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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

DSLR's - Advice from experts please


Gord R

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Hi Folks

 

Looking for advice / opinions.

 

Have a bit of spare cash at the mo and am fancying doing a bit of photography - so looking to go the DSLR route.

 

Can anyone recommend some of the better DSLRs on the market at the mo - dont want to spend a fortune and bare in mind im abit of a novice so need a suitable camera to get to grips with - but i still want one that will produce v good quality images.

 

Look forward to peoples advice

 

Thanks

Gord

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Last month's PC Pro mag did a comparison of a few.

Their recommendations were:

 

Best value (and A-Listed): Sony DSLR-A100 (£460)

Best for newcomers to DSLRs: Nikon D40x (£499)

 

Their recommendation in the Superzoom/DSLR category was the Olympus SP-550UZ but that's more a zoom compact than a DSLR.

 

Might be worth checking out the reviews:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/154/digital-cameras-dslrs/products.html

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/154/digital-cameras-super-zooms/products.html

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Nikon all the way for me as well.

Canon are better at sharpness at high ISO speeds (1600,3200), but there is not that much in it in real life.

recommend you get hold of Bibble, CaptureNX or Picture Project, for the processing of images, picture project should be included with the camera.

 

If you want a Nikon D40x, also check out the D80 or D200, depending in the cash you have.

I picked up a mint Nikon D200 off eBay with MB-D200 at a great price.

 

Always best to check eBay for Camera's as you can get a better model on eBay for normally the same price as a lesser specified model new.

 

personal choice if you want Nikon and not Canon, i would go for a D80 or D200, as their is more of a upgrade system available with them. the D200 has a magnesium body, which i prefer than plastic.

 

a 4GB CF memory card on my D200 gives 175 images at the top quality Jpeg + NEF settings, and most of these you can get at around 20GBP on ebay, or pay 100GBP in the shops

 

an older D70 had great battery life, the D200 is not great on battery life, thats for sure. whatever camera you get, buy a few spare batteries and recharge them end of the day.

 

nearly the end, you will find before long you want to upgrade from a fairly Auto DSLR body to something that offers more spec's, greater system options and more options for creativity, bear this is mind as well. I am off to China later this year for vacation and wanted all the options the D200 gave me. I would have been happy with a D80, but the difference in price was not great, so went for the better body.

 

one final thing, if you only have certain amount of cash, and are not worried about all the features high spec camera offer, buy a great lens and a lower spec body.

 

ja ne

Ian

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Nikon smikon :p Canon all the way, Nikon are so far behind in there colour spaces it's unelievable. My D2x is shoddy at balancing the colours, whereas Canon have got it spot on.

 

 

Vote Canon :D

 

Try some of the EOS range, the EOS 400D is supposed to be good. It's all personal preference at the end of the day.

 

Take a look at this site mate...

 

http://www.warehouseexpress.co.uk/

 

:)

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Stangely enough i took that 1st one on my first outting with the camera, I had been going over some old shots recently and found it. When i got the camera i didnt really know what was a good shot, now i have a better understanding. I find it real easy to pan with too

 

image

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I think the most important things to taking good photos are in this order:

 

1. Practice

2. Lens

3. Body

 

You'll be fine with either a Canon or a Nikon.

 

I took these photos with my Nikon D50 at the British GP last weekend:

 

http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~jamesg/misc/redarrows1209.jpg

 

http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~jamesg/misc/porsche1149.jpg

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Crickey - lots of info here - thanks guys.

 

Have been very tempted with the Nikon range so far. Whether i up my budget and go for a D70 or D80 i dont know :rolleyes: The D40 was attractive to me as it seems fairly easy to get to grips with.

 

Tom which lens do you use with your D70 some awesome pics about from you in the Multimedia section.

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I have the 18-70mm lens and bought a new one yesterday, which is a 50mm 1.8, I use the 18-70mm for all action type shots, it's really not worth the extra money over the 18-55 as they are both very good, but I just went for that one for some reason!lol

 

I'd buy used if I were you, having held the d40 it does feel a bit small but it's probably because I'm used to the size of the d70, you won;t go wrong with the d70 but the d40/d80 have a few nice things that would really help me out, such as more focus points and a larger screen, the mount of times I look at my screen and the pics look 'ok' but when I get them up on screen they look pants, but with the larger screen i'll be able to make changes then and there with my settings and see the results much clearer.

 

Even today I was certain about 10 pics looked really good but binned them as soon as I saw them full size :(

 

I would go for the D40x or a used D80 :)

 

but just practice practice practice, I didn't have a clue with what I was doing really for the first few months, just kept reading the manual and finally started to get some good results, the frustrating thing for me is that the whole time I've had the camera I havent owned a car so the only time I get to practice is when I go to a meet! Doh!

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