Which Canon DSLR and lens should an amateur pick? Please recommend!

[pRoLoS3r]

woah. lol.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: that was really hefty for me to digest. i will probably have to read up more on them. hmm i was reading abt canon d400's review on some website which i forgot where and what? but they were saying that canon's 18 55 mm lens isnt as fantastic as everyone expected it to be?

hmm is that what you were trying to say your 50mm lens? i didnt get you there. which brand are you talking abt for the 50mm f1.8 !

Both canon and nikon have 50mm F1.8. Both are priced around $180.
Other than tt, If you are getting the D40, I think u cant use the 50mm f1.8.

Since its at 50mm, if you are taking pictures for a group. Eg. 8 ppl side by side..
you may have to start say.. 4-5m away. Tt's its quite far away... and it looks quite foolish to ppl who do not know wat is the contrain. Furthermore, at times, u might be restrained by space.

50mm is a lens with a fixed focal length.. means u have to move urself instead of the lens.
It requires some discipline in a sense.

Hope this explains.

 

[pRoLoS3r]

and it's our trusty zac to the rescue again! hmmm. zac! what are prime lens used for? if i get the 18 70mm lens do i still need a prime lens?

Not neccessary.

50mm F1.8 is just a cheap but great lens. Very value for money. Tt's why ppl advise u to get it.
Its price is able to be kept low because it requires lesser elements as compared to others.

 

[zac08]

and it's our trusty zac to the rescue again! hmmm. zac! what are prime lens used for? if i get the 18 70mm lens do i still need a prime lens?

Prime lenses are known for their image quality when compared to zooms. But these days, some of the high end zooms does not lose out to the image quality of the primes. But then again, you're paying premium for those types of zooms, the 17-35mm f2.8, 28-70 f2.8 comes to mind.

If you get the 18-70, it's f3.5 to f4.5. So you're limited by this maximum aperture stop for this lens, not very good in low light condition. Primes on the other hand can go down to f1.0 (even f0.75) which makes for very good low light photography if you can handle the VERY thin DOF. A normal one would be the 50 f1.8. But in the DX context, it's about 75mm in the 35mm format view so it's kinda constrictive in terms of composition.

And why do users reccomend one? It's to force you to learn composition skills which is lacking for a lot of users these days. And zooming will be done by your feet. So it's more skill to use.

 

[tucker]

hey Eloera, how bout short session ard the campus after the papers.
Im sure there'll be @ least 1 of e each camera lurking ard us.
that might save you from all e salivation and reviews reading?

 

[thinkvision]

try pentax K10D+DA16-45/4 AL, you will forget canon and nikon....

 

[eloera]

hey Eloera, how bout short session ard the campus after the papers.
Im sure there'll be @ least 1 of e each camera lurking ard us.
that might save you from all e salivation and reviews reading?

hahaha cancan! but i havent got my cam yet! so sad right! sighs.

hmm what cam are you using! and which fac are you from anyway!

 

[eloera]

Prime lenses are known for their image quality when compared to zooms. But these days, some of the high end zooms does not lose out to the image quality of the primes. But then again, you're paying premium for those types of zooms, the 17-35mm f2.8, 28-70 f2.8 comes to mind.

If you get the 18-70, it's f3.5 to f4.5. So you're limited by this maximum aperture stop for this lens, not very good in low light condition. Primes on the other hand can go down to f1.0 (even f0.75) which makes for very good low light photography if you can handle the VERY thin DOF. A normal one would be the 50 f1.8. But in the DX context, it's about 75mm in the 35mm format view so it's kinda constrictive in terms of composition.

And why do users reccomend one? It's to force you to learn composition skills which is lacking for a lot of users these days. And zooming will be done by your feet. So it's more skill to use.

yes mentor zac! so it's like every lens has its trade off. and no one lens can be good and general enough to cover everything or at least most of the focal length and aperture constraints?


so i shldnt get the d70 18 70mm lens anymore? but i want to learn abt composition and all that other skills without compromising the types of photos i want to take ,noe!

so how . like that how. for now 28 70 mm wld be good?

 

[ReiszRie]

Wise choice to steer clear of the Nikon D40...
D50 and D70 are not too bad.

Why Canon then? Both companies make different advancements. DO read DPreciew forums to get a feel of how the rest of the world feels about DSLR. Nikon has a strong following in Spore. Canon is strong in photojounalism and sports. Nikon's wides are good. At this point in time, Nikon is also catching up in terms of noise reduction. Build quality goes to Nikon for entry point cameras. In terms of flash technology, Nikon's are less complicated whereas Canon's TTL2 needs some reading up to get it to perform consistently.

Contrary to ReiszRie comments on Canon's DIGIC processors, these are known to be fast and good in processing images. At neutral settings for sharpen and saturation, Canon colors are known to be natural and leased processsed and are not overlysharpened. You'd probably have to read widely to see this.

No flame wars intended, I just state it as it is.

very subjective i would say as its common consensus that Canon uses a higher sharpening in their camera as compared to Nikon

Canon is more used for sports reportage and wildlife whilst Nikon is more widely used for general photojournalism based on statistics in 2005

just stating as it is as well

 

[ReiszRie]

to a certain extent, i kind of think that CS is not a good place to seek for advice for which dSLR to get as opinions vary greatly and i can't say any of them is absolutely right or wrong either lols, it actually adds to the confusion of one ^^

 

[eloera]

to a certain extent, i kind of think that CS is not a good place to seek for advice for which dSLR to get as opinions vary greatly and i can't say any of them is absolutely right or wrong either lols, it actually adds to the confusion of one ^^

then where can i find the greatgreat grand master of dslrs!

ahahaha

 

[ljqing]

Hmmm Eloera,

I have actually the same problem as you when I started out few weeks ago.

When I decided to buy a Dslr, I went on and read reviews after reviews after reviews, as a matter of fact it did not help much, it only made deciding on a camera harder....

What I would suggest is that you go down to any camera shop and have a feel what the camera feels like in your hands, just pick the one that you feel more comfortable with. (Like the grip of the camera, it's looks etc, whatever you prefer)
Doesnt matter whether its nikon or canon, reading thousands of reviews or going through countless of debates will never ever resolve which brand is better.Both can take pictures fine.

And for the lens issue, pick one that is within your budget, the 28-70(Canon) you're talking about costs more than 2000, and the 18-70 is probably around few hundred. Just get one that is within your budget and start shooting, after you get better and when your wallet recovers, you can start looking around for another lens.

Hope this helps much!

 

[eloera]

Hmmm Eloera,

I have actually the same problem as you when I started out few weeks ago.

When I decided to buy a Dslr, I went on and read reviews after reviews after reviews, as a matter of fact it did not help much, it only made deciding on a camera harder....

What I would suggest is that you go down to any camera shop and have a feel what the camera feels like in your hands, just pick the one that you feel more comfortable with. (Like the grip of the camera, it's looks etc, whatever you prefer)
Doesnt matter whether its nikon or canon, reading thousands of reviews or going through countless of debates will never ever resolve which brand is better.Both can take pictures fine.

And for the lens issue, pick one that is within your budget, the 28-70(Canon) you're talking about costs more than 2000, and the 18-70 is probably around few hundred. Just get one that is within your budget and start shooting, after you get better and when your wallet recovers, you can start looking around for another lens.

Hope this helps much!

lol. thank you missus! lol. yeah i guesss that's what i will do?but i dont know it's like girls are alittle more fickle? in that sense and esp when i am such a noob, decision making becomes so much worse.

yeah i will probably go to the shop and get a feel of things first. but you know it's like i want to have a rough idea of all the lens first?
it's like hahah i dont want to buy a bicycle to only try to fix a bmw tyre or something?or buy a mercedes benz and fix on a bicycle tyre.;p

i think i want to weigh the pros and cons of the different lens offered by nikon and canon before really deciding on the body? i hope it's right of me to decide a cam based on this criteria?

and my other factors will inclde:
1. price of lens and body
2. variety of lens
3. functionality of lens ====> i wld love to have one that's capable of shooting most types of photos,whether it's landscape, low lighting, still life, or hmm others.


for now. i am settling on d50 with d70 lens. till i get more advice or something from the more experienced photographers here.:bigeyes:

 

[ReiszRie]

then where can i find the greatgreat grand master of dslrs!

ahahaha

within yourself

 

[ReiszRie]

lol. thank you missus! lol. yeah i guesss that's what i will do?but i dont know it's like girls are alittle more fickle? in that sense and esp when i am such a noob, decision making becomes so much worse.

yeah i will probably go to the shop and get a feel of things first. but you know it's like i want to have a rough idea of all the lens first?
it's like hahah i dont want to buy a bicycle to only try to fix a bmw tyre or something?or buy a mercedes benz and fix on a bicycle tyre.;p

i think i want to weigh the pros and cons of the different lens offered by nikon and canon before really deciding on the body? i hope it's right of me to decide a cam based on this criteria?

and my other factors will inclde:
1. price of lens and body
2. variety of lens
3. functionality of lens ====> i wld love to have one that's capable of shooting most types of photos,whether it's landscape, low lighting, still life, or hmm others.


for now. i am settling on d50 with d70 lens. till i get more advice or something from the more experienced photographers here.:bigeyes:

from what i've learnt,

Nikon & Canon has both an extensive range of lenses, but on average, one only needs around 3 lenses for years upon years

there is no lens that has functionality for all types of photography, there are compromises to be made...

i prefer Nikon's strategy as they're committed to produce high quality lenses throughout their range without requiring any branding to distinguish low-quality lens and high quality lens, and Nikon lenses are known for their sharpness in wide angle lenses...

the best advice would come from yourself, everyone sees things differently, same goes to the type of photography, therefore you would not be able to get a perfect advice which suits you perfectly as the one who knows you best is yourself.

 

[Zplus]

very subjective i would say as its common consensus that Canon uses a higher sharpening in their camera as compared to Nikon

Canon is more used for sports reportage and wildlife whilst Nikon is more widely used for general photojournalism based on statistics in 2005

just stating as it is as well

Hahahaa...ok.. I dont have the stats to back these up...
But yeah, both systems are pretty good and she can't really go wrong with either really. Just need to learn the feature set and work around them.

Tucker's suggestion is good. Hands on feel is the best way to go.

 

[blurrblurr]

lol. thank you missus! lol. yeah i guesss that's what i will do?but i dont know it's like girls are alittle more fickle? in that sense and esp when i am such a noob, decision making becomes so much worse.

yeah i will probably go to the shop and get a feel of things first. but you know it's like i want to have a rough idea of all the lens first?
it's like hahah i dont want to buy a bicycle to only try to fix a bmw tyre or something?or buy a mercedes benz and fix on a bicycle tyre.;p

i think i want to weigh the pros and cons of the different lens offered by nikon and canon before really deciding on the body? i hope it's right of me to decide a cam based on this criteria?

and my other factors will inclde:
1. price of lens and body
2. variety of lens
3. functionality of lens ====> i wld love to have one that's capable of shooting most types of photos,whether it's landscape, low lighting, still life, or hmm others.


for now. i am settling on d50 with d70 lens. till i get more advice or something from the more experienced photographers here.:bigeyes:

Think you shall ask yourself how serious you will get into photography. Your passion is there now but will it last in few years down the road?

If you wanna try out on DSLR and not sure if is right to get one, I would recommend you to get a 2nd hand d70 or d50 with a decent lens. Give yourself a period to get use of DSLR, know the limitation of the camera, buy accessories for your camera, at the same time save up for body upgrade. Say half to a year later, ask yourself again are you getting serious on photography. If by then your passion is still there, sell your 2nd D70 away and upgrade to a new D200.
Brand wise Nikon Canon are still camera. No such thing as good camera. They each have their own limitation and nothing is perfect. Buy one that goes with your heart. How well your picture turns out dun depends on brand of camera. Digital photo depends on photoshop :bsmilie:

 

[Stoned]

Both canon and nikon have 50mm F1.8. Both are priced around $180.

The Canon 50/1.8 is substantially cheaper than the Nikon 50/1.8 at $130. It is also optically poorer.

To the TS:
The answer to your question is really very simple. Essentially, after post-processing, it's very tough to tell which system produced what, assuming you have a desired end result in mind. Furthermore, the differences between systems are not going to be noticable to you at this point and so it's best to just pick up a camera and start shooting. At this point, buying a 1dsmkII or D2X over an old 300d or d70 will not make a difference to your photos. They will be larger in size but you're definitely going to wind up with the same stuff as an end result. No camera available on the market today will screw up your photos, except for lomos, but those that shoot lomos desire that screwed-up effect. No point reading reviews, everything works much better than the best cameras 5-10 years ago.

Essentially, stop thinking about buying so much crap at once; flash, extra lens, battery grip, extra battery, lcd protector, blah blah blah. Just buy a cheap basic body(D50/d70/300D, something like that) and kit lens and add on stuff as you find that "hey, i've found a use for this." Generally, at this point, almost everything else is worthless. Don't ever buy something because people tell you that it's good, or that it's cheap. Buy it when you decide it's good for you.

Equipment only becomes useful when you realise exactly what it can do for you and you have a thorough understanding of it's limitations and operation. Failing this, anything you buy will be just junk.

 

[ReiszRie]

Think you shall ask yourself how serious you will get into photography. Your passion is there now but will it last in few years down the road?

If you wanna try out on DSLR and not sure if is right to get one, I would recommend you to get a 2nd hand d70 or d50 with a decent lens. Give yourself a period to get use of DSLR, know the limitation of the camera, buy accessories for your camera, at the same time save up for body upgrade. Say half to a year later, ask yourself again are you getting serious on photography. If by then your passion is still there, sell your 2nd D70 away and upgrade to a new D200.
Brand wise Nikon Canon are still camera. No such thing as good camera. They each have their own limitation and nothing is perfect. Buy one that goes with your heart. How well your picture turns out dun depends on brand of camera. Digital photo depends on photoshop :bsmilie:

fussy and picky individuals should never get 2nd hand goods xD

 

[zac08]

yes mentor zac! so it's like every lens has its trade off. and no one lens can be good and general enough to cover everything or at least most of the focal length and aperture constraints?


so i shldnt get the d70 18 70mm lens anymore? but i want to learn abt composition and all that other skills without compromising the types of photos i want to take ,noe!

so how . like that how. for now 28 70 mm wld be good?

Correct on your first statement. Looks like you're getting a much clearer picture now. The 18-70 lens is good. But I was thinking that you might like a lil more zoom on the tele side for much easier (read lazier) usage with the 18-135 (price wise, they are just about there) The 18-200VR would be about $1200+ and would definitely be out of your budget.

28-70 is a good lens, but EXPENSIVE (unless you are considering 3rd party lenses) and also note that the 1.5x crop makes it 42-105mm... more for portraits, not walkarounds...

 

[eloera]

Correct on your first statement. Looks like you're getting a much clearer picture now. The 18-70 lens is good. But I was thinking that you might like a lil more zoom on the tele side for much easier (read lazier) usage with the 18-135 (price wise, they are just about there) The 18-200VR would be about $1200+ and would definitely be out of your budget.

28-70 is a good lens, but EXPENSIVE (unless you are considering 3rd party lenses) and also note that the 1.5x crop makes it 42-105mm... more for portraits, not walkarounds...

zac, stoned is right.
i shld just get the bare basics first.
hmm so it will be d50 with either 18 70 lens/18 135 lens then battery /charger.

is sb flash necessary?

sighs.i am all so tired. already. eyes are poppin like popcorns in the sockets.
and i think you peeps are tired too. sorry kaye.

thank you everybody. thank you so much.