[HELP!] What do you look for in a DSLR? [HELP!]


nongey

New Member
Oct 17, 2010
12
0
0
32
Hello, I'm new here and I'm about to get my first DSLR.

I was just wondering, what do you people look for when buying new cameras?
For example, megapixel, full-frame, etc.

PLEASE, I REALLY NEED YOU GUYS'HELP!
 

Price, bcos if it's not within my means how much mp, how big the sensor size will also be useless.

So in the end, it all boils down to personal choice and preferences.
 

Price, bcos if it's not within my means how much mp, how big the sensor size will also be useless.

So in the end, it all boils down to personal choice and preferences.

Let's say we put aside the budget first.

I don't know if MP matters a lot cause, for e.g Canon 60D has 18MP but I've seen reviews saying that they are disappointed with it, etc. And Nikon D300, has only 12.3 MP but I've seen reviews that they're satisfied with it.

So I'm confuse in what to look for.
 

i totally agreed that it boils down to the budget that you are having . . . .
Within your budget, then you identify the camera(s) from each brands that you can afford.
Then you compare the specifications and reviews from the net.
Most importantly, go down to the shop and try it out yourself . . . Funan will be a good place for you to shop in my opinion . . .

Not forgetting other add-ons as well when you get your camera :
1. Dry Cabinet which is strongly advisable from many of us to prevent your camera from fungus etc
2. Simple cleaning kit
3. Tripod
4. Other lens (future add ons)
5. Etc . . .
 

i totally agreed that it boils down to the budget that you are having . . . .
Within your budget, then you identify the camera(s) from each brands that you can afford.
Then you compare the specifications and reviews from the net.
Most importantly, go down to the shop and try it out yourself . . . Funan will be a good place for you to shop in my opinion . . .

Not forgetting other add-ons as well when you get your camera :
1. Dry Cabinet which is strongly advisable from many of us to prevent your camera from fungus etc
2. Simple cleaning kit
3. Tripod
4. Other lens (future add ons)
5. Etc . . .

Oh, thanks! :) So it really doesn't matter how high the MP is or whatever it's made off? For example a Nikon D70 which has only a MP of 6.1. As long as it's within your range of budget, any camera is fine?
 

The features that we are looking for is to match with our need, so to answer your question, you must tell us your shooting interests, if not you can get started with a basic camera, wait until you got a clear direction and then upgrade you equipment.
 

Good ISO performance.

You will really feel the need when in low light condition, you need to freeze motion with a not so fast lens.

But I believed in time to come, ISO performance will be much much better as seen in the D7000.
 

The features that we are looking for is to match with our need, so to answer your question, you must tell us your shooting interests, if not you can get started with a basic camera, wait until you got a clear direction and then upgrade you equipment.

I'm more into landscape kind. I'm not really much into macro, telephoto. I was thinking of the Canon D60, Canon 550D, Nikon D300s, D7000.

Good ISO performance.

You will really feel the need when in low light condition, you need to freeze motion with a not so fast lens.

But I believed in time to come, ISO performance will be much much better as seen in the D7000.

Hmm, I believe Nikon D7000 have yet to arrive in Singapore yet right? But yeah, that's one of my option too, but not too sure of the price though :/
 

For a beginner. the primary consideration should be price and brand.

why brand? simply because different brand offer different specialty... it could be body functionality or lens focal length variety... one must realize that buying a dslr is akin to buying into the entire system.

for the more advance consideration would be ISO and dynamic range etc...
 

Hello, I'm new here and I'm about to get my first DSLR.

I was just wondering, what do you people look for when buying new cameras?
For example, megapixel, full-frame, etc.

PLEASE, I REALLY NEED YOU GUYS'HELP!

DSLR technology is constantly evolving, with new features being added as older ones are updated and refined. What was considered cutting-edge only a few years ago, now comes as standard on all but the most basic models.

There are compromises to be made, especially when manufacturers pitch their products at certain price points. In practice, this means that while some models may sport live view they may not feature the ability to record HD video or an adjustable LCD screen.

For precisely this reason it pays to think about the specific features that will be most beneficial to your photography and to find out which models include them.



Movie mode
Record Hi-Def video with your digital camera, by choosing a camera with a movie mode. Look out for recording time and frame rates, which could affect the ability to record fast moving objects like Canon 5DMkII or D300s.http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/te...mode-explained-hd-video-cameras-on-dslrs.html

Live view
Compose your shots using your LCD screen with the live view feature. This makes it easier to take pictures from tight angles or from the ground, where it might be hard to use the optical viewfinder.http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/techniques/features/guides/472775/live-view-explained.html



High ISO performance
Shooting images in low light conditions can result in loss of detail, colour and intrustve 'noise' appearing in the image. This can be avoided by choosing a camera with good ISO capabilities like Nikon D3s


Dynamic range optimisation
The dynamic range is the spectrum of light that the sensor can capture before the highlights loose detail or the shadow areas become indiscernible. Many cameras have ways of preserving detail in hi-contrast scenes by using various forms of dynamic range optimisation.



Also worth looking out for...

$$$$$
 

DSLR technology is constantly evolving, with new features being added as older ones are updated and refined. What was considered cutting-edge only a few years ago, now comes as standard on all but the most basic models.

There are compromises to be made, especially when manufacturers pitch their products at certain price points. In practice, this means that while some models may sport live view they may not feature the ability to record HD video or an adjustable LCD screen.

For precisely this reason it pays to think about the specific features that will be most beneficial to your photography and to find out which models include them.



Movie mode
Record Hi-Def video with your digital camera, by choosing a camera with a movie mode. Look out for recording time and frame rates, which could affect the ability to record fast moving objects like Canon 5DMkII or D300s.http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/te...mode-explained-hd-video-cameras-on-dslrs.html

Live view
Compose your shots using your LCD screen with the live view feature. This makes it easier to take pictures from tight angles or from the ground, where it might be hard to use the optical viewfinder.http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/techniques/features/guides/472775/live-view-explained.html



High ISO performance
Shooting images in low light conditions can result in loss of detail, colour and intrustve 'noise' appearing in the image. This can be avoided by choosing a camera with good ISO capabilities like Nikon D3s


Dynamic range optimisation
The dynamic range is the spectrum of light that the sensor can capture before the highlights loose detail or the shadow areas become indiscernible. Many cameras have ways of preserving detail in hi-contrast scenes by using various forms of dynamic range optimisation.



Also worth looking out for...

$$$$$

Yes, I need the live view mode. As well as the video mode.

At this point of time, I'm looking for Canon. Preferably Canon D60 or is there any other camera similar to that or has slightly better specs.?

As for Nikon, I'm looking at the D7000, but I believe that it hasn't arrive here yet.
 

Lenses lineup is most impt. The body may change and new features are added with each model eg video etc, but ultimately its the lenses

Second most imp is the size weight and feel of the body and placement of buttons - nikon generally has more compact bodies . And regardless of brand and model the camera body will generally follow the manufacturers design language, so choose the one you are most comfortable with

Everything else is just details and function of price

Good luck
 

Lenses lineup is most impt. The body may change and new features are added with each model eg video etc, but ultimately its the lenses

Second most imp is the size weight and feel of the body and placement of buttons - nikon generally has more compact bodies . And regardless of brand and model the camera body will generally follow the manufacturers design language, so choose the one you are most comfortable with

Everything else is just details and function of price

Good luck

So I have to go to a shop and try out every camera that I've listed, when buying it?
 

So I have to go to a shop and try out every camera that I've listed, when buying it?

well yes.....
why not ??

if you choose to buy on advice and its not what you want or need, who else could you blame ?? :p

everyone's needs are different. that's why there are so many brands and so many specs. one of the forumers night86mare uses a rather uncommon camera model (relatively) but its something he likes and from the pictures it has served him well !

myself i went to the shop to try my eventual buy 5-6 times, and tried 3 other model 2-3 times each .... eventually its your $$, YOU have to decide how to spend it.

advice though, if you dont know what you wan, start low, start simple. it may well be all you need. invest time to reading good books on composition / exposure either from buying or borrowing from library. A nice expensive camera with nice expensive lens with a clueless user still equals to lousy pictures.

cheery !! :)
 

It you are using it for landscape, almost any camera can do the job, in fact a good quality Wide-angle lens and tripod is more important. If the MP is about the same, branding is more like a personal preference.
 

Let's say we put aside the budget first.

I don't know if MP matters a lot cause, for e.g Canon 60D has 18MP but I've seen reviews saying that they are disappointed with it, etc. And Nikon D300, has only 12.3 MP but I've seen reviews that they're satisfied with it.

So I'm confuse in what to look for.

Higher resolution in MP will help if you do intense cropping or print in large prints. Also you need bigger storage cards to hold the photos (more exp storage cards and longer to transfer to PC). RAW will be much much bigger in size (assuming the number of bits of the RAW file is the same).
 

Not sure why this is in the Nikon forum. Especially since you implied you're more interested in Canon.

All the cameras you listed are fine for landscape. It's also interesting that you didn't consider Olympus because Oly cameras give you greater depth of field for the same f number compared to APSC cameras of Nikon, Canon etc, and DOF is something you often seek to maximise in shooting landscape.

Going to shops to try out all the cameras will probably not allow you to judge its performance, but will allow you to see which camera(s) you are more comfortable handling.
 

It you are using it for landscape, almost any camera can do the job, in fact a good quality Wide-angle lens and tripod is more important. If the MP is about the same, branding is more like a personal preference.

Despite having low mp DSLRs such as nikon d70 for instance, if I use a good quality wide-angle lens, I can still achieve beautiful photos?
 

Not sure why this is in the Nikon forum. Especially since you implied you're more interested in Canon.

All the cameras you listed are fine for landscape. It's also interesting that you didn't consider Olympus because Oly cameras give you greater depth of field for the same f number compared to APSC cameras of Nikon, Canon etc, and DOF is something you often seek to maximise in shooting landscape.

Going to shops to try out all the cameras will probably not allow you to judge its performance, but will allow you to see which camera(s) you are more comfortable handling.

Haha sorry, cause initially D7000 was my choice too. But yeah, I think I got to research more on what are my NEEDS first. Thanks! :)
 

Hello, I'm new here and I'm about to get my first DSLR.

I was just wondering, what do you people look for when buying new cameras?
For example, megapixel, full-frame, etc.

PLEASE, I REALLY NEED YOU GUYS'HELP!

if i were you, i would consider these :

a) budget
b) brand - it eventually impacts choice of lenses
c) be less worried about technology -
anything above 8-10 megapixels is more than sufficient, iso (100-1600) is really more than sufficient, they are all motorized bodies nowadays
dslrs today are packed with enuf tech than one will ever totally use and it gets better every year - cant and shd not keep chasing after it
d) weight and grip - you gotta be comfortable holding on to the cam

the cam body is just the beginning, you should also at least give lenses some thoughts first before you even buy that 1st dslr.... whether kit lens will be good enough for you

tripod and others can come a bit later

so, in a gist, you dont have to worry too much about the technology of the equipment, as many will do their job of capturing the images... but you form that image.

if you know you will be serious abt this hobby, then spend more time exploring first before buying anything..

but if you are only experimenting if this can become a lasting hobby...then go for the simpler system first... don't worry, you can always try selling the used system later..
 

Last edited: