 version and goes up quickly for larger apertures. Manual focus used ones can be found for $100 or less. This might be a good option for low-light use.

The Pentax K20D is a heck of a camera and now sells for $300 less than I paid....

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

If you're really a night person then you might want to budget a tripod to hold the camera still for longish exposures. It depends on your subject types though.

I agree a DSLR is great if you're shooting a dog and keen to learn. If you're willing to learn them then all are capable of great images but there will be a big learning curve which can be fun to climb.

[elgatogrande]

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback. After just a little research I noticed that most people werent too keen on Sony lenses. The K20 or K200 sound like a good fit. I read the review here and several on Amazon and they seem like good cameras, but Im a little leery as Pentax doesnt seem to be very popular. Im not a brand whore but if nobody uses that brand there has to be a reason.

[ramblingman]

I had Pentax before I the old K1000 use to be a standard about 35mm...then I got out of it for years and now I have a Nikon D60...reason ..I used the Daughters D40 and it was simple to get use too .....I had a once in a life trip planned ...she was going to loan me her camera ...but last minute she needed it so I went with the D60..long story short ..I'm not sorry ..cause it has easy menu's to follow ...but if I had to do it again ...D90 for me!!

[raven15]

Im not a brand whore but if nobody uses that brand there has to be a reason.

I suspect the reason is because most camera buyers aren't that bright, though many do have legitimate reasons. I was just doing a cost/benefit analysis (... I was bored because my camera broke...) of a few camera systems and found Pentax did surprisingly well, only behind Olympus by a hair (though of course any system can be better or worse for individual needs). If you are not planning on upgrading to a full-frame camera, Pentax and Olympus generally have the best lens selections, in terms of cost, size, and general performance. Olympus tends to make more zoom lenses of excellent quality, Pentax makes more primes. But if you buy several lenses I think you would find substantial advantages to either of those systems in price/performance and weight/performance.

The upshot is, unless you are primarily shooting in low light. The Olympus and Pentax autofocus systems aren't quite as good in low light as the others. I can't say how every individual model compares, that's just a generalization. Some would say their ISO1600+ isn't as good either, but for me that's a lesser consideration, because you will need a flash for good shots in low light anyhow.

Olympus and Canon bodies are smallish which may be a drawback to large hands. Olympus has a smaller sensor which is a drawback for many people.
Neither of these generalizations are especially useful.

[SpecialK]

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback. After just a little research I noticed that most people werent too keen on Sony lenses. The K20 or K200 sound like a good fit. I read the review here and several on Amazon and they seem like good cameras, but Im a little leery as Pentax doesnt seem to be very popular. Im not a brand whore but if nobody uses that brand there has to be a reason.


Yeah, they hung up on names :-)

Try pentaxforums.com for a looksie. It is large and active.

[jekostas]

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback. After just a little research I noticed that most people werent too keen on Sony lenses. The K20 or K200 sound like a good fit. I read the review here and several on Amazon and they seem like good cameras, but Im a little leery as Pentax doesnt seem to be very popular. Im not a brand whore but if nobody uses that brand there has to be a reason.

Everyone uses Canon or Nikon because....
Well, because everyone uses Canon or Nikon. This isn't to say that they have bad products, quite the contrary, but they're the two biggest names in entry-level to prosumer dSLRs right now, so every gravitates towards them. That doesn't mean other systems don't have things to offer, though. It just really depends on what you want.

I personally chose Olympus because of the quality zooms and build quality.

[elgatogrande]

Thanks for all the input. I realized that the longer I searched around, the tougher my decision was going to be. So I just pulled the trigger and got the Pentax K200.

I chose this camera for several reasons. It has good reviews. The price allows me to accessorize more. The large # of quality lenses available. The quality of the "kit" lens included with it. The image stabilization is in the body which keeps the cost of lenses down and also makes the feature available with all lenses used. The ruggedness of the camera. And the fact that it doesnt use a proprietory battery.


Im excited for its arrival and plan on spending next weekend nose deep in the manual and playing!

[youredd]

I will look at the K20D because of the quality zooms and build quality.