so after trying to take a few quick pics of my car last night i realized that the camera phone is killing me and i need to buy a real camera. i have experience with film but have never really ventured into digital. and i am getting sick of having to make a twenty min. drive to the camera shop that sells and developes the film that i like to use.

so im looking for some suggestions on my first real digital camera. i have used simple point and shoot cameras and considered getting one but i know nothing about mega pixels and funcionality. lately i have been looking at dslr, i really like the thought of getting a digital slr camera simply because you can control the photo a whole lot more than with any point and shoot. my price range would be anything from 100.00-500.00 dollars.

 

I am partial to Canon's digital Elph series. I had the first one, the S100, then a S400, and now we have the SD750. I think the image quality is great, and the 750 has some nice features and a big LCD. I've never really done any comparisons with other cameras, but I'm sure Canon would hold it's own against the competition.

The SD750 is around $170 on Amazon now. We paid about $270 when it was a brand new model.

 

If you go DSLR i would definetly go with a Nikon D40, if you want to see some sample pics with that cam check out I Am Rays. photo thread. Pretty amazing quality and you can pic one up with a lense for about 500$ at BestBuy.
If you want a P&S Canon makes some nice ones. I recently got the Canon Sx100is advanced digital camera and its pretty sweeet. My sig pic was take with it and you can check page 25 of my Photo thread for some sample pics of what my cam can do.

Tyler

 

thanks for the suggestions, it seems like canon is a winner, every thing that i have read online about canon has been good.

tool your sig pic is nice, it kind of threw me off im used to your sig pics being outdoors.

 

if you are going Canon and want DSLR I would go for XTI.....

check out this a lot useful info

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/off-...mera-gear.html

 

D40 or Rebel XT, don't buy into the MP hype unless you'll be stepping up to at least D80/ 40D range. You can find many gently used D40s for around $350, most of the time with the kit lens still. You can find D50s for around $400 or so as well if you'd like the ability to AF with non AF-S lenses. I'm not familiar with used rates on Canons but I'm sure you can find some for a great price as well. If you go new you'll pretty much be limited to a D40 kit online from amazon or bhphotovideo due to your budget.

Nothing wrong with a good quality P&S though, the Canon S5-IS is supposed to be superb and not over your budget.

 

Arick, listen to Arisenfury. I would definately go with the d40 or rebel xt if you're getting into the dslr scene. I got my d40 off of craigslist for $400...it came with the kit lens and the 55-200 zoom lens. I like the feel of the d40 over the xt. Good luck man...we need to have another meet asap lol.

 

once again thanks for the suggestions, i think im going to get my self a nice point and shoot for. i think going slr right off the bat would be a bit pointless. i will probably go dslr once im comfortable shooting digital and get some practice with photoshop.

 

go DSLR or GTFO!!

for cereal. go to a REAL camera store. try out a few cameras see which one you like.

good luck.

 

damn! everyone is making the d40 sound so damn good. im gonna need to do some more research.

 

d40 ftw!!!!! I love my d50 and a d40 is like a new version of it so personally I would say d40.

 

d40, canon 350d, canon 400d. all great starter cameras. lenses are what matters, so that's how you should think of it. unless you are making WALL-sized prints, you won't be able to tell the difference between 6mp and 8mp and 10mp lol

 

If you're looking to go DSLR you can pick up a Canon 350D for dirt anymore, most stores are wiping them out to make room for the new XSI.

 

yes. the canon 350d and 400d are going for MUCH cheaper than just a few months ago

 

Yup, makes me mad to know how much I paid for mine a couple years back. For that price now I could have picked up a 40D

 

lol isn't that the truth. oh well, shoulda coulda east-wooda! :P

 

I am looking at a new dslr as well it is a draw for me between the D40 and the Sony alpha 300, my brother had a soccer tournament a few weeks ago and the fields where we played was the stop of the dslr tour and was able to use it for an hour and got real good pictures it is a very simple camera to use and get used to, i played with the d40 but i am sort of drawn to sony because i have rebates from them.

 

look around before you buy that sony dslr. there isn't much support for them. canon and nikon really dominate the market for cameras and lenses. it'd suck to buy a car and not be able to mod it. ya know?!

 

As far as DSLR goes, IMO both Canon and Nikon are great choices. I've shot with both, but I'm more towards canon.

It's true that XTs are pretty much on blowout now that the new XSI is out, but I would definitely recommend the XTI over the XT. The body on the XTI feels much nicer and more rounded than the XT and it's easier to keep clean unless you get a silver bodied XT.

The XTI's self cleaning system is a nice add-on, let alone having a much bigger, easier to view lcd display. Outside of those major changes, they're almost the same function wise between the XT/XTI.

If you don't mind shopping around, just get the body of your choice, and invest in a decent prime lens. IMO kit lens' are usually sub-par.

 

get a panasonic fx35