advice needed for purchasing of first DSLR


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xanth78

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Jun 8, 2006
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Batok Hill, Singapore
Hi guys,

advice needed. I'm just wondering is it better to get a body with built in stabiliser, or to get one of the major brands with no stabilier built in, but with a wider range of lenses?

My budget is below 2k, and so far the below three models are what i'm considering:

Olympus E510 (built in stabiliser)
Sony alpha 100 (built in stabiliser)
Nikon D80

The reason i am thinking of getting the olympus is so far from the reviews i've read everything seems to be good, the only thing is it has a crop factor of 2. Also, the only 3rd party lens manufactured for Oly is Sigma, and so certain lenses could be hard to get (as adviced by a salesperson).

For Sony, the only gripe I had was that it seems to be grainy at a lower ISO compared to other similar level DSLRs (also from reviews online).

As for Nikon D80, it is supposedly to be a better body than the other 2. However, buying lenses with stabilisers separately might be expensive...

As I'm new to this I of course hope to dabble in all types of photography, but I am not interested in sports photography. Would most probably use it to take nature/landscape/streetscape, and maybe indoors shots as well. I do not really intend to buy too many lenses too, just trying to pick up photography that's all. Currently using a powershot s5.

I realise that choosing a DSLR actually encompasses the whole system I'll be investing in, and not just the camera itself, thus this doubt. Kindly advice please, especially the Oly users?
 

i made my choice of d40x because of budget (which is the main factor) and my friends whom are using the nikon system too. maybe you may want to consider the latter - if your friends are using nikon system, maybe you would like to get a nikon system too, so that at the very start, you can get to try out the lenses they have, they can teach you how to operate the nikon system, etc etc. will be much easier that way. just my 2 cents.
 

i made my choice of d40x

The D40X requires you to purchase the more expensive AF-S or AF-I lenses to get AF.

The Olympus has a 2X crop factor.

Get a Sony A100 or a D80. LOTS of good deals on these bodies in the Marketplace section these days.
 

sorry you're right, the olympus has a 2x crop factor. that was the reason i'm considering, else i would have gotten it.
 

Olympus DSLR have a crop factor of 2x, not 1.6!
Good for tele users. If you're into wide lenses, Olympus is not for you!

Sony/Nikon crop factor is 1.6x. If for me, I will select Nikon, more lenses choice. Sony is OK, but heard that the lenses are more xpensive than others.

Choice the right one, carefully.... Good luck!
 

Nikon D80 has a 1.5x crop factor.

In-built image stabilizer may make every lens an IS/VR lens, but think also of your intended shooting style, e.g. IS is more significantly useful/evident for longer range, e.g. if you shoot more using the range of 200mm, 300mm.

Apart from the features, lay your hands on those you shortlisted, and have a physical feel of it, including the accessibility of the buttons, etc. You need to be comfortable with the camera too.
 

Choose Nikon. Wider range of lenses compared to sony


The Dark side:devil:
 

TS, the Pentax award winning K10D fits your requirements perfectly.
 

hi creampuff,

yeap i was at the pentax section too. one more model to research into!
not really particular about having a wider range of lenses to choose from, i foresee myself not owning many lenses (i hope).
thus, was looking at the other alternatives besides canon and nikon.
 

hi creampuff,

yeap i was at the pentax section too. one more model to research into!
not really particular about having a wider range of lenses to choose from, i foresee myself not owning many lenses (i hope).
thus, was looking at the other alternatives besides canon and nikon.

Sony/Minolta lenses are very good. As for Anti-shake, it's not true you will "only" need it at long zooms.

In a dark/low=light situation where you want to take a shot with a 20mm, 35mm or 50mm lens, AS will be a godsend. And N&C don't have IS on those lenses.
 

Apart from the features, lay your hands on those you shortlisted, and have a physical feel of it, including the accessibility of the buttons, etc. You need to be comfortable with the camera too.


Yupyup, this is the most important, and what convinced me to get a Sony A100 over a Nikon or Canon. For me, it was the most comfortable and easiest to use. Other people will of course have their own preferences.
 

hi creampuff,

yeap i was at the pentax section too. one more model to research into!
not really particular about having a wider range of lenses to choose from, i foresee myself not owning many lenses (i hope).
thus, was looking at the other alternatives besides canon and nikon.

perhaps u can ask urself wat will u be shooting mostly and wat are ur interests

with that u can see wat lens each brand has to offer thus make the selection of the brand to get

and yesh, there are also third party lens
 

hi all,

thanks for all your inputs. So far have narrowed down to pentax and oly.
Just wondering if the crop factor really matters, coz as someone advised,

"because oly has a crop factor of 2x,it also has lens 11mm-18mm so plus crop factor is 22mm onwards
normally for other brands,crop is 1.5 or 1.6 with 17mm or 18mm also 20+ mm
"

So, effectively oly does not have any disadvantage over the others right?

Just wondering, thanks.
 

hi all,

thanks for all your inputs. So far have narrowed down to pentax and oly.
Just wondering if the crop factor really matters, coz as someone advised,

"because oly has a crop factor of 2x,it also has lens 11mm-18mm so plus crop factor is 22mm onwards
normally for other brands,crop is 1.5 or 1.6 with 17mm or 18mm also 20+ mm
"

So, effectively oly does not have any disadvantage over the others right?

Just wondering, thanks.
got, got disadvantage

especially when it comes to third party lens

for example, third party lens makers do not bother making a new range for olympus, only olympus does it itself

so a sigma 10-20 is 15-30 on 1.5x crop factor
and for olympus 2x crop factor will become 20-40
so i don't think you can obtain any 15mm NON FISHEYE focal length on any lens in the market

for your example you're talking about kit lens only, i presume
for other lenses, then will have problem
 

Can explain more about the what 15mm non fisheye? Don't get what you are saying.
 

Can explain more about the what 15mm non fisheye? Don't get what you are saying.

you see, to get the equivalent of 15mm in terms of 35mm terms
you would need a 7.5-8mm focal length on 4/3 lenses, yes, because of 2x crop factor
eh wait

i went to check out olympus website
they have a 7-14 which would give you 14-28, non fish eye

i thought they only had 8mm fisheye, which is not ultra-wideangle, but rather, fisheye, i.e. extreme distortion

i would use a uwa, but not a fisheye

but still, it applies, you cannot get any third party lens which will give you a non-fisheye 15mm, i suppose, at least not to my knowledge
 

Why won't you get a third-party lens of a non-fisheye 15mm? Is it because of the 4/3s or currently there is no such lens?

FYI, Olympus would be releasing a 8-16mm (approx) standard uwa in 2008, which I believe wouldn't be too costly. :)
 

got, got disadvantage

especially when it comes to third party lens

for example, third party lens makers do not bother making a new range for olympus, only olympus does it itself

so a sigma 10-20 is 15-30 on 1.5x crop factor
and for olympus 2x crop factor will become 20-40
so i don't think you can obtain any 15mm NON FISHEYE focal length on any lens in the market

for your example you're talking about kit lens only, i presume
for other lenses, then will have problem

ok i think i know what you mean, thanks.
so oly is limited by the availability of the third party wide angle lenses only? As in it won't be able to get the widest possible angle as other brands can?

So if i can tahan without having the best 'wide angle' lens there'll be no difference in the crop factor?

Sorry if i sound confusing, trying to reason things out myself
 

Why won't you get a third-party lens of a non-fisheye 15mm? Is it because of the 4/3s or currently there is no such lens?

FYI, Olympus would be releasing a 8-16mm (approx) standard uwa in 2008, which I believe wouldn't be too costly. :)

because of crop factor
15mm in 35mm film terms, bleh

not just 15mm before crop
 

ok i think i know what you mean, thanks.
so oly is limited by the availability of the third party wide angle lenses only? As in it won't be able to get the widest possible angle as other brands can?

So if i can tahan without having the best 'wide angle' lens there'll be no difference in the crop factor?

Sorry if i sound confusing, trying to reason things out myself

yep, something like that

personally i find that in singapore you will need wider than usual, there is a lot of "crampedness" if you wish to take buildings, etc, so the wider the better

of course for other stuff like traditional seascapery style pictures, i.e. foreground interest, then background is the sky, then extreme uwa not as required but still useful

that said, oly is a good brand, it just depends on what you want
 

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