Digital SLRs

[fastpitch19xxck]

Alright here it goes. I've been trying to figure out what kind of camera I should get, because my parents have given me the option of getting one for Christmas this year. I'm really interested in photography and I've worked with digitals and film SLRs, but I'd like to get a digital SLR.

 

I've been looking into the Nikkon D40. I'm not quite sure exactly what I want out of a camera, but I want to be able to focus it myself and use the automatic focus for sure. I'd also like to have a wide range of zoom, so if I could get some input on good cameras, that'd be appreciated!

 

Oh, haha and around $500 sounds good.

 

Thank youuu.

- Caitlin.

[skiel's daughter]

[brandon]

for 500$ your gonna be basically limited to older used gear but i'd say thats best to start off with. I'm using a 4 year old Canon Digital Rebel 6.1megapixel and it works fine for me. try craigslist and other local classifieds.....chances are theres somebody upgrading and would sell you their old stuff......and you can't go wrong with nikon, canon, or pentax.....pentax has vibration reduction in the body of the camera and also accepts any pentax lens so it gives you more options.....anyways thats my 2 cents and I'm sure some of the pros here can help you out

[spanky]

i have a pentax K100d myself and love it, as brandon said it has SR (shake reduction) which gives you on average a 2 stop advantage for handheld and it's backwards compatible with lenses from a long time ago and not only that but my most recent lense, a SMC-A 50mm f1.7 lense (came standard on pentax 35mm cameras in the 80's i believe) costs around $50, it is manual focus but when set to autofocus it will not take a pic until it's IN focus, which is indicated by the flashing red light- so basically you just have to turn the focus ring manually...

 

I originally bought a Nikon D40, but returned it shortly there after, great little camera but because the vibration reduction is in lense the lenses are expensive and they're not backwards compatible- only the D80 is ($1000 body only i believe) also only 3 areas of focus vs 11 on the pentax.... pentax lenses were cheaper and the camera was more expandable and i won't out grow it for a long while, just made sense for me...

 

the downside to the pentax, they're not as popular as canon or nikon, so alot of stores won't carry alot of pentax gear but net shopping you should find whatever you want and ebay is a great place to start....

 

i bought mine new from blacks for on sale for $569.+ taxes and i see the regular price is now $569. so the sale price should be right around $500. with a kit lens...

 

www.dpreview.com would be a great place to see some reviews and get more input aswell

[spanky]

another bonus for me, just picked up a 35-70mm (52ish to 105mm w/crop factor) lense for $40 CDN shipped- psst hey brandon, it's got shake reduction too, oh wait every lense does LOL

 

BTW- i see you're in the U.S., think the K100d super is going for $399 with the pentax rebate

[Headhunter]

Can't help you in your decision making process as to which camera to choose from, but I did notice that Henry's Camera's has a HUGE sale on everything, including Digital SLR's. I think they are dumping old stock to prepare for new stuff coming in for the Xmas season.

Quite a noticeable drop as well.

Good luck with your purchase!

HH