Am New To digital SLR

Rooky007

Rooky007

Rooky007

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Hi Folks

I am wanting to go down the Digital SLR route and hoping some of you be able to point me to a camera that is good for a starting point. But then again I dont want to have to change the camera for a while too so a decent cam is needed really to keep my going. Is it worth getting a camera with Image Stablizer like the sony ones?

My father in-law got a canon 350D that I been having a play with while we were in spain and though it a quite a good cam but found a TRIPOD is in need for some shots.

Help would be great

Cheers
 
Hi there, firstly, what is the price range that you can stretch too?

I have the D50 which is a more than capable camera. Obviously Canon do similarly priced models that have benefits of their own.

As for image stabaliser, each brand does their own version. Canon have the system built into some of their lenses, as do nikon. It isn't essential, but is a very nice feature to have if one can afford it.

Personally i have been into photography now for over 5 years, and i find the D50 a good start into the world of digital SLRs.


What sort of things are you going to be shooting mostly?

Woodsy
 
Hi,

Thankyou for your prompt reply.

My budget hmmm Dont want to spend a lot but £500 would be ok. Is the Nikon bigger than the canon to hold? I believe the image stablizer in lens cost more than having it within the body ie the Sony range? Or am i seeing this wrong? How much for a len for the canon cam or the nikon cam to have the stablizer built in?

I would be taking alsort of shots. Holidays, Landscape such as sunset and sunrise. I live in the Peak District and could get some decent pictures out here. I would also take some motor sport shoots too.

Hope this helps

Cheers
 
Not a problem :)

For landscapes a wide angle lens would do the job, and image stabaliser isn't absolutely necessary if you have a tripod.

The nikon is indeed bigger in the hand than the canon for the lower end of their ranges, but that changes as you spend more.

My advice is to go into a shop a have a play with the D50 or 350D or similar priced DSLR and see which one you like the best, and worry about lenses later. Try not be too worried about image stabalising at this stage. besides, both canon and nikon have this feature in their lenses, so it can be aquired at a later date :)

Woody
 
Image Stabilisation (IS) is only useful in certain circumstances so I wouldn't base a choice of camera simply on whether one has it built into the body or not.

The rule of thumb is that you should always use a shutter speed of less than 1/focal length, ie for a 100mm lens always use 1/100s or faster. This is due to the inherent lack of stability when hand holding the camera, as the focal length increases then effect of the photographer wobbling is magnified hence a faster shutter speed is needed to capture the image without blurring due to image shake. IS lenses counteract the wobble by shifting elements in the lens in the opposite direction to the wobble to keep the image centred.

At the telephoto end this is great because it means that you can shoot a lower ISO (less image noise) or a smaller aperture (more depth of field) and still get a sharp image. However at the wide angle end IS becomes less useful, the same benefits apply but you need to be careful that you don't end up getting blur due to subject motion rather than image shake. At 24mm you should be able to hand hold down to 1/25s without noticable image shake, now with IS you should, according to the manufacturers be able to get down to 1/6s which is a long time in photography terms. People move, leaves blow in the wind - all these things need a faster shutter speed than 1/6s so IS becomes irrelevant.


With DSLRs though you do have to remember you're buying into a system, lenses for a Sony camera won't fit a Canon one so make sure you understand what you're investing in and what the upgrade options are.
 
Thankyou for your replies guys

Ok I am now going to ask about lense if I got a canon or Nikon do they both have compatable lense or are they different? As I would like to to have a cam and lense but prob would upgrade the cam as soon as I learn a lot more and would rather have a system that I can keep the lense to go with a new body know what i mean.

I have looked today on the net at the Canon 350d and the Nikon 50D both look very good. I have played with a Canon 350d as that what my father in law got and quite like it. But wonder if I can beat him by having a better cam but keeping my budget low.

Cheers
 
You wont be able to use Nikon lenses on a canon body, and vise versa. In terms of what lenses you get, i find its best to spend as much money on lenses as possible for a given purchase. If you place a budget lens on an expensive body you'll be reducing the image quality before it even hits the sensor. The other way round is more desirable however, for two reasons. A) you are using the full potential of the camera body straight away, and B) having nice lenses means you wont have to upgrade them later when you get a better camera body.

Woodsy
 
Thankyou

Now it down to decide which camera i should get with a len that comes with it and then save for a Good len at a later date. Can you list a few that I should look into and go into a store to have a feel.

I seen on a auction site that some go at good prices but I dont fancy going down 2nd hand route just incase the len mirror in the body is really dusty as I believe this is a pain to sort out? So really i think going down the brand new route is the way to go.

Any advise
 
i think its best to see what sort of photography you raelly like doing first, then start looking into new lenses. If you want to take sport photography, a telephoto lens will be the best thing to look at. However, if you like shooting landscapes more, then a nice wide angle lens is in order.

Dont go second hand at this stage, or any stage in the world of cameras to be honest, unless you want something rare or unusual.

The D50 or 350D are good places to start.
 
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