Thinking Of Getting Into Digital Photography

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I've always loved photography. I used to have a digital camera, a 5.5 mp Minolta (I had it about 3 years ago when that was alot better lol) but when my car was stolen my camera went with it.

If I do get back into it, I need to be slightly economical. I'm a fulltime student, and really just want to take some good pictures with a decent camera.

Does anyone have any affordable suggestions? I've been looking at these Konica-Minoltas.

Right now my only camera is my 35mm SLR Nikkormat <33
 
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Your nikon lenses would work on a DSLR. Nikon makes several cheaper models.
 
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The Nikon N40 is a great entry-level DSLR, and if you have nikon lenses, they'll work just fine.

If you're not looking to make that jump, i'd recommend picking up a used Sony F717 or F828. This is the second time today i've talked these cameras up to someone on this board, and i swear i'm not a sony rep. They're just fantastic cameras, usable, they've got carl zeiss glass, great shots, nightvision, and the later models can make toast (requires firmware upgrade). Neither of them shoot .raw, though, so if that's your prerogative, you'll have to look elsewhere. The F717 can be had used for about $300 or less, the F828 is around $500 used.

The best place to look for camera reviews, impo, is dpreview.com. the reviews are intensely in-depth, with every possible aspect of the geat in question being fully reviewed.
 
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The Nikon N40 is a great entry-level DSLR, and if you have nikon lenses, they'll work just fine.

This model only uses AF-S lenses - so older lenses with no internal focusing motor will not work on this camera.

It's cheap enough with a kit lens anyway though.

For Non-DSLR I'd recommend the Panasonic Lumix Fz8 or FZ50
 
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I personally had some hands-on time with a Canon Ixus 850 IS and have to say it's a brilliant pocket camera. It has fantastic zoom, good video, and some serious face recognition and auto-detection for exposure etc.

In my opinion, the best mid-range camera out there.

If you want to go DSLR, you should opt for the Canon EOS 400.

In any case, go Canon.
 
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Buy a Canon 5d while you're at it. It's only like $2500 or so. You won't regret it too much :)

Decide film or digital. Digital will be a slightly more expensive medium to start on, but will ultimately be cheaper unless you're getting every single photo printed. You can find used and refurbe digitals for cheap. I think you can find a Canon 300D digital Rebel for about $300 now. They were nearly a grand when they first came out. Not the fastest or best camera out there, but it's great for learning on and there's people out there that regularly shoot on them.

A used D70 is a great camera from Nikon, but more expensive.

The biggest decision to make when buying a brand is which one has the better lenses for you. Because upgrading from a Nikon that you have a lens collection for to a Canon can be expensive.

Also, unless you absolutely have to have it...I'd not reccomend the D40.
 
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I have a nikon D40 wich is a good dSLR for the price, its also my first dSLR. I had a shoutout with one of my friends. she have a Canon EOS 350 or is it a 400, cant remember, we both used the kit lens and it seamed like the D40's pictures is a bit lighter, but i like it, otherwise not really a big difference.
 
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I have a nikon D40 wich is a good dSLR for the price, its also my first dSLR. I had a shoutout with one of my friends. she have a Canon EOS 350 or is it a 400, cant remember, we both used the kit lens and it seamed like the D40's pictures is a bit lighter, but i like it, otherwise not really a big difference.

Nikons have poorer high ISO performance. How much is a hotly debated topic on some occasions. And how much that means to a noob or general hobbyist is sometimes nil.

In fact, unless it's some one that's wanting more than an advanced point and shoot, it may never leave the green box mode and even then, something like ISO low light photography may take a while for a noob to get into.
 
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if you've got a lot of old Nikkor glass with your 35mm slr, you're probably better off not going for the Nikon D40 since, like the others have said, it won't autofocus lenses unless they're AF-S (or Sigma HSM lenses, which also have motors built into the lens)

otherwise, I can recommend the D40, since 'affordable' was one of your criteria

I dunno where the idea that the D40's high ISO performance was bad came from, everything I've read (and discovered through using my own D40) indicates its high ISO performance is one of its stronger points...

the D40 kit lens is also generally regarded as better than comparable offerings from other manufacturers.. although if you get serious you'll probably want to switch it for something a little better

but to be honest you won't go wrong with any Nikon or Canon you buy nowadays, at any price point... and like anything, it's the eye behind the equipment that makes the difference

can I share with you a shot I took with my D40 last week..? it was one of those "stop the car, I need to take a pic!!" moments

561456964_225581bf20_b.jpg
 
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I dunno where the idea that the D40's high ISO performance was bad came from, everything I've read (and discovered through using my own D40) indicates its high ISO performance is one of its stronger points...

Nikon VS Canon in General. Canon cameras have some of the best high ISO performance out there in consumer/prosumer land vs the other brands. There was a comparison of a D2x and a 1D...there was a noticable difference there.
 
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Nikon VS Canon in General. Canon cameras have some of the best high ISO performance out there in consumer/prosumer land vs the other brands. There was a comparison of a D2x and a 1D...there was a noticable difference there.

Those two are pretty much pro cameras.

Just remember XMARLTONX that whichever brand you buy you'll also be investing in a lens system. A 400D is a solid dslr for the price as is the D40x. At the end of the day it's the camera that's suitable for you. Go into a shop and try them out you'll get a much better idea.
 
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I picked up a Canon S3 IS last year, and I've been able to pull off some excellent shots with it now that I've tasked myself with manipulating the manual mode and learning the craft of photography. The S3 is often considered one of, if not the top prosumer, fixed lens DSLR's on the market. However, as one poster noted here... It's more often the eye behind the equipment that yields the results.
 
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Nikon VS Canon in General.

The problem with general statements is they are incorrect, your comparing apples to oranges when going from the pro level camera's too the consumer level cameras.

Canon cameras have some of the best high ISO performance out there in consumer/prosumer land vs the other brands. There was a comparison of a D2x and a 1D...there was a noticable difference there.


The full frame Canon cameras do outperform Nikon in high ISO. The non-pro (The 5D not included in this) canon cameras are no different, read no better at high ISO performance.

I have a D2x and have had some raw files given too me from the full frame canon cameras...there is a big difference having all that extra room (bigger sensor size) to place pixels in and it shows.
 
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Those two are pretty much pro cameras.

Just remember XMARLTONX that whichever brand you buy you'll also be investing in a lens system. A 400D is a solid dslr for the price as is the D40x. At the end of the day it's the camera that's suitable for you. Go into a shop and try them out you'll get a much better idea.

The problem with general statements is they are incorrect, your comparing apples to oranges when going from the pro level camera's too the consumer level cameras.




The full frame Canon cameras do outperform Nikon in high ISO. The non-pro (The 5D not included in this) canon cameras are no different, read no better at high ISO performance.

I have a D2x and have had some raw files given too me from the full frame canon cameras...there is a big difference having all that extra room (bigger sensor size) to place pixels in and it shows.

Hmmm....so this is an unfair comparison? Canon XTI vs. Nikon D200. Shouldn't the D200 have the advantage here?

http://www.pbase.com/kimknapp/canon_vs_nikon
 
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Thats not what we said. You brought up the full frame (5D and 1D series cameras) not the xti.

The Xti or for that matter any of the other 1.6x crop sensor canons do not outperform the nikon consumer DSLR's for high ISO performance. If your shooting JPEG, it will depend on the cameras noise reduction in camera...some models may be more effective in noise reduction in camera however if your shooting raw they all suffer from the same physical flaw of cramming too many pixels on the sensor to not have high ISO issues.

Some DSLR's allow (when shooting JPEG) the photographer to choose a level of noise reduction and others do not. Have one of the D40 shooters here post an image taken at ISO 800 or 1600 and someone eith an xti do the same. Problem is you will have no idea if the JPEG has been altered with photoshop or what the in camera settings were without full EXIF information, ideally the shopper would get to take side by side shots in both JPEG and RAW with the different in camera options available and look for themselves too see what the camera produces.

For me, true statement would be that "Pro Canon DSLR's out perform other 35mm DSLR's for high ISO performance"

Another true statement would be "Canon and Nikon consumer DSLR's have similar high ISO performance"

That is from my experience looking at RAW and JPEG images (Full size) from various Canon and Nikon models. I have not had the opportunity to see the Fuji S5 raw or jpegs other than shots others have posted on the web.
 
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Thats not what we said. You brought up the full frame (5D and 1D series cameras) not the xti.

The Xti or for that matter any of the other 1.6x crop sensor canons do not outperform the nikon consumer DSLR's for high ISO performance. If your shooting JPEG, it will depend on the cameras noise reduction in camera...some models may be more effective in noise reduction in camera however if your shooting raw they all suffer from the same physical flaw of cramming too many pixels on the sensor to not have high ISO issues.

Some DSLR's allow (when shooting JPEG) the photographer to choose a level of noise reduction and others do not. Have one of the D40 shooters here post an image taken at ISO 800 or 1600 and someone eith an xti do the same. Problem is you will have no idea if the JPEG has been altered with photoshop or what the in camera settings were without full EXIF information, ideally the shopper would get to take side by side shots in both JPEG and RAW with the different in camera options available and look for themselves too see what the camera produces.

For me, true statement would be that "Pro Canon DSLR's out perform other 35mm DSLR's for high ISO performance"

Another true statement would be "Canon and Nikon consumer DSLR's have similar high ISO performance"

That is from my experience looking at RAW and JPEG images (Full size) from various Canon and Nikon models. I have not had the opportunity to see the Fuji S5 raw or jpegs other than shots others have posted on the web.

OK, here's one from DPreview. They're a pretty fair source as far as photography info goes. 5d VS D2x VS D200. The Canon 20D wasn't included per their reviewers as "its noise level / reduction effect is as good as identical to the EOS 5D."

I really has to do with quality of CCD VS CMOS. If Nikon made their own sensors, they could probably get as good of a high ISO performing camera as they want. Right now, they're limited to Sony's technology. High ISO, being above 800...some even considering it at 800.
 
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I dunno how helpful to the original poster this thread'll be if we get too bogged down in a discussion about high ISO performance & all that stuff, but anyway...

here's a Flickr set of 5 pics, taken on the D40 at 200, 400, 800, 1600 & 3200... I've converted them from raw to jpg in Lightroom with the minimum compression... it's not ideal but at least they give a flavour of the type of image noise the D40 sensor introduces at high ISO's
 
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I dunno how helpful to the original poster this thread'll be if we get too bogged down in a discussion about high ISO performance & all that stuff, but anyway...

Bingo.

Always makes me laugh when you see shots of brick walls and mtf charts.
 
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I dunno how helpful to the original poster this thread'll be if we get too bogged down in a discussion about high ISO performance & all that stuff, but anyway...

here's a Flickr set of 5 pics, taken on the D40 at 200, 400, 800, 1600 & 3200... I've converted them from raw to jpg in Lightroom with the minimum compression... it's not ideal but at least they give a flavour of the type of image noise the D40 sensor introduces at high ISO's

Bingo.

Always makes me laugh when you see shots of brick walls and mtf charts.

I don't know if it's all about responding to the op as it is to stopping misinformation when a thread gets to a certain point. Some one saying that Nikons don't have poorer ISO performance when theres proof is kind of directing people that don't know any better in the wrong direction. Canons are known for having really good high ISO performance.
 

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