What is the best digital SLR for a beginner?

Question

I have been keen in photography for a bit of time now, and take my photos with a Sony DSC - W70, however I have come to the stage where i would like to upgrade to a Digital SLR. It would also be good to have experience with a digital SLR as I am planning on taking up course in it in the next year.

I have been doing my research, and have come up with a little list of cameras that seem good to me, but it would be great if I could get the opinions of people who know!

My photos are mostly of close ups or landscapes. What lenses would you recommend are the best for this?

At the moment, I don't have a price set, but around £350 - £400 for the camera with a basic lens would be ideal.

The cameras I have seen are:

Olympus E 410
Canon 350D
Sony A100
Pentax K100D Super

My only concern with the above is the the Pentax only 6 megapixels. I am not planning on printing too big, however if i wanted to print at around 8" X 10" would 6 mp be ok?

Thank-You very much for your help!

JP

Answer 1

I'd suggest you take a serious look at the Canon 400d - MUCH cheaper if you buy from the USA direct from a dealer or via eBay... ;-)

You won't get a decent lens for your budget - I'd take your time over that stage of the investment as, if you buy in the US again, you'd be looking at 1/2 the UK price, around £500 for the 17-55mm f2.8 (a fast zoom lens), which would be around £950 in the UK.

Anyway, 6mp is absolutely fine for printing out inkjet prints at A4 - you can successfully interpolate your images in post production up to around 800% depending on the quality of the original file, how you treat it and the printer type - some, such as inkjets, spread the dots in a randomised pattern, which is much more effective in preventing image break up than more conventional printers.

Answer 2

Get what you can afford and nothing more. the E410 Olympus is an excellent choice and it has a kit package that includes two lenses which will do what you want.

Or.........
You can go out like the rest of the fools on this venue and spend more money than you can ever realize from your photography work only to have the "priviledge" of saying "I take my photos with a ********** camera and they are the best."

You will not go wrong, either, with the Pentax cameras, they have an excellent reputation and their lenses are among the best. Olympus, by the way, is the only DSLR that has lenses made totally of glass without plastic elements.

Answer 3

I recently bought the E500 after looking at all the cameras in the price range and I absolutely love it, The canon and just seemed a little too cheaply built for me. The problem is you end up being limited in lenses compared to the other brands, there are plenty of choices but you can't get used ones. (of course you could use an adapter but you your lenses will basically all be manual then) That said I love the camera and felt it was the best choice for me and the lenses in the kit are great.

Answer 4

I vote for the Sony A100. 10mp, Super Anti-Shake in the body, dust removal for the sensor and you can use every Minolta Maxxum A-mount AF lens made since 1985. Some Maxxum accessories will also work with it.

There is an adapter available to mount the older Minolta MC/MD lenses if you don't mind manual focus and stop-down metering. You could have a Minolta 58mm f1.2 lens which would be a super-fast 87mm equivalent (1.5 crop factor) portrait lens.

Answer 5

For me Pentax has all the purposes, the build high quality and is with the help of a few distance the main inexpensive high quality device to purchase into. Pentax has been quietly making the various suitable lenses in the worldwide for over 50 years, and that they are able to all be used on their variety of DSLR's (some have barriers, case in point if the lens became designed for end down metering it nevertheless would be end down metering, if it became designed for handbook concentration it nevertheless would be handbook concentration, however the image high quality will nevertheless be there and at an exceedingly much less costly fee), all of those lenses could have anti shake as its geared up into the digital camera no longer in easy terms the up, down, left and ideas-blowing as in the Canon and Nikon yet rotation too, no 'greater' to pay. The record of merely undeniable super concepts is going on. desire greater? think your taking photos uncooked faraway from homestead yet desire a rapid print from some print save, no concern you may convert any uncooked record(s) to Jpeg in digital camera with comprehensive administration of brightness, shade stability, sprucing etc. etc.. greater? maximum DSLR's (different than the Nikon D40) furnish in digital camera bracketing, yet Pentax grants in digital camera bracketing for shade stability, assessment and ISO besides because of the fact the greater commonplace exposure. greater? think your in handbook mode yet are looking it perplexing to get merely the main ideas-blowing exposure, your digital camera could be related to a microscope, bellows or recognizing scope case in point, merely press the fairway Button and the digital camera will at once supply you a analyzing as in case you have been in aperture precedence mode whether the lens isn't related to the digital camera it is going to offer a analyzing on the quantity of sunshine it sees (merely like the previous school end down metering). greater? maximum individuals use Aperture precedence so they are able to set the intensity of container, activities photographers use shutter precedence so the can freeze the action, in Tav Mode you're able to do the two, you positioned the aperture and shutter velocity and the digital camera will regulate the ISO reckoning on the easy point attainable. stable theory eh? The record is going on. Chris

Answer 6

I heard a review on the radio the other night. The Sony came out on top over the Canon and the Nikon.

Sony bought out a big player in the SLR world. One of which was the one that bought out Minolta.

Answer 7

When the price drops in the New Year maybe the cannon 400D. I think the standard lens is too limited on it's own but maybe someone in answers can give advice on the cheapest available options for that model.

Answer 8

For the cameras you have listed go for the pentax. I shoot a K110D, and not as many pixels as the K100D, but excellent camera. Email me, and I will send you a link through to my page on http://www.redbubble.com/ so you can see for yourself the results of this excellent camera.

Answer 9

The Canon and Nikon have the best choice of lenses and accessories.

Nikon D40

Or Canon XTi are good choices.

Yeah, really, some will argue differently, but I believe that more pixels is better.

Answer 10

I wouldn't get too hung up on pixels unless you are planning a spy satellite. 9M is ample.

My Olympus E-300 has 8M and I rarely use it on the highest setting unless I'm doing a studio product shot. Too many pixels will eat into your card and battery.

I'm very pleased with my camera although I think Olympus have just brought out a posher version