Zenicanin Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I'm buying my first DSLR camera and need some advice. I'm looking around $500 for the whole kit (body, lens, etc..), preferably new. I just want some crisper photos than the point-n-shoot cameras mainly for personal use and maybe for some school work. I've never been able to use photography in my school work because point-n-shoot cameras mostly suck and photos aren't good quality. I also want to be able to do shallow depth of field stuff like I can with my cheapo Pentax K-1000 film camera. I don't know if I can do that with every DSLR or what... :laugh: Any advice? I've heard Canon Rebel is usually a good starter DSLR camera, not really sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argote Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Well, there's the Pentax K-x which is supposed to be good and could be compatible (in manual mode) with your current K-1000 lens(es?). It's $569 on Amazon with the 18-55 and 50-200 lenses (I should note that the Pentax kit lens is supposed to be better than the other brands' kit lenses). http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-K-x-2-7-inch-18-55mm-50-200mm/dp/B002OEBTCI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1295977386&sr=8-5 The Canon T1i/T2i, Nikon D3100/D5000 or Sony A560/A580/A33/A55 are also good options though they are a bit more (in fact that Pentax kit I linked to is very well priced). Note that I linked to Amazon, you should also check at bhphotovideo.com because some of the things I linked to are out of stock or more expensive on Amazon. I'd link to B&H but it's blocked at work. If you want Canon, Nikon or Sony specifically and want to stay in your budget, there's the Canon XS, Nikon D3000 and Sony A290/A390, but I'd rather spend the little extra to get the step-ups (especially with the Canon XS which is quite outdated by now). You also need to consider that whichever system you buy, you'll basically be building around it so you have to consider that. Canon and Nikon are the two biggest players, the advantage with them is that you can easily find gear to borrow/rent and they have the widest variety of lenses (though, to be honest, most of the additional variety is in $2000+ ultra-high-end stuff that 99% of people will never even use). Sony and Pentax include Optical Image Stabilization in their bodies which is a great thing because you'll gain that advantage from any lens (even primes, which don't usually have OIS and older lenses). Feel free to ask anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenicanin Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks. The Pentax K-x looked good until I saw that it uses 4 AA batteries which kinda sucks. I'd rather have a rechargeable lithium ion battery than AA batteries that I have to keep buying often. I guess maybe I'll look into T1i's and D3100's, I guess maybe the D3000 too. Is there a review or website where they take the same shot with a bunch of cameras so you can see the difference in quality, color, lighting, etc...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 dpreview.com is a good resource for comparing cameras. I think you'll be happy with either way you go (canon or nikon). Pentax and the "others" are a bit limited if you plan on doing anything besides 1 body + 1 kit lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argote Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Pentax and the "others" are a bit limited if you plan on doing anything besides 1 body + 1 kit lens. I wouldn't say that's exactly true, as I mentioned, you only get limited once you're looking for very-high-end specialized stuff. As for the AA batteries, there is such a thing as rechargeable AA cells, I had not noticed it used AAs though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenicanin Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 dpreview.com is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks guys! I will look among those lower-end Canons and Nikons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I wouldn't say that's exactly true, as I mentioned, you only get limited once you're looking for very-high-end specialized stuff. That's what I meant; sorry I didn't explain well enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenicanin Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Hey guys, which would you say is better T2i or D3100? Both are available for sale locally, T2i around $760 and D3100 around $610? Is T2i worth the extra $150 or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Neither :p I'm a Nikon fan, for that money i'd get a D5000 However, knowing how Nikons entry level are neutered, i'd say hands down T2i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo158 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Just to throw another make into the mix, I have a Sony A450 and I find that is quite good as an entry level camera. However I've said this before and i'll say it again, try several cemeras in store before making your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Neither :p I'm a Nikon fan, for that money i'd get a D5000 However, knowing how Nikons entry level are neutered, i'd say hands down T2i +1 D5000 if you can, or T2i. Nikon always dumbs-down their entry level bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenicanin Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 Ok I got the T2i. So far so good. It'll take a while to learn how to use it well, but so far it's kickass. Thanks everyone in this thread for your recommendations! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spikey_richie Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Olympus E500 or E510 are also good cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveharris118 Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Olympus E500 or E510 are also good cameras. Any thoughts on the Nikon D7000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argote Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Any thoughts on the Nikon D7000? I would not say that is an entry-level camera at all.... Still, It's a very good camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jub Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I'm surprised nobody mentioned Sony's NEX cameras. Incredible stuff and seems to fit the OPs requirements perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts