Head Hurts from all the advise

Willis

Willis

Willis

Soldato
Joined
17 Oct 2006
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Aviemore, Cairngorms, Scottish Highlands
Ok my head really hurts as I'm being told so many diffrent things. I'm looking at getting a DSLR and went to ShopA to try some out and the guys said Nikon all days long (he had a D40 & 200D), went back 2 days later and spoke to young guy and he said Canon (has a 400D & 40D). This is when head started to hurt, so I went to ShopB and the Guy said Sony :eek: so now head is even more hurting. Anyone used the Sony's as the guy said they come with the imagine stabilising built in and don't need to spend lots on lenses.

Budget is 400-500 with lens (see my other thread).
 
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Did you manage to get your hands on both in the shop and have a play with either of them? I myself have a Nikon D40 (first DSLR) and for a newbie like myself I've found it excellent to get to grips with.

From what I've read the best idea is to simply get into the shop and have a look at both and see what you think feels the best :).
 
Willis said:
Ok my head really hurts as I'm being told so many diffrent things. I'm looking at getting a DSLR and went to Jessop's to try some out and the guys said Nikon all days long (he had a D40 & 200D), went back 2 days later and spoke to young guy and he said Canon (has a 400D & 40D). This is when head started to hurt, so I went to London camera exchange and the Guy said Sony :eek: so now head is even more hurting. Anyone used the Sony's as the guy said they come with the imagine stabilising built in and don't need to spend lots on lenses.

Budget is 400-500 with lens (see my other thread).
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You might want to star out the shop names as they're classed as competitors...

As far as advice goes, I wouldn't really tell anyone which camera to buy as the entry level DSLRs are all pretty much the same, 400D/D40, which one do YOU like the most?
Both companies make pretty much the same lenses, for their respective bodies, they all have their pros and cons.

Nikon and Canon do have a vast array of lenses which you can buy compared to Sony, especially on the second hand market.. You won't go wrong with a D40 or a 400D.
 
D200 is a fine handling camera, do you have Nikon stuff already? if not then I'd take advantage of the 40D cashback offer for £529 at the moment as at this price it's an absolute steal.
 
mrk said:
D200 is a fine handling camera, do you have Nikon stuff already? if not then I'd take advantage of the 40D cashback offer for £529 at the moment as at this price it's an absolute steal.
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No I have no camera gear at the moment :( But plan on building some up. Is the D200 a good place to start ?
 
Depends on what you will be shooting and how you will be developing your photography ;p

If it's for always indoor shooting where high ISO is used a lot then perhaps the D200 is not the best option or if you need one for sports shooting then perhaps a 40D is the best choice as it well exceeds its quoted 6.4fps burst in RAW !
 
Willis said:
Anyone used the Sony's as the guy said they come with the imagine stabilising built in and don't need to spend lots on lenses.
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Yes.
Tbh all the major DSLR manufacturers make cameras that can take good pictures but they do differ in their ergonomics.
The important thing is which felt most natural for you?
Image quality between the entry level & middle range bodies doesn't really vary much either but you get more features (which you may not need) & better build quality.


Canon & Nikon are the market leaders but Sony are no.3 (they bought Minolta's camera division so gained their market share initially) & showing definite signs of making further headway.
There are plenty of available lenses especially once you include the Sigmas & Tamrons in MinoltaAF/Sony Alpha mount.
 
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Depending on how much you are getting the D200 for then it could be the best deal. I bought mine for about £800 about 8 months ago (barely used it since so should have bought the D300). Pick the camera that feels best in your hand as generally you will able to take the same quality photos with all of them. Nikons cameras have always felt better in the hand to me and have a much more rugged construction.

You'll obviously need a lens too!
 
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If its your first DSLR you should really consider the following:

Cost - for your budget you should try and get at least the "kit" lens or two so you have more to play/learn with. It may mean buying second hand but that isn't such a bad thing as people are upgrading all the time and there are good deals to be had. The Nikon kit lenses are not bad at all.
Handling - go into a shop and spend an hour or so handling each model and getting to grips with the different menu's and the button locations. Some bodies will fit in your hand better than others and feel more balanced.
Upgrading - As said before, you are essentially buying into a camera system and Nikon and Canon have a huge array of lenses, especially in the second hand market.There are also good third party (Sigma, Tamron, Tokina etc) lens manufactureres that do very good value lenses for these bodies. So think long term.
Reviews - read a few reviews of each model you are considering and have a look at some flickr groups to see what the camera's are capable of.

I've just received my D200 and compared to my D50 it is slightly bigger, noticeably heavier and far, far more involved (extensive menu's) and there are no pre-programed settings (i.e Landscape, protrait, sports etc) which you may find useful if you are just starting out. The D50 and D40 also have Manual, Program, Shutter and Aperture priority modes which you will learn to use more and more. Starting off on a D200 may be quite daunting THB and for your budget I'm not sure you'd get a lens too with the body?

How's your head now? :)
 
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