Digital SLR

[black roadster]

Wifey wants a Digital SLR.

She has been looking at this one.

Anyone know of some smoking deals out there? Also interested in a telephoto lens and maybe a wide angle lens. Nothing professional. Just something for her scrapbooking obcession.

She likes the Nikon but says they don't have as much on camera editing as the Canon.

[channelmaniac]

I have the original Digital Rebel and love it!

If you shop around on the web make SURE you buy a camera with a USA warranty.

There's a bunch of foreign (cheaper!) warranty cameras out there but you run into problems if you want them serviced.

RJ

[Ataim]

You can spend DAYS of reading on his site. http://kenrockwell.com/tech.htm

Good stuff you can actually use.

I have a Nikon D200 and a D70. I shot about 8,000 picture with the D70 and it never gave me a problem (still use as a backup). I've only got about 1000 on the D200 and its also never given me a problem. My wife has a Nikon P4 and it takes very nice picture also. We took the same picture in Mexico a few months back. Compairing them side by side the results showed that the 200 was a little (very little) better in the shadows. Other than that they where the same. I'll try and post some from both.

[sammm]

Here's another great source for info -

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

[black roadster]

It seems she has already decided what camera she wants; the Canon Digital Rebel XTi.

Now we need to find the best price on a USA warrantied camera. Any suggestions of good deals?

[sammm]

Any suggestions of good deals?

www.pricewatch.com

www.pricegrabber.com

[Ataim]

I bought my mother one for Christmas this past year and it seems that I paid 799 for a kit. I'm not sure which lens it was, but, cannon does not make junk lens. Nice camera, you will not go wrong with it.

[channelmaniac]

DO NOT BUY FROM THE CHEAPEST ON THE WEB.

It's a good way to get screwed. You think electronics dealers are shady, you ain't seen nothin' yet! The camera guys have it down to an art.

B&H Photo Video is a reputable large dealer.

Raymond

[Ataim]

BTY I got hers at Wolf on University in FOrt WOrth, just north of the zoo.

[juxt3r]

My "good" camera is a Pentax K100D. It was recommended to me by a former portraiture prof friend as a good starter camera with lots of room for growth built in.
One of the VERY nice perks with this piece is that it will use all of the bayonet-mount lenses ever made for Pentax. Any other Pentax lens will work with a li'l adapter ring.

Can't make much comment on lenses, as both of mine came with the camera. Both are Sigma, both work well, both are pretty basic.

[Adam Payrot]

DO NOT BUY FROM THE CHEAPEST ON THE WEB.

It's a good way to get screwed. You think electronics dealers are shady, you ain't seen nothin' yet! The camera guys have it down to an art.

B&H Photo Video is a reputable large dealer.

Raymond

+1 on B&H. The only place I would buy a camera online from. Browse through their kit lens deals, they have a great buy on a 18-55 EF-S lens w/ XTi. There might be another combo closer to what she wants, but the 18-55 is a good lens to learn with.

Dell had the XTi at less than $650 2 weeks ago ,check slickdeals.net to see if it might still be going on. It required entering 2 different codes on check-out.

[TheChadVIII]

Everything I've bought pretty much has been from www.beachcamera.com or www.buydig.com (same company), B&H is expensive~

I'll second the vote for the Pentax K100D. Thats the one I had before I got my bigass Canon... the in-body image stabilization works great, and lenses are much cheaper. With the Rebel, to get image stabilization you're looking at spending roughly twice as much as the same lens without it. The Pentax makes every lens stabilized.

And you can get the body and 18-55mm kit lens (very good lens) for $379

Then add a decent entry zoom onto it and still be under the price of the Canon.

The 10mp vs 6mp isn't going to be much difference unless you're printing very large... This was with my K100D and the kit lens.

[heckler]

I'll chime in about the K100D also. I bought one last fall and think it is a great little camera. In my opinion the look and feel of K100D is superior to the Rebel my brother just bought for his wife this Christmas.

The lens that comes with this camera kit is better than most other manufacturer's kit lens. You won't get better DSLR for this price. This camera comes with an Anti-Shake feature that most camera won't have and you can use any lens ever made by PENTAX (even the old screw mount lenes using an bayonet adapter). It uses regular rechargable (and regular) AA batteries and SD cards (make sure you get the ULTRA speed version). So you'll never be stuck without power or storage. The 6MB resolution is a non-issue for 95% of most photographer's needs, so don't let that turn you off of this camera.

I've used PENTAX cameras for more than thrity years and most of their lenes are very highly regarded. I waited for a long time to finally get one of their DSLR cameras at a reasonable price and I'm glad I waited for this generation to come out. The results from this camera are specatcular. Especially with some of my older SMC glass, which I have a few acquired over the years.

Also consider this 55-200mm SIMGA lens if you want to cover the whole gamut of 18mm thru 200:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation
There is a PENTAX version of this lens for 70 bucks more but the SIGMA is a good performer and I've had good luck with them over the years.

I also have a Sigma 70-300DL Macro 1.4/5.6 lens that I'm think of selling if you're interested in that. (would be less than a new 55-200) Which in effect would give yo a DSLR range of 105-450mm) great for wildlife photography.

The only weakness I find with D100 is the on-board flash which is a bit weak in my opinion. So consider getting the PENTAX AF-360 for an additional $195 when you want to take flash shots at a distance.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

$379 (kit) + $150 (55-200) + $195(flash)= $724 (40 bucks less than the Cannon which would buy you a 2GB SD ULTRA card) You'll have a great little setup when you're all done.

But I would recommend you start with the base kit and grow with the hobby. Use the saved 345 bucks and determine what you want to add later after you gain some experience with the camera. Most likely 90% of your shots of the kids will be in the kit lens range. There are a few guys around here with these cameras so give one a test drive. You'll be impressed.

Here is a good forum to visit and find out more info PENTAX DSLR cameras:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/fo...um=1036&page=1

[gabkwong]

Everything I've bought pretty much has been from www.beachcamera.com or www.buydig.com (same company), B&H is expensive~

+1, Just bought the same camera you are looking from Beach Camera at for $750 shipped!