Budget Camera?

[MrAnonymous]

I need help in finding a budget SLR camera.

I like the Canon series, but I'm not knowledgable when it comes to it.

Currently, I have a 7.1 digital camera from Kodak that works great for family photos, but I've been wanting some more power.

I've been looking at a couple of cameras within the 600$ range, but I'm willing to go up to 1200$. (I'll be ordering it through the states, as the same camera for 600 there, costs twice or three times as much here...)

So this is what I need.

10+mpx
Must be digital
SLR
Price from 0-1200$

Thanks for any help. Goodnight! :goll

V Q

[NBG]

I have a Digital Rebel Xti, but I mostly bought it because I already have Canon lenses. It cost me about $700 last year including a 18-55mm lens. It is a 10 MB SLR.

If you are serious about owning an SLR your main consideration should be the lenses for each system. The 18-55mm lens is fine for basic range but the quality is not the best. I have a cheap 50mm (1.8 f) that vastly outperforms it in sharpness and a 28-128mm lens that is also superior. I am considering getting an IS 70-300mm lens for telephoto (Canon is supposed to be the most advanced in stabilization). For $600 I don't think there are better options than Canon.

For me the problem with SLR's (other than the bulk) is that they do not have live preview available. This means you have to look through the viewfinder to see an image rather than the lcd screen. There are some cameras now that offer live preview but they are more expensive - Sony is the main innovator here I think.

On the other hand, the Casio FX-1 is not a SLR but it has a 12X zoom and has extremely innovative features. It can record HD video and it can also capture 300fps slo-mo video.

I think we're at least a year away from an SLR-type camera that combines image quality and the convenience of digital. The current crop of SLR's are stuck in the past.

[MrAnonymous]

Thanks for the reply NBG.

I've seen a few, I'll post them a little later. Sorta stressing out at the mo.

V Q

[Montag451]

Vidkun,
I'm a professional photographer/sports photographer, photojournalist. It's one of several things I do. Most pro photojournalists use Nikon. There is reason for this, and it isn't that Nikon makes the best SLR. For years and years newspapers and magazines relied on Nikon 35mm because they were and are indestructible. They can run for 10 to 15 years of commercial use. That is a LOT of shutter actuations. However, Nikon did not make the transition to digital very well, certainly not as well as Canon. But since they were already under contract to provide every newspaper and magazine in the known universe with cameras, they continued to dominate the commercial camera market after the transition to SLR. Except for instances where commercial photography had to be as clear and sharp as 35mm. Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, etc. these potogs almost ALL use Canons with "L" glass. The main complaint was that the Nikon were to noisy at higher f-stops (Canon uses the CMOS sensor, very much superior to the sensor used by Nikon which I think was called CIC, it was the same type used in those crappy little surveillance cameras), but I also prefer the Canon glass. Canon "L" glass is simply the very best you can buy. AND it fits the Rebels!
I use a 1D MK III, 1DS MKII, 5D, 40D and yes, the Rebel XTi! I strongly recommend the Rebel XTi, but if you can budget for either the new Rebel XSi or the 40D, well, you get a whole lot more camera with the 40D or XSi.
Let me boil it down to this. If you are real technical with your photography and want to have utmost control over each exposure, get the 40D and learn how to use all of the advanced functions. If you just want to take high mega-pixel pictures with a great camera that is smart enough to give you kick ass exposers all by it's self, get the XTi or XSi. Whatever you do, go into the menu and jack the saturation and contrast and your pictures will "pop."

Furthermore, memory management is important and nobody talks much about it. These days you can get flash memory in 16Gig! Let me be the first to tell you that you do NOT want a 16gig card in your camera. Here are some points to know about the memory cards:
1. 2 gig is as big as you want to go. You can store hundreds of pictures on there in the highest resolution your camera can capture. You can manually create files and your camera automatically creates new files every day and possibly after "X" number of pictures. This is important because it takes time to transfer pics from the card to the computer. Which leads to my next point:
2. Use ONLY Sandisk Extreme cards. They transfer data faster then any other memory card. They are more expensive, but well worth it. Time is money.
3. Keep several cards handy in a card wallet and label them so that you can keep your pictures organized before moving them to the computer. And remember the more pictures in each file or on each card, the longer it takes. I bring this up because on a vacation you take a gazillion pics. Then when you get home it's forever to upload them to your computer.

And finally, learn to shoot in RAW. Learn to develop your digital negatives in the Canon software, or get LightRoom and develop your own pictures. Trust me on this, your pictures can look about a million times better than you or anyone else ever imagined. Shooting RAW is the trick.

Hope all this helps some.

Kind regards,
Montag451