Hi all ,
Am trying to buy a entry level Digital SLR and is confused with either Canon or Nikon. If anyone can provide valuable feedback/advice would be really appreciated. am open to any brands with 18 mm lens atleast .
Thanks
Need help to choose a Digital SLR
solidsnake on 11/06/2014 - 15:58
Comments
DPReview is perhaps the most comprehensive camera website out there! If anything, as a total newbie some of the reviews were quite over my head simply because they go into such great details. Highly recommended in any case.
They're both good, as are Pentax and Sony… all modern digital cameras from the major players are pretty damn impressive. Only fanboys will swear by one as being in major league than the other.
So, first question I'd ask is why DSLR, have you considered mirrorless (Olympus, Fuji, Sony, etc), or good quality compacts, for what your needs are?
If you've decided you really must have DSLR, and can't decide between them both, go into a store (or better still, see if can try out friend's/family's) and see which one has better ergonomics for you. Otherwise, can pore over sites like dpreview.
Finally, if really can't make a decision, just go with the somewhat recent adage: Nikon for stills, Canon for video.
P.S. Not sure what you mean by at least 18mm.. do you mean must be longer… and if so, in what format, 135, APS-C, m43? If asking for longer than 18mm in 135, I'd say pretty much every camera maker in the world has you covered.
How much would you like to spend on a kit?
To be honest, any dslr kit you blindly pick from the HUGE range available will give you outstanding image quality.
Then there is the case of fanboys.I would say the biggest factor right now will have to be what is the biggest bang for your buck.
Stabbing blindly in the dark I will recommend a Nikon D5300 with a 18-200 or a Canon 70D with a 18-200mm
If you don't have much experience with DSLRs and photography, I suggest getting a mirrorless camera with an Electronic View Finder (EVF). The reason being that you can see how the image is going to turn out as you change the settings; this means zero missed opportunities! With traditional Optical View Finders (OVF) you have to take the picture, then look at the picture you have taken on the lcd screen, make the necessary adjustments and retake the photo. I honestly don't see how people can not see EVF as being the future, cue rants from purists…
Olympus, Fuji and Sony would be my picks. Olympus and Fuji have the most lenses available. Sony produces some of the best sensors on the market and they are even used in high end Nikon cameras.
EVF based cameras also have the luminescence histogram displayed live, so you know exactly how much exposure you are getting before even taking a picture.
While I agree and use the live view on my DSLR a lot, I won't buy one without an eye piece. If shooting hand held with a screen your camera will not be as steady which can make getting sharp shots very difficult depending on focal length. Camera needs to have both these days before they'll get my money.
I've said this somewhere around here before, but I'll say it again, the quality of your DSLR is the least important factor in how good your shots will end up looking.
The most important thing is your skill, this can be learned.
The second most important thing is your lens, you need to know what lens to use for the given situation.
Then after these two things are sorted, your camera comes last. You'd much rather get an average camera with a good lens than a good camera with an average lens.
So, my suggestion would be to just stick to your budget, buy one you can afford. Whether it's Nikon or Canon doesn't matter, I use Nikon, but Canon is just as good. Once you pick a brand though, it's most likely you'll be using that brand for the rest of your life, because it's too expensive to buy all your lenses and equipment again.
There are a couple of things that do split the manufacturers.
Pentax, for example, has excellent compatibility with old manual lenses. If this is desirable, it is a better bet than the others.
In the same way, if you see yourself upgrading consistently over time and adding to a high quality lens collection, I would tend toward Nikon/Canon for their larger range of current production lenses including better availability of 3rd party lenses.
But I reckon in the end it doesn't really matter. Just get the one that gives you the best deal ;-)Budget anything upto $900.thanks for all the advice.
I would look at the Nikon D5300. though $900 is pushing the limit a little bit.
It is a nice nifty camera with built in GPS which I am quite fond of using to make geotagging a little easier. Also built-in wifi which is good for some people but not something I will use.with a sigma 18-250mm lens it is a decent travel camera and good all rounder.
I didn't think I'd really use wifi until I got my Canon 6d. The ability to control settings, focus and use as a remote shutter release are great as I do a lot of long exposure photography at night. It also allows me to use the much larger screen to preview images and save them to another device almost instantly. I wouldn't buy a camera without wifi having experienced it.
Everyone seems to suggest these massive zoom lenses "18 - 250", "18-300"…etc.
But does anyone actually use that level of zoom? I'd prefer to just stick to my standard 35mm f/1.8 prime, which is good enough for anything.
I think plenty of people, especially people new to DSLRs would use that zoom. As it will be more familiar to them and give them a much wider range of options without needing to think about having to buy different lenses.
I think it's largely a matter of personal preference. I used to live with just one of those super lenses but, like yourself, I've tended to move to enjoying just using one or two primes with me now.
I don't buy that a single prime lens is 'good enough for anything'. Sure you might get a shot, but having different options in lens length results in, of course, different opportunities in photos. Someone wanting to do mostly outdoor sports events is going to much better served by a superzoom, whereas someone doing indoor group shots will be better of with a nice, bright, prime.
Sure you can point to the masters like Bresson who used a 50mm lens for nearly all his photos, but great photographers like Jay Maisel likes to use a superzoom lens. So, horses for courses.
I don't buy that a single prime lens is 'good enough for anything'.
Depends on what sort of photos you want to take. For someone who takes indoor family shots, e.g. shots of the kids, shots of family members, shots of the new TV we just bought…etc. a 35mm f/1.8 prime is perfect.
The good thing about a 35mm prime is that it's very close to what your eyes see.
I don't mean to say that it's all you'll need though. I also have an 85mm f/1.8 prime for portraits and a 55-300mm zoom that I rarely ever use. I've used it once and that was to take a photo of the moon during an eclipse :P
18-200+ is only good for a holiday lens where you only take one lens and IQ isn't critical
I'm a Pentax person, and I love my K5 to bits.
Pentax is pretty different to Canikon. It's smaller, feels better in the hand, and has a inbuilt image stabilisation, meaning you can get smaller and lighter lenses.
The mid-range model is the K-50, which is practically identical to it's predecessor, the K-30.
If you're lucky, you can get it at Target for $400 if it has it in stock.
Then spend the other $500 on glass. If you want lightweight, the 40mm XS is 9mm thick. Smallest lens you can get!
Look for deals on OzBargain. I've recently bought a Nikon D3200 and it's great, but you'll soon realise you'll want/need different lenses. Also, you'll need to factor in a new case ($50+) and a memory card ($50+).
You can get a 32GB SD Card from MSY for $25 or so. It'll do just fine.
Think about the lenses you might be interested in using, then find a body to match. Bodies come and go, lenses will always stick around, true to the end. If you want landscape, think about a wide angle zoom lens; if you are in to portraits, try a 80-100-ish range, if you want nature (birds, etc.) you'll need a super telephoto. Once you find a good lens (or set of lenses) that you know you want to use, then you can find a suitable body. The bodies have a lot of bells and whistles that (I argue) most people do not understand, and do not use, or use incorrectly, ineffectively, or infrequently. Stick with a body that's in your price range, and won't fill up your hard drives with 20MB+ RAW files! HTH
this^^
also dont be skewed by lenses you cant afford
eg. I love f2.8 lenses but its not like as if i will ever buy white Canon L or the Nikon gold ring lenses
however I did like the 18-70 it came with and I ended up with a 18-50 f2.8 i could afford
i also bought Nikon as it would mean I wouldnt buy any expensive Canon accessories I dont need
Nikon's range of stuff is less wide IMO but its ok for me as I have the lenses I need, rather than want
Nikon D5100 with the single lens is coming up somewhere (maybe BigW?) for less than $500 .. sorry, don't recall the details exactly and it's still early, and need more coffee.
thanks , got nikon d3300
Hi, not sure if you've seen this website, but it does a really good job of comparing quite a few different Digital Cameras. http://www.dpreview.com