...New camera recommendations.

alle · 29 Jul 2009 at 16:55

...'That' birthday that nobody really looks forward to

is coming up in September and have been asked about pressie ideas

Narrowed choice down to some new golf clubs or a camera

Camera appears to be winning at the mo though!

I have no photography experience to speak of so be gentle

Current equipment, I have access to, consists of a small Olympus U760 digi cam and a Sony HDR-SR12 camcorder, which I used more for pics than video on holiday last year.

Have started looking at reviews and forums etc but it can get quite confusing when trying to work out what is what.

Will be off to a shop to have a look in the flesh at some models but hoping to have a good idea what to ask to 'fondle' before going.

Had sort of planned to get a decent body that would last a while with perhaps another lense to add to the one that came with the camera if bought as a kit. Looking at new as opposed to second hand.

I know people will say that if the bug bites then I'll be buying loads of stuff

but hope to curtail that if possible.

Models currently considering:

Nikon D90, D5000
Canon EOS 1000D, 450D, 500D
Hadn't really looked at Sony's etc.

Seems to be 4 main features:

Live view
Anti-dust
Image stabilisation
Video

Nikon D90 has these covered, with IS built in to the lenses (same as Canon?)

Cost:

Looking at about £500 if I don't put any money in, which I'd have to for the D90

Is it worth getting this one or would one of the others be better?

Can anyone help?

Thanks!

Raikiri · 29 Jul 2009 at 17:02

alle said:
Nikon D90 has these covered, with IS built in to the lenses (same as Canon?)

!

IS varies from lens to lens, some bodies have it built in but it isn't as good.

Personally I would consider a 40D (£550 body only) as well as the D90, both are excellent cameras. Try them out before you buy though.

alle · 30 Jul 2009 at 16:01

...Will take a look, thanks.

alle · 31 Jul 2009 at 09:23

...Anyone else got some thoughts?

alle · 1 Aug 2009 at 01:28

...Nobody?

Will have to look elsewhere for advice then, shame.

Thanks anyway.

BUFF · 1 Aug 2009 at 21:58

Raikiri said:
IS varies from lens to lens, some bodies have it built in but it isn't as good.

yes, it is.
both have pros & cons but overall they perform very similarly.

D90 is a nice camera but I don't think that it's as solidly built as e.g. Canon 40D or Sony A700 & it won't do the same fps (but it does have video).
really it depends what you feel that your needs are - I for 1 have never felt the need for LiveView.

Best thing to do is to get to a shop handle different models.

Raikiri · 1 Aug 2009 at 22:03

No it isn't, a lens with IS will be much nicer to use.

The end result may be similar but in-body systems cause the viewfinder to shake making it more difficult to use and ergo, worse. Of course it has the advantage of working with any lens and costing a lot less if you have a few lenses.

Guzzidom · 1 Aug 2009 at 22:06

alle said:
...Nobody?

Will have to look elsewhere for advice then, shame.

Thanks anyway.

No, it's just the first answer got it really, the D90 is a fantastic camera, as is the 40D, I got a D300 for my 40th (similar sensor etc to the D90)and had a D70 before that (similar body to the 90) and it's a good tough body, not the equal of the D300 but every bit as good as the Canon 30D and 40D.

Buy with confidence really from either Canon or Nikon, there's so many more s/hand lenses available for those two marques than for the others and they are both at the top of their game.

Snapshot · 2 Aug 2009 at 07:06

alle said:
...Nobody?

Will have to look elsewhere for advice then, shame.

Thanks anyway.

It's all been discussed here before and recently. Try reading a few of the other threads.

3dcandy · 2 Aug 2009 at 09:50

Try a few bodies out matey, as has been said a million times here, Canon and Nikons handle differently, and you might just find that one make doesn't feel as good as another make. If you're comfortable with the handling, taking photo's becomes so much easier!!!

BUFF · 3 Aug 2009 at 02:20

Raikiri said:
No it isn't, a lens with IS will be much nicer to use.

yes, that 1-2 second initialisation period & the increased power usage is so satisfying ... :rolleyes:

The end result may be similar but in-body systems cause the viewfinder to shake making it more difficult to use and ergo, worse.

in-body systems don't cause the vf to shake, you do. However, because you can see that (& at least on Minolta/Sony you have an in vf indicator of how severe) you have positive feedback for improving your own posture. I'm not aware of in-lens systems having similar.
I've never had any problems with in-body & a non-stabilised vf but I'm aware of a no. of people who apparently feel sick (like motion sickness) with a stabilised vf.

D.P. · 3 Aug 2009 at 07:06

BUFF said:
yes, that 1-2 second initialisation period & the increased power usage is so satisfying ...

in-body systems don't cause the vf to shake, you do. However, because you can see that (& at least on Minolta/Sony you have an in vf indicator of how severe) you have positive feedback for improving your own posture. I'm not aware of in-lens systems having similar.
I've never had any problems with in-body & a non-stabilised vf but I'm aware of a no. of people who apparently feel sick (like motion sickness) with a stabilised vf.

The initialisation period is no where near 1-2 seconds and the increased power usage is about the same as using a stabilised sensor -both systems have to do pretty much the same thing.

If you ant to get your so called positive feedback with an in-lens solution then all you do is switch the stabilisation off...

The last point is viral lies spread from Sony marketing department for the most part. I have not heard of a single person that has ever felt any sickness using a VR or IS lens, ever. That doesn't mean that some cases might not exist but it must be extremely rare. I can't ever recall seeing a single thread on any photography forum where someone has stated that they feel sick using VR/IS- normally just statements like yours. Go somewhere like DPReview forums and scroll through the Nikon/Canon lens pages, you wont find many complaining of this issue. no one has ever complained on the OCUK forums AFAIK, none of my photography friends have had issues.

What I have read though is people testing the the metering and focussing using VR and IS and many people claim that in lens IS/VR improves focusing and metering performance. The theory is very simple: stabilised contrast on the focus sensors and stabilised image on the metering sensor, which is basically a mini CMOS sensor in itself (1005 color matrix in most Nikons), menas a more reliable metering and more reliable and faster focussing.

The sole benefit of in body IS is that it automatically works to some extent with all lens. This is a very nice feature but ultimately there are a lot of drawbacks to this approach.

Anyway, its a bit of a pointless argument as for 95% of photography IS of any form is pretty useless or worse than using a tripod so should not be the basis of choosing a camera.

BUFF · 3 Aug 2009 at 23:55

D.P. said:
The initialisation period is no where near 1-2 seconds and the increased power usage is about the same as using a stabilised sensor -both systems have to do pretty much the same thing.

yes, it is (although you can obviously avoid it to a certain extent by pre-focusing) & the power usage is drastically different - with in-lens the IS/VR system is running all the time that you are focusing/tracking but with in-body it only works actually at the time of shutter release & a sensor doesn't weigh anything like a big chunk of glass like an element.

If you ant to get your so called positive feedback with an in-lens solution then all you do is switch the stabilisation off...

not really the same thing at all.

The last point is viral lies spread from Sony marketing department for the most part. I have not heard of a single person that has ever felt any sickness using a VR or IS lens, ever. That doesn't mean that some cases might not exist but it must be extremely rare. I can't ever recall seeing a single thread on any photography forum where someone has stated that they feel sick using VR/IS- normally just statements like yours.

Sorry but I don't believe that it is viral marketing by Sony/Pentax/Olympus etc. & I've certainly seen threads where people have evinced a feeling of illness with stablilised vfs.

I do agree though that ultimately in the real world the differences between the 2 are very slight.
Even more so now that the in-body IS crowd also have the option of using in-lens IS which is really the best solution to have the choice of either/or not 1 or the other.

alle · 6 Aug 2009 at 00:38

...Bought a D90 but didn't bother with the kit lenses and got the 18-200 lens instead

Learning curve starts here...