What's the best low budget DSLR?

Question

I've narrowed my choices down to 3 (Pentax k100d, Canon digital rebel XT, and Nikon D40), but I was wondering what the lenses ran for each of the models. Do any of them accept lenses from older non-digital SLRs? I probably wont be buying more than 2 or 3 lenses, but I still don't want to pay too much. I also would like one that has good response in low light. I'd like to do some longer exposures

Answer 1

The Nikon D40 is a great little camera, very easy to use and quite reasonably priced. It's just under $500 with a lens. 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. The user manual is among the easiest to use, also, including three pages of "frequently asked questions" that could put Yahoo! Answers out of business.

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 $500 (October 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 $700. 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 2

The Pentax K100D is the best deal.

It has image stabilization built into the camera body, all your lenses that you ever attach to it will act as though they are stabilized.

It has incredible low light performance (popphoto.com) rates it's low light performance as much better than the Canon XT

It has more autofocus points

It accepts all k-mount lenses ever made, (pentax alone has made over 25 million of them). And if the k-mount lens is autofocus it will autofocus on the K100D. With the Nikon you can only autofocus with the new AF-S lenses and they are more expensive.

You can find tons of cheap lenses on e-bay and KEH.com for Pentax.

The Canon will not accept some of the old lenses either since Canon has changed their mount in the past.

With the Pentax, as long as it is a k-mount lens, it will work and it will be image stabilized when you mount it to a K100D.

I can't even see how any of the other 2 could be interpreted as being a better deal.

Oh, and the lenses and other accessories for Pentax are always cheaper than comparable Canon or Nikon stuff.

F-Stop

Answer 3

D40. It's a great inexpensive camera. I would recommend it or the Canon, but in the past I know the Canon's that I've worked with were really awkward and were not easy to change settings on. Whereas with a Nikon, every setting you'd want to change from shot to shot are right at your finger tips. From my experience some of the settings that I change constantly were burried in menus on the Canon.

It's true that older lenses will not autofocus on the D40, but you probably wouldn't want those anyway. AF-S is the newer autofocusing system from Nikon and is much faster than regular AF lenses.

For a novice I'd recommend the Nikon 18-70mm lens, the Nikon 70-300mm VR lens... these two will pretty much cover your zoom range that you would probably use the most. If you wanted you could get the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens, it's a fantastic walking around lens with such a huge focal range.

Answer 4

The Nikon D40 is the best deal you can get. You can also use old lenses (even from film SLR's) though you won't have autofocus but you can still use them.

On the other hand, Canon is better in low light conditions. I terms of price, Canon is lower.. You can't use Old lenses on new units though.

Answer 5

IMO the Pentax K100D or K100D Super. In-body Image Stabilization alone earns it my thumbs up.

If you're interested in low light exposures go to fotosharp.com and order their Day & Night Exposure Guide. Its worth every cent. You'll still need a tripod though.

Answer 6

Canon rebel xs, is a entry level DSLR with lots of feautures, around 500$

Answer 7

Hang in there a little while. Towards the end of the year the canon 30D prices will drop.

Answer 8

Nikon D40....... hands down best deal on the market this week.