Buying a Digital SLR

[PaTnDrew]

Hi i'm a newbie, thinking of buying a digital SLR cam, but am new to photography, need some advice....
budget about 1000 to 2000k
Thanks

[eow]

2000k?
2 k u mean?
Any brand is fine within that budget of yr, except pls siam those 太监,阉 割机,

[skopio]

we have excellent guides just above your post from sulhan and zoosh. please read them. you will find them immensely useful.

[Rashkae]

Originally Posted by PaTnDrew Hi i'm a newbie, thinking of buying a digital SLR cam, but am new to photography, need some advice.... budget about 1000 to 2000k Thanks

There is sufficient information on here on the pros and cons of all systems.

This is what I suggest:
1. Browse the camera stores and try the Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Pentax DSLRs in your price range. DO NOT let yourself be swayed by the sales people.

2. For each camera, try to feel which one feels the most comfortable, which one you could figure out on the spot and seemed to work just right for you.

3. Once you have your shortlist, google for reviews on those specific cameras and evaluate the pros and cons

4. Buy the one your instinct tells you is right for you.

[bomby929]

Originally Posted by Rashkae There is sufficient information on here on the pros and cons of all systems. This is what I suggest: 1. Browse the camera stores and try the Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Pentax DSLRs in your price range. DO NOT let yourself be swayed by the sales people. 2. For each camera, try to feel which one feels the most comfortable, which one you could figure out on the spot and seemed to work just right for you. 3. Once you have your shortlist, google for reviews on those specific cameras and evaluate the pros and cons 4. Buy the one your instinct tells you is right for you.

Do your homework... then narrow down to what you want.. go to shop to try... and decide.

Ultimately it is u who will be spending $$ and u using the camera.. not any reviewer or sales person.

[PaTnDrew]

Thanks for the advice.... to be frank, after much reading, i still dont quite get it...
too many terms....
ok will head down to a shop tomorrow.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by PaTnDrew Thanks for the advice.... to be frank, after much reading, i still dont quite get it... too many terms.... ok will head down to a shop tomorrow.

if you want to get the most out of photography and your purchase and actually KNOW what you are getting, what you are doing, get acquainted by at least basic technical terms. also understanding what every review is saying is of utmost importance.

if not, be prepared to be smoke bombed by salesmen who do not know what they are doing, or end up being one of those wanna-be-spoonfedders who end up crying foul when they buy a d40x or d60 and cannot use half the lens available in the nikon range.

also, if you equate buying a dslr to getting "better pictures".. then i guess you might be in for a huge surprise. money can buy a lot of things.. unfortunately, it can only do so much for the "better pictures" aspect of life.

[blive]

Originally Posted by PaTnDrew Thanks for the advice.... to be frank, after much reading, i still dont quite get it... too many terms.... ok will head down to a shop tomorrow.

If you still don't understand, ask....

[PaTnDrew]

Originally Posted by night86mare if you want to get the most out of photography and your purchase and actually KNOW what you are getting, what you are doing, get acquainted by at least basic technical terms. also understanding what every review is saying is of utmost importance. if not, be prepared to be smoke bombed by salesmen who do not know what they are doing, or end up being one of those wanna-be-spoonfedders who end up crying foul when they buy a d40x or d60 and cannot use half the lens available in the nikon range. also, if you equate buying a dslr to getting "better pictures".. then i guess you might be in for a huge surprise. money can buy a lot of things.. unfortunately, it can only do so much for the "better pictures" aspect of life.

Thought getting D60 as a starter kit for me.... but seems having quite a bit of limitation.
besides that what can i consider? Is Nikon a better choice?

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by PaTnDrew Thought getting D60 as a starter kit for me.... but seems having quite a bit of limitation. besides that what can i consider? Is Nikon a better choice?

your budget is so wide, can get a lot of body with kit.

you want a list from the top of my head?

pentax k100d super
k200d
k20d

olympus e410
e510
e420

sony a200
a350

canon 400d
450d

nikon d40
d40x
d60
d80

and all these are current models, want second hand got even more choice.

my advice is to have some idea, READ dpreview and imaging resource (google them for it).

then when you have a better idea of what you want, come back again to clarify the remaining points of doubt; the camera is yours, you have to like it. asking people what to buy here is only going to result in people throwing what THEY HAVE BOUGHT here. they are maximising their own utility by forcing their choice onto you. why accept another's choice as your own so easily - when you go hawker centre to eat, you don't go around asking every table what is good, do you?

all the choices here are going to give you good pictures IF you learn good technique, practise good composition.

but they have their pros and cons as a system, as a body stand-alone. if you do not even know what these are, don't expect anyone here to spoonfeed you everything. well, maybe some here will, but i vehemently refuse to do that.

[PaTnDrew]

My boyfriend and I are not really into photography, but we do travel a lot, would like to get a camera that can capture good and sharp images. Realised our compact digital cam can't do much. Picture are not sharp and colours not brillant. Is it skill or camera?

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by PaTnDrew My boyfriend and I are not really into photography, but we do travel a lot, would like to get a camera that can capture good and sharp images. Realised our compact digital cam can't do much. Picture are not sharp and colours not brillant. Is it skill or camera?

what is your camera model?

[blive]

Originally Posted by PaTnDrew My boyfriend and I are not really into photography, but we do travel a lot, would like to get a camera that can capture good and sharp images. Realised our compact digital cam can't do much. Picture are not sharp and colours not brillant. Is it skill or camera?

Sigh...I love photography because I love travelling. I want to capture the images in my travel.

Besides the model, could you post some pictures that you think is not good. It might be easier to understand why picture not sharp and colours not brilliant.

Besides, if you are not interested in photography, then getting a DSLR will not help you. As Night86mare said, you will be disappointed.

[ArcticFox]

It really depends... what range of camera you want.Such as entry level or higher end ones?

And remember to save some money on lenses.

[PaTnDrew]

[quote=blive;4016937]Sigh...I love photography because I love travelling. I want to capture the images in my travel.

That's what i thought too!

ok.... I'm using Canon IXY 600

by the way how to insert a image?

[night86mare]

use

[_img]insert image url[_/img]

remove the underscores above

[night86mare]

well i'm not sure what a ixus 600 is, there's only ixus 60 or sd600

if it is indeed that, here are some good ones that i found on flickr.

link 1
link 2
link 3
link 4
link 5
link 6
link 7


the point here i'm trying to make is that it isn't just the camera, or the user. it's a bit of both. you CAN get good pictures with a compact, but a compact is limited to.

similarly, of course, with a dslr doesn't mean you will get good pictures even though you are less limited.

of course, the best combo is still good user + good camera.

[bEnd1ck]

[quote=PaTnDrew;4016975]

Originally Posted by blive Sigh...I love photography because I love travelling. I want to capture the images in my travel. That's what i thought too! ok.... I'm using Canon IXY 600 by the way how to insert a image?

Your love for photography must outweigh the fact that a DSLR is more cumbersome to carry around. Otherwise, you'll soon leave it at home most of the time. I'm saying this at the risk of being flamed here , because most people here love photography.

[Simon_84]

save your money for more overseas trip and get a low noise pro-consumer with image stabilizer instead.
no point buying a dslr if you dont know how to take care...later due to dust in viewfinder
in the current market, S100FS looks decent but wait a few months 1st for the prize to drop after the up-coming june IT show.
can double up as a video cam some more...
or you could go for a even cheaper FZ18 but keep the ISO values at 100 all the time to reduce shadow noise in the pics.

[PaTnDrew]

what about a EOS450?
I'm quite willing to learn...