whats the best professional digital camera thats under 800$?

Question

like the one with the best featurs,quality,sharpness. the one that has the most profecional qualities. UNDER 800$!

Answer 1

Here is a VERY good camera!

You should get the PENTAX Optio W30. It has TONS of features, VERY good picture quality, its sleek & stylish. And to add to all that, its waterproof! You can see the camera here: http://www.pentaximaging.com/products/product_details/digital_camera--Optio_W30/reqID--9587364/subsection--optio
I have had the PENTAX Optio W10 (a slighty older version) for a few years now and I absolutely LOVE it!

Answer 2

Check the review of the PENTAX K10D in the August 2007 issue of Shutterbug Magazine. Its also available on-line at shutterbug.com. This is a 10 megapixel camera with Image Stabilization built into the body. It also accepts all PENTAX K-mount lenses, although they will have to be manually focused. The price when tested was a little higher than your budget but it should be lower now, especially if you shop carefully.

NOTE: When buying any new camera, especially on-line, always ask this question: "Does this camera have a USA warranty?" If the seller responds with "It has a full manufacturer's warranty." go to the next seller. This will help you avoid "gray market" cameras. A "gray market" camera is one purchased in Taiwan or Hong Kong or Singapore or anywhere that its cheaper than buying from the USA importer. The warranty is only good in the country of purchase so if you buy a "gray market" Nikon or Canon or any other brand their USA repair centers will not touch it.

Answer 3

Your budget pretty much determines what you can buy. You will have to be content with getting your foot in the door with an entry level DSLR that you can buy better lenses for later. As Antoni said, the sharpness comes from the lenses more than the camera itself. My favorite lenses alone exceed your budget. Look into a Nikon D40. The Canon Rebel XT is in your price range, but the D40 seems to me to give sharper images, even though it has fewer pixels.

Here's my stock D40 recommendation:

The Nikon D40 is a great little camera, very easy to use and quite reasonably priced. It has a few "consumer friendly" totally automatic modes that make it very easy to use - including a "Child Photo" mode - but still offers total photographic control when you are ready to take charge. It will get you in the Nikon family which is a great place to be. If you buy accessories and lenses, you will be able to use everything on any Nikon that you might upgrade to later on.

Check out Nikon's "Picturetown" promotion, where they handed out 200 D40's in Georgetown, SC. http://www.stunningnikon.com/picturetown/

Here are a few reviews, in case you have not read them yet. Be sure to note that they are several pages long and some of the reviews also have some sample images that you can look at.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/nikon_d40.html
http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3756/camera-test-nikon-d40.html
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/d40-recommendations.htm

I hate to see people slam the camera because it can't autofocus with older Nikon lenses. It is true that there is a "slight problem" with older Nikon lenses not autofocusing on the D40, but if you do not own a bag full of older lenses, it is not going to be a problem. It is barely a problem anyhow. If you check www.nikonusa.com for "AF-S" lenses, which are ALL 100% compatible with the D40, you will find 23 lenses, including 7 "VR" (vibration Reduction) lenses and one true macro lens with "VR". There are another 25-plus lenses in the current catalog that provide all functions except autofocus as well as many (possibly dozens) "out of print" lenses that will work just as well. In addition, although these lens will not autofocus, most of them will still give focus confirmation. From the D40 manual: "If the lens has a maximum aperture of f/5.6 of faster, the viewfinder focus indicator can be used to confirm whether the portion of the subject in the selected focus area is in focus. After positioning the subject in the active focus area, press the shutter release button halfway and rotate the lens focusing ring until the in-focus indicator is displayed." (See http://www.members.aol.com/swf08302/nikonafs.txt for a list of AF-S lenses or see http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=16715&forum=DCForumID201 for even more...)

The D40 only has 3 autofocus zones arranged horizontally at the center, 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. This might be considered a limitation, but realistically, most people will find this perfectly adequate, especially if you are moving up from a point and shoot with only a center zone.

There is no "Status LCD" on top of the camera, but Nikon chose to use the rear LCD for this information. This is actually a nice move, as the display is bigger than the top display and you aren't using the read LCD for anything BEFORE you take the picture anyway. This is not a step backwards and it actually makes sense to me.

You can get the D40 with the 18-55 kit lens at B&H Photo available through Yahoo! Shopping or at 1-800-622-4987) for $525 (June 2007). Add a Lexar Platinum (60X speed) card for $25 or 2 GB for $35. Or - get the D40 with 18-135 lens and 1 GB Lexar card for $750. This is a decent lens and it is very versatile. You will find it suitable for pretty much anything you want to do, other than really long telephoto shots. It will let you explore the range of focal lengths to decide where to start filling in your lens collection. If you don't want to buy any more lenses, this one will carry you through pretty much everything. B&H also have used D40's with the lens from $475.

Answer 4

a nikon or canon DSLR are what most pros use

sharpness is about the lens quality, so spend on the lens, the body doesnt really matter unless you need alot of speed

a

Answer 5

go for the D40. if you are coming from a point-and-shoot camera the D40 is a nice intro to the DSLR world. i was able to teach my friends the fundamentals of DSLR's using this particular camera.

Answer 6

The canon powershot series is pretty good