DSLR Photography Advice

[lilgryphon]

Hey everyone, it's been a while (again), but I thought maybe I could stop by and see if anyone has advice/opinions on what cameras they use. I want to make the switch to DSLR, but I don't want to get anything *too* expensive. 500-1000ish is my range, on the lower end of that would make me much happier. It doesn't have to be a brand new shiny model with a ton of mega pixels, and I'd rather put extra money into additional lenses at a later date...

[kCherry]

My family and I have been in love with our Sony DSLRs for over 5 years now and are very happy with them even after all this time. I asked my resident photography nerd his opinions and this is what I learned; depending on what you are looking for in your new DSLR there are several routes that you could take. Nikon and Canon are usually the professional choice brands, and the lens for these cameras are high-end and expensive. If you have plans to use your camera to bring in an income these are typically the go-to brands.
  If you are looking for a hobby camera you can go the route we took; the cheaper yet good quality Sony Alpha. Some Film Minolta lenses fit the body of the Sony Alpha and you can find them easily enough on most any camera site, ebay, ect.. (Not ALL Minolta lenses fit the Sony Alpha, but there are ring adapters for those lenses that do not fit.) Minolta lenses are not as high quality as the more expensive brands but definitely more versatile for the budgeted photographer.
 
  Feel free to browse through our pictures to get a good feel of what types of photography you can take with the Sony Alpha,

My studio facebook account, I use a Sony Alpha 100,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Studio-7th-Sanctuary/209342482447959

My sons flicker account, he uses the Sony Alpha 380, http://www.flickr.com/photos/shaunnan_armstrong/

  Hope that this was helpful! If you have any questions we'd be happy to help! We love digital photography!

[kaoskat]

Looks like Cherry has some good advice. I, however, am useless. Best of luck though!

[lilgryphon]

Thanks for the advice, Cherry....its a tough call, I was thinking about going with a package that had the canon rebel, but after viewing a few sites it looks like the Sony SLT A65 might actually be the better camera quality wise.

[banditpony]

Hm.
It depends on what your needs are? I really do believe for each person, that there is a specific camera that will fit their needs best. What are they shooting, how often are they shooting, what do they shoot...

Not sure if you have found this site, but it is good for research : http://www.dpreview.com

[DoctorMowinckel]

If you have about $500 to drop, buy used. A Canon 5D runs for about $500-600 these days, check it; http://www.keh.com/camera/Canon-Digital-Camera-Bodies/1/sku-DC029990897980?r=FE KEH sets the going rate for the used camera market. Their 'bargain' cameras are Ebay and Craigslist mint. Don't be turned off by a 'bargain' camera from KEH.

It is a bit on the older side, but it's a full frame DSLR, preforms well enough at high ISOs. At 100-400 it looks super crisp, which is what most people are shooting at. Canon cameras use Canon EF lenses, of which there are tons for pretty much every budget. The Canon EF 50mm 1.8 is like $120, and it's super crisp.

I'd explain this better, but I'm watching hockey. I'll have more later.

Edit: Okay, so, the Carolina Hurricanes blanked the Washington Capitals four nil. Justin Peters is legit. My attention can be focused elsewhere.

Cameras. So I suggested the Canon 5D. The good ol' Canon 5D. not the Mark II, or the Mark III, both of which are wicked cameras, but I'd suggest you get a Canon 6D over a Mark III. The Mark III has faster autofocus, but the 6D does better in low light. However the 5D Mark II will run ya about $1100-1300, a 6D is $2100, and a 5D Mark III is $3500. The 5D will slot in your budget nicely.

Yes yes it's old, almost six years, but flagship cameras age better than prosumer cameras. The Canon 5D was the best digital camera Canon made for a few years, they've moved on, the 5D Mark III is now the flagship, the 5D is still a solid camera.

The 5D will shoot well in bright conditions, and low ISOs. You'll get really clean images at 100-200 ISO, some noise at 400, but nothing that can't be overcome with the noise reduction tools found in Lightroom and Photoshop. Same goes for 800. At 1600 and 3200 you will have to do some fenagling to make the shots look good, and don't expect to make any decent size prints (8x10 or bigger) from an image that was shot at 3200 ISO using a 5D, even after noise reduction. It will look up good to about 2,000 pixels wide, so it'd be fine for a 4x6, but I'd advise against printing it on an 8x10.

But that's not a bad thing! How often will you be shooting in low light conditions? And if you are, will you be shooting with intent to make prints? It is a 12.1MP, full frame sensor. A full frame sensor is in contrast to the APS-C sensor, which is found on most of Canon's 'prosumer' DSLRs. A crop sensor is a smaller sensor, and most lenses are made for full frame cameras, that doesn't mean you can't use the same lenses on crop sensor cameras, you can, the image just gets 'cropped'. The APS-C sensor has a crop factor of 1.6. This means that if you slap a 50mm lens on it, the effective focal length is multiplied by 1.6, so it'd be 80. Put 300 on there, you'll 480, and so on. I *do* advise that you get a full frame camera, because 50mm is 50mm, and that extra 30mm you'd get on a crop sensor is *a lot*. An extra 60% to any focal length is *a lot*.

You said lenses, Canon is the best option if you want lenses. Nikon has a ton of great lenses, but overall, there seem to be more Canon lenses than Nikon, and Canon lenses usually come in a bit cheaper, too. The Canon EF 50mm 1.8 is a fantastic lens, and it will only set you back about $120. They offer a 75-300mm lens that can be had the used market for around $100-150, it's solid. It's not bad by any means, but it's not going to be as crisp as a 200mm prime. There are of course, the high echelon lenses, the 50mm 1.2, the 400mm 2.8, the 800mm 5.6, but those are expensive, very expensive! Worth it if you need that kind of fidelity, but if you're just a hobbyist and don't need the best of the best, you can still find what you need for under $500, usually a lot less.

If you have any questions or need anything else explained, feel free to ask me. Photography is one of my areas of expertise. I know a lot about it.

[Stormness_1]

My hubby loves to take photos and so do I, but we're not really in a financial position to go all out. We just bought a Canon EOS 600D a few months ago, and our photos are coming out amazingly. I took it on holiday with us, and got some beautiful photos of our family, and some really great landscapes, sunrises, sunsets, wildlife, action photos, you name it I took it.. and even after a few drinks my photos came out near perfect with this camera. We got two lenses with it, both macro lenses, so they take great shots of my toys as well. The add-ons (additional lenses and remote flashes, etc) are pretty expensive, but for basic users, this camera is perfect.