Allow me to intrude for a moment. I'm no expert here, but since I've wasted my life by drooling over cameras, here's my opinion:
...I intend to do a lot of night photography...
Since you're going to do night photography, get an SLR with :
Good High Iso performace. I see most SLR have good ISO performance up to ISO 800, but only a few have good performance up to ISO 1600. I prefer a noisy ISO 1600 than a noise-free but detail-free ISO 1600 picture.
Effective dark frame NR, which means after a 30sec exposure, the final picture is quite clean, without too many 'hot pixels'. And...
get a fast lens, preferably the f/2.8 variant. Bigger is better, usually. My 50 f/1.8 cost me $80. Of course the quality is not that good at 1.8, but stopped down to 2.8, it is good
...but for a serious amateur, with small and not so steady hands...
Well, I've got big and shaky hands. I want my IS, but I'm still trying to save up for that. So, I go out and buy a tripod. A cheap one, I might add. I've got mine for $20, and I must say that it is quite satisfactory. But if you like outdoor night photography, perhaps you'd better consider the bigger manfrotttos. They're quite heavy, but they resist wind nicely.
You're right about your considering of Alpha-100 and K-100. They've SteadyShot and ShakeReduction (don't you just love these names, which basically means the same thing? ), which means they've IS (or VR, your call) built in into every lens you have. I know I've been reading the K10D reviews too many times recently. Gotta love K-10's SR!
Finally, you have to decide what kind SLR you want to accompany you for life (well, I know it's a bit extreme), but once you invest in lenses, flashes, and all kind of things for your SLR (new eyecup, cable release, and so on), you will find it is hard to change into another brand, cause you'll find that all of your lenses, flashes, and accessories won't work on the new camera. (Well, okay, maybe the flash still work. But no TTL for you).
To close up this lengthy gibberish, here's my recommendations for you (just for reference, valid at the time of writing )
1. Rebel XTI body only (avg $700) + Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 XR DI (avg $320) --- sorry Canon ppl!!! --> XTI have good high ISO performance
2. Nikon D40 (avg $580) + ...
a. Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 XR DI (avg $320) or
b. Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 XR DI II (avg $370) - quite good for landscape - or
c. Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF (avg $ 400).
--> D40 have good high ISO performance
3. Pentax K100D (avg $580) (I'm not familiar with Pentax' own lenses, sorry, but Tamron make 28-75 for Pentax)
--> K100D have SR
4. And finally, how about Oly E-500? (avg $650 for the dual lens offer)
--> E-500 is a good deal
It's easy to get off the topic in threads after a while. But I don't think we can get much further with this topic in this particular thread. So let's move any further discussion to another thread, or a new thread, and try to keep to the topic of this thread - which is introducing ourselves. No offense, guys.
I'm new to this mb and a novice digi photo taker-no I can't even say I'm a photographer!! My name is Kathy but my dh calls me "Milly". I'm a married, 52 yr. old, used-to-be-stay-at-home-wife and mom and now just a stay-at-home wife The kids are grown, we've moved from our home in Houston TX (sniff) to the desert of Arizona. No we do not live in a retirement community nor are we wealthy RV wanderers!-but no offense to those of you who are. I'm mainly a scrapbooker who likes good quality photos-started out using various small cameras, one being the Canon Powershot don't remember if it had a number after it or not . I moved into the slr world when I purchased the Canon Rebel G in 2002 ( you'd think I would have learned a ton using that camera but I mostly just did point and shoot). In 2005 I made the move to the digi cam with a Canon Powershot A95. I loved the ability to see photos quickly after they were taken, but was very disappointed in image quality. I really thought I would make the Canon Rebel XTI my next purchase but surprised even myself when I chose the new Sony Alpha 100 the other day I have only used it for two days and already love the photo quality and ease of use, but have much to learn about aperture(sp?), etc. I have read Jeff's camera reviews until I feel certain I could recite many in my sleep I will be hanging out here on these forums often so I can soak up as much as this "older" brain will handle
Have a great day Y'all!
Hello, klh54! Nice to meet you and thank you for introducing yourself. Welcome to these forums. I'm sure you will find a lot of interesting and informative stuff to read and learn here.
Hope you'll like to share some of the pictures you take with your new Sony DSLR with us, in the different forums here. And you're always welcome to share a picture of yourself in this thread as well. But that's only if you feel OK about it. Just wanted remind you and other members about the "face the photographer" part of the title of this thread...
Good luck with your Sony Alpha 100 and see you around the forums!
Well Everyone loves an Irishman and Saint Patrick's day is just around the corner! Bein' I'm irish, you know i'll be celebrating! Here's a picture too!
"Light of Saint Patrick"
Hope everyone is doing well and nice to meet you all! I would love to see more photos in this thread!!!
~Cory
Canon 50D; 17-55 F2.8 IS, 70-200 F4L IS, 50 F1.8, BG-E2n
Hello, avi777! Nice to meet you. I see you've been here a while already, so it might be a bit late to tell you "welcome to these forums"...lol Still, you know you are. I think it's the first time I see you and your nickname, though. Do you feel like telling us something about yourself, maybe?
), which means they've IS (or VR, your call) built in into every lens you have. I know I've been reading the K10D reviews too many times recently. Gotta love K-10's SR!
--> XTI have good high ISO performance
Reply With Quote
Thanks...
. I moved into the slr world when I purchased the Canon Rebel G in 2002 ( you'd think I would have learned a ton using that camera but I mostly just did point and shoot). In 2005 I made the move to the digi cam with a Canon Powershot A95. I loved the ability to see photos quickly after they were taken, but was very disappointed in image quality. I really thought I would make the Canon Rebel XTI
I have only used it for two days and already love the photo quality and ease of use, but have much to learn about aperture(sp?), etc. I have read Jeff's camera reviews until I feel certain I could recite many in my sleep
