Good digital SLR camera?

[Sigarms]

riptides, VERY well said.

I know the two big names are Nikon and Cannon, but after doing a little research, seems "more bang for the buck" may be the Olympus E620 or the Pentax K-X. Anyone have any experience with these at all?

I know when I fist started out with the EM and then went to the FE, both manufactuers (Pentax and Olympus) were around, so I know that they aren't a fly by night operation.

 

[dcyrilc]

riptides, VERY well said.

I know the two big names are Nikon and Cannon, but after doing a little research, seems "more bang for the buck" may be the Olympus E620 or the Pentax K-X. Anyone have any experience with these at all?

I know when I fist started out with the EM and then went to the FE, both manufactuers (Pentax and Olympus) were around, so I know that they aren't a fly by night operation.

Back in high school, in the late '70s, I had an Olympus OM-1. It was a great camera. Later when I replaced it, I bought the Cannon EOS 650. Another great camera. Last year I moved up to the 50D so that I could continue using my lenses with the digital. Haven't had an Olympus since the one in high school, but I would have seriously considered one if I didn't already have all the cannon lenses. As far as quality is concerned, I would consider a good Olympus to be just below the high end Cannon or Nikons and equal to something like the Cannon Rebel.

 

[RobS]

BTW, a really good source of info on DSLRs is Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ. Be prepared for information overload though!

 

[Western]

We bought our daughter a Nikon D60 kit, body, 3 lenses ,bag, sd disc, pc software with free camera classes for $800 from Wolf camera

From what I had been told by several optic shops, this was a good mid to upper entry slr.

The premise we used when asking our questions of the dealers was that our daughter love photography and was considering a class at college after 3 years of it in High school.. She loves it and takes it every where she goes.

I have seen allot of good deals on this camera without all the extras, like the body and 1 or 2 lenses. I doubt you would go to work for Time magazine with this one, but it's a darn good camera.

 

[dmccarty]

...

I know when I fist started out with the EM and then went to the FE, both manufactuers (Pentax and Olympus) were around, so I know that they aren't a fly by night operation.

Sony is another brand to consider. They are making the sensors used by many DLSRs.

The camera industry has been adjusting from film to digital and this change is going to continue. My two cents is that as the camera in the cell phone improves the P&S cameras are going to go away. If someone is just wanting to take photos of a kids party, or their car, the snow on the deck and then send out the photo, errr, image in email or put it on Facebook or some other website a phone camera is good enough. Why buy a P&S when it is in the phone?

It is going to be interesting to see what happens at the low end of the market.

Canon and Nikon USED to make most of their money from building equipment to make chips. Yes computer chips. But they got sloppy and a European company came in and took over the market. The price of Nikon and Cannon equipment has also gone up quite a bit over the last few years. Connection?

So what will the second and third tier DLSR makers do? Nikon and Canon have huge following so baring some massive screw up on their part they will be around. Will the others?

If you buy into a camera system at a low price point it might not matter much if the maker goes out of business in 5 years. Certainly in 5 years the cameras will have advanced greatly to a point the buying a new one might make sense. The only thing one would be out of is the money in the lens(es).

Totally depends on what you want to do with the camera system.

Later,
Dan

 

[Sigarms]

Dan, very interesting points and some things I would of never considered.

Thanks for all the input everyone.

Went out to the mall yesterday (dwned on me that is was the first time to a mall in about three years) and picked up a camera. Figure I might as well give my business to a local camera store than online out of state or a electronic box store (they were right in line with the price to boot). Went with less expensive Nikon D3000 for my amature hands (couldn't justify the price cost between the 3000 and 5000, and the 90 was overkill for now). Played with it last night, and no regrets. Figure down the road if I want to upgrade, as some mentioned, I can. Store has some digital SLR classes coming up, and me and the misses have signed up. Should be fun.

Now all I have to do is remember to keep the camera above 5' in height when I lay it down, although I "kind of wanted" a DSLR in the back of my mind, but couldn't justify it beause I already had a camera. I didn't reward the dog though.

 

[jimmyj]

So how happy are you with the camera? I am just about to buy one too and I'm finding it hard to justify the cost of the D90 plus lenses. I think a mid price camera is probably what I'll get with a couple of lenses.

 

[AMR]

A friend of mine bought a Nikon D3000 from JR.COM last Christmas after much study and consultation with other folks. I played around with it this weekend and bought the wife one today for mother's day. We are in the very low end of starters and just want to take decent photos. It appears that it will work for us. JR.com has pretty good pricing from what I can determine.

 

[milkman]

I'm beginning to get the new camera bug too, have looked at several. I want to stick with a point and shoot, don't want the hassle of carrying around a bag for the extra lenses for a DSLR. I have a Fuji w/10x zoom, looked at the Nikon P90 and P100 and then I saw the Fuji HS10 that looks fantastic on paper, 30X zoom, triple stabilization. I have looked at a lot of reviews and have seen some mixed so I'll hold off for a while and see how the HS10 shakes out. Anyone else looked at this particular camera?

 

[Sigarms]

So how happy are you with the camera? I am just about to buy one too and I'm finding it hard to justify the cost of the D90 plus lenses. I think a mid price camera is probably what I'll get with a couple of lenses.

Personally, I'm more than happy with it.

Both the wife and I can see the differences in quality of the pictures compared to our old point and shoot that became lunch for one of the dogs.

Basic functions work well and easy to figure out, and it's fun to play with it when you have the time.

Have had it on on jobs as well, and although I read this particular camera wasn't good in low light conditions, I really haven't had a problem.

For the price of the camera, hard to beat. I'm sure there are better SLR's out there, but for the money, as mentioned, more than happy.