spec me dslr pleaseeee

[cochoc]

Another typical fanboy advising people to get the camera they own.

What a silly thing to say. Far from being a 'fanboy', I qualified my liking for the camera by stating that I own it! And I hardly pushed it to the detriment of Nikon/Pentax/Olympus (which are all superb cameras) now did I?

Since when has a DSLR's appearance mattered? You should try holding one before commenting. Why would your hand 'shrivel up'? The Sony A580 body is bigger than the 550D.

My comment was tongue in cheek! Did you really not get that? My hands wouldn't actually shrivel up if I held a Sony. And actually, the look of a product does matter to me, although if the Sony was heads and shoulders above its competitors (which it is NOT), that wouldn't prevent me from buying it.

My Sony advice was just to throw something different into the mix. I wouldn't think twice about going Sony again. Indeed, all options are open to me for my next DSLR in the Summer. I'm open minded like that, you see!

Open minded?

Oh, the irony.

 

[cochoc]

I would hold on a week or so new cameras coming out.

nikon d5500

canon 1100d entry level

canon 600d swivel screen off the 60d !! i took my d5000 back as it was faulty holding out for one of these new cameras.

Good advice. If these cameras are out soon, I would wait a bit too.

 

[adbp1]

well im not looking to buy at he moment anyway so waiting isnt so bad.
the rumors of the 600d look good so might wait for that as its suppose to be replacment for 550d

 

[Pants]

I'm in the exact same position as you, weighing up the 550D, 600D and 60D.

I waited for the 600D but now that it's available (digital rev) it seems to be only about £30 less than a 60D. Hopefully it will come down in price quickly because at that price it's a no brainer to get the 60D!

I got tired of waiting so i'm picking up a 60D tomorrow, but I still think the 600D will be a cracker. Can't wait to get my hands on this thing!

 

[adbp1]

im still looking! just waiting for the pennys to save up!
the 60d is looking more and more tempting, i can forget that its got swival screen.
let us know which you can and your thoughts ^^^^

 

[Raikiri]

I've been doing a lot of reading up about the Sony A580. Looks outstanding for the money and (apparently) has similar high ISO performance to the Nikon D7000.

I've seen it for £550 (body only). The rest you could invest on a really good lens.

edit//

Or you could hang fire and see what the Sony 'A77' offers in a few months.

Rumoured specs:

A77-Specifications

- APS-C 23.6 x 15.6 mm 24.4 Mp (Effective) Exmor CMOS sensor Backlit
- 16 fps
- ISO 100-204800
- 51 focus points (15 cross-type sensors)
- Micro Adjustment for Sony, Minolta and Konica Minolta Lenses
- AVC HD Video / 24 bits (like the Panasonic GH2)
- HDR
- Panorama mode
- GPS
- 3D
- New designed by Epson OLED Super EVF
- Able Tilt LCD Display
- Building and grip similar to the “Magnesium” Alpha 700
- The CF+SD+MS cards can be used in tandem
- Newly designed battery provides up to 1,000 shots.
- The body A77 has a street price of 899 Euros. ”

I er, may be gong Sony if that's actually true. I doubt it is, unfortunately.

Right now thorugh it's between the 60D and D7000, the D7000 is a better camera but leaves you with limited funds for a lens whilst the 60D offers better video functionality.

 

[PermaBanned]

Does that actually say ISO 204800?

 

[Raikiri]

Does that actually say ISO 204800?

Yeah, current high end bodies do 102,400 so it wouldn't be completely out of the realms of possibility. Doubt it would be usable though.

 

[Pants]

im still looking! just waiting for the pennys to save up!
the 60d is looking more and more tempting, i can forget that its got swival screen.
let us know which you can and your thoughts ^^^^

I've only had the 60D for a few hours but some initial thoughts (coming from using borrowed 350D and 500D):

It's bigger and heavier than I thought, a touch less discreet than the smaller series for causal use. My tiny 50mm 1.8 looks amusing on it! However it's much more comfy in the hand and the grip fits like a glove which is a nice bonus. Should balance nicely when I get around to buying some new lens's.

I like having a front AND rear dial, really nice to be able to adjust exposure etc without needing to click another button. Also make scrolling though the menus quicker. More direct access buttons means I'm in the menu's less. Seems like a small thing but I appreciate it.

In camera RAW processing is freaking awesome (lots of people will disagree with me and dismiss it as a gimmick). I took an over exposed shot while playing with the flash and thought I would see if I could rescue it. I selected the image, brought the brightness down 3/4 of a stop, save as a new jpeg, sorted. Very quick and easy. Using the same thing I also took a good image and tweaked the white balance, sharpness, contrast and generally just did some basic post processing from the RAW. I didn't even consider this feature but now I've found it I love it.

Swivel screen is a nice to have, already used it for some tripod stuff. I already know I like the swivel screen as my Canon SX10 has one.

Pentaprism viewfinder is pretty meh. Not really noticed the difference to the xxxD but I will compare side by side later.

Got to go now but I will get some more coherent thoughts together and some pictures to demonstrate the in camera processing in the week.

 

[al1966]

There is always a Pentax as a wild card, they have some really nice lenses and any post KA will meter on it. How big do you want to print? as you could get a used Fuji s3/5, they have a great sensor and the cash you save could be used for more or better quality glass. You don't need more than 6mp for a good A4 and a decent A3. I only sold mine as I was having to print larger I just could not get an A1 out of it with acceptable quality (gallery wall). I miss it though as it had a fantastic dynamic range, I ended up going with a medium format fuji instead.

 

[mhk1058]

D90 because i love mine so much

*edit* £548 body only is the cheapest or Nikon D90 Lens Kit (18-105 VR lens) £679, leaves money left over for for the 50mm/35mm.

I'd second the D90, excellent choice, not much in it as far as image quality between that and the much more expensive D7000. Have a look here and see if you really need anything extra that the D7000 offers.

You'd get a great camera well within your price range and have enough for a good lens or two.

It's easy to be tempted to spend most of it on a body and not much on lenses - any camera body over £500 will do what most non pros need and your camera starts depreciating the moment you buy it, decent lens will be with you for years and still fetch a good price.

 

[jaybee]

If starting from scratch, i'd simplify it by looking at what you think you will end up shooting the most and look at the lens line ups between Canon and Nikon. Look at which brand offers you the best lenses dependant on quality, focal length and price. Whether you want to start from scratch with good lenses from the off, or buy cheap and then upgrade if you feel you outgrow them and desire more. Generally speaking, most people find they DO crave better lense quality and wish they had spent less on the body initially and invested in good lenses (glass).
Nikon entry level bodies are not compatible with Auto Focus on ALL nikon lenses, where as Canons are. That's something to consider and why I would recommend Canon unless you went for the Nikon d90 or d7000 if you could afford it.
Personally I've been through 300d, 450d, 500d and I'm just now getting a 50d as I'm fed up with front and back focus issues on Canon entry level bodies combined with certain lenses I want to use. That's a bit off topic mind and a more technical/advanced discussion for a seperate thread and I don't want to confuse you. (50d features MFA (micro focus adjust) unlike any other body that is not pro apart from the 7d - even the new 60d has had this feature left out and to me is worth it's wait in gold).