im a young'n wanting to get into photography. i know nothing so don't bash on me... but i want a good camera that i can keep for a long time and upgrade as my skills improve! what kind should i buy? i love the nikon d20 and d40 but am unaware of the differences and have been told they are both good cameras... my price range is from 200 to 500 maybe 600 if im lucky... what can i get? and what do you recommend?

 

help!!!

 

I'd recommend you get what fits. Personally, I own a Nikon D300, and my wife shoots with a smaller, more compact D80. I'd stick with Nikon or Canon - either are high quality cameras, and finding lenses and accessories is rather easy.
I'm not bashing Canon, they build great cameras as well, but do your research. See what fits your hands, see how the controls work, talk to a photo store guy and find what feels more comfortable for you. I'd also suggest renting one at a time and spend a weekend shooting with it. By the time you're finished, you'll know which one you want.
If it were me, I'd look for a D80 in your price range. Features are there, and it has the focusing motor in the body instead of relying on focusing motors in the lens, like the D40(x) and D60. This will allow you access to a much larger range of lenses.

 

used d80 or any used canon (xti, xsi, xs, type sh, type xrtix, w/e)

nikon has a new entry level model, i think its called like 5000 or something like that?

olympus also makes some nice cameras for the money

 

im really looking at this nikon d60... my friend has one and it feels good in my hands and it takes really good pictures... what do you guys think? and i can get the d60 with a AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens... whatever that is i just copied and pasted off the site... for $549.99... any ideas? good buy? yes... No???

 

Yes, that's a good buy - but remember to become informed about the lens selections - if the lens doesn't have an internal focusing motor, it won't work *as well* with the D60 - which doesn't have a focusing motor in the body.

 

you mean like a manual focusing motor? im confused? i understand that the focusing motor focuses the lens but is it automatic or manual?

here is the link!!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830113088

 

pass on d60, just get a d40 if you are diggin the feel of a d60 in your hands.

what roo means is that any lens that you buy for the d60 has to have an 'inner focusing' motor in it... otherwise the camera will not autofocus

just get a used d80, or a new d40, or any of the entry level canons.


take my advice with a grain of salt but i've had the following cameras at one point...

d40
d60
d80
d200
rebel xsi

edit, and dont buy from newegg, avoid tax and just buy it from amazon or any other internet retailer not based in CA

 

ok... so your saying that if i get the d60 i need to pay attention when purchasing lenses in the future because since there is no focusing motor in the body there must be one in the lens... now the lens that comes with the d60 has a focusing motor in it right? the VR lense i think it is... and whats the difference between a d60 and d40?
and what are some sites that sell cameras at a good price and aren't based in cali?

 

main difference between a 40 and a 60 is like 4 more megapixles.


other places to buy
bhphoto
adorama

 

I have a similar situation to the OP and i am looking to spend about 600..... I have talked to several people at camera shops and they keep recommending the Cannon XS and XSi. Anybody here have any experience with them? Does it have the same auto focus issue as the D40?

 

^thread jacker!!! its ok though... i don't mind cause its useful info for me!!!

 

im really in love with the d60... and im pretty sure that is what i am going to go with but i have one ?... well 2 kinda... does it do multi-shot? and does it do video?

 

I'd personally recommend that you decide if you want to get into photography or videography, and choose the equipment which best suits your needs for what you really want to do.

The DSLR's shoot typically at a 3FPS (frames per second) and possibly upward of 4.5 or 5 FPS - depending on image quality/size.

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resour...slr_chart.html

^A board I belong to - has comparisons of most every digital Nikon SLR made.

 

well see... this would be a family camera... i personally want to get into photography... my wife likes to take videos with the camera that i have now and she wants a camera that takes better videos... so of course she wanted me to find out whether or not it had video i told her no but it doesn't hurt to double check... F*** i would rather just tell her to go buy a videocamera!!!

and 5 frames per second is more than enough... can you slow it down though so i can take a moving shot like for snowboarding when i need those 3 frames to span 2 or 3 seconds?