Whats the best SLR digital camera in the market. My budget is 1,500 or less. Its only for personal use?

Answer 1

You might want to consider going with a consumer grade DSLR instead of the 30D or so. Consider Nikon D40, D40X, Canon 400D and the Pentax K100D. Then you might be able to go with a decent, easy to learn body while using fast high quality lenses, instead of paying 1000$ in a body and getting standard lenses.

Also check this site for information www.dpreview.com. The best source for reviews on the Net.

A good combo might be for example Nikon D40 for 380$, Nikon 18-135 lens for 400$, Nikon 70-300 VR for 530$, Nikon 50 for 120$ and card, tripod and bag for the rest. With this you'd have a good body (that you could easily replace later) and a high quality zoom lens for everyday, a stabilized HQ telephoto zoom and a cheap prime with the quality and speed of 1000$ lenses.

Answer 2

The best is a matter of personal preference to everyone. It's like saying which is the best car under $20000. Is there one or is there a group of good cars in that price range?

Many would say to look only at Canon or Nikon. But I suggest you don't overlook the other brands. They have some very good quality and highly recommended cameras that you should seriously consider. It's not as wide a margin between the Canons and Nikons to these brands as many would make you think. It's the same with automobiles. There's good ones from all companies and it's a matter of personal preference.

Do yourself a favor and research or go to the store and try these cameras below. They are what I consider the "best"cameras in that price range.

Pentax K10D / K100D
Olympus 330 / 500
Sony Alpha 100
Fujifilm S3 Pro
Nikon D40 / D80
Canon Rebel XTi / 30D

Answer 3

My preference is for the Pentax K10D and the K100D, although the previously mentioned Nikon and Canon models are fine.

The thing you really need to remember is that an average camera with a great lens will take better pictures than a great camera with an average lens. The reason being that most camera models don't increase in quality that often, rather they increase in features. A megapixel increase is a feature increase, not a quality increase.

My suggestion is to figure out the features you want and buy the camera that meets them. Then, spend the rest of your budget on 1-3 good lenses. If you spend all your money on a good camera, you'll be left with only enough to buy low-grade lenses which will affect your pictures.

Answer 4

For your money, best value would go with Nikon D80, D200 or Canon 30D. They have the best noise levels and image quality.

A slight bias would go towards D80 (given that your camera will be for personal use) as you the price goes around $900-$1000 so you'll be able to use the extra cash to buy a really good lens kit, a macro/wide angle and a long telephoto.

Another good contester would be the Pentax K10D, which has some good value too, with good image stabilization built-in and body that can withstand dust and water.

Answer 5

I think it really depends on your camera expertiese on what you should get... The "top" of the line camera at this time may not fit your personal needs? You may need to ask yourself "What type of photos do I want to take?" (standard pictures, business/hobby,posters?" "How much do you know about camera's?", "Do you want a camera with a lot of accessories?", "Do you want a camera with lots of bells and whistle's?" Having said that, I do agree with the statement of going for the finer optics. I like NIkon-even though over the past 10 years or so they've gone (a little ) downhill with their quality. IE. plastic lens mounts, made in malaysia. However they still use "good glass". So, even with a budget of $ 1,500 you can get a camera that's good for you... Spend wisely..Good luck

Answer 6

The February 2007 issue of Popular Photography has an article where they compared the top 10 MP DSLR's. I took the scores and ranked the cameras similar to the way Formula 1 gives championship points. I just gave 5 for 1st place down to 1 for last place, splitting the difference when cameras tied in their catagories.

They evaluated Image Quality (giving this twice as much weight as anything else), Ease of Use, Control, and System Flexibility.

The final order and my scores are:

Nikon D80 - 17.5 points
- BEST in Image Quality, Control and System Flexibility
Canon Rebel XTi (400D) - 13.5 points
- Tied for best in System Flexibility
Pentax K10D - 11 points
- Tied for best in Ease of Use
Samsung GX10 - 11 points
- Tied for best in Ease of Use
Sony Alpha 100 - 7 points
- LAST in Image Quality, Ease of Use and System Flexibility."

Then again, this is the same magazine that put the Sony Alpha 100 dead last in this comparison named it the camera of the year in the previous issue! (In a follow-up to this seeming error, Pop Photo published the explanation that only the D80 and the Sony had been tested by the end-of-year deadline for choosing the Camera of the Year. Sony won on the strength of low price and built-in image stabilization. The other 3 that beat Sony in shoot-out were not tested until after the Camera of the Year was selected, because they were not yet available.)

Go to the original question and read the responses for more opinions.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiG00eHyd0oq5b.X7J.jiULzy6IX?qid=20070113133139AAHWJY0

If you want to get the "best" for the real world, consider the Nikon D200 or Canon 30D if you can afford it. For about $300-500 less, look at the results of the recent PopPhoto test and choose from that list according to your taste.

Personally, I use a Nikon D200 and would recommend it without hesitation to someone who has some knowledge of photography. For someone who wants the "best," but is starting with somewhat of an "entry level" knowledge base, I'd suggest the Nikon D80.

There are people out there who will state their preference for the Canon cameras and I will not argue with them. The Canon 30D and 400D are excellent cameras as well.

You would have to visit a camera store or camera department and pick them up and see what you think.

This review is now available online at:

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3569/10mp-dslr-shootout.html

Here's another reference from outside the photographic press. Consumer reports compared the Nikon D80, Canon Rebel XTi and Sony Alpha. Personally, I'd say that the Nikon came out on top here, also. It beats the Sony in "noise-free ISO" with an acceptable rating at ISO 1600 (kind of optimistic, I think...) compared to the Sony's ISO 400. It beats the Canon (in my opinion) by having a spot meter that the Canon does not offer.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/news-electronics-computers/november-2006/shootout-10-megapixel-digital-slr-cameras-11-06/overview/0611_digital-slr-shoot-out.htm

Here's another comparison of interest:

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Canon-Rebel-XTi-vs-Nikon-D80-vs-Sony-Alpha-A100-Head-to-Head-to-Head-Digital-Camera-Review-.htm
[Note the navigation menu near the top of the review]

The next thing to consider is what lens to start with and where you go from there. If you are new to this, I'd say to just get the "kit" lens, which seems to be the 18-135 lens for the D80, and get started. Once you know where you really want to go with your photography, Nikon has an almost unlimited family of lenses to choose from.

You could do just as well "for personal use" with the Nikon D40, but your budget easily allows this signifigant;y better camera, so I say - go for it!

Answer 7

You just cant ever overcome a bad optics grouping, nothing you could on a computer would ameliorate camera shake on an average camera the only answer can be Carl Zeiss lenses and if you dont mind fitted to a Panasonic camera that has anti Shake technology. It is well within your budget so get me one too. Enjoy

Answer 8

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Answer 9

my suggestion
go to yahoo shopping
digital cameras
digital camera GUIDE
be sure to check titles on the left side
the guide should answer your questions

cnet.com also has some great aritcles