Camera help needed

[poohfriend77]

I want a digital SLR camera, but I'm clueless about what to buy. I know there are some great photographers on this board, so please point me in the right direction!

I need it to be fairly user-friendly (although I've got time to play around with it before our trip), and under $700 or so. My top priorities are being able to take multiple shots quickly (rather than snap....wait....wait...wait...snap like my point and shoot). And I REALLY want a great fireworks castle shot!

I used an SLR for a college course, so I vaguely remember terms like F-stop, but I'd welcome advice on books/web sites with tips as well. TIA!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I want a digital SLR camera, but I'm clueless about what to buy. I know there are some great photographers on this board, so please point me in the right direction!

I need it to be fairly user-friendly (although I've got time to play around with it before our trip), and under $700 or so. My top priorities are being able to take multiple shots quickly (rather than snap....wait....wait...wait...snap like my point and shoot). And I REALLY want a great fireworks castle shot!

I used an SLR for a college course, so I vaguely remember terms like F-stop, but I'd welcome advice on books/web sites with tips as well. TIA!

These questions are always loaded!! And my answer is, it depends.... A lot of people like the Nikon D80. Nikon has incredible optics and those cameras still offer the convenience of Auto-modes. The menus are easy, but be careful... sometimes the images are a little fuzzy in some of the models so you have to turn on Image Sharpening in the camera menu.

Canon's are really good cameras overall, but the menus can be hard to navigate. I personally don't like the wheel on the back of the Canons (but it can be locked).

Go in to a store like Ritz and play around with the models... find the one that suits you best and then go home and order it online. B&H out of New York is really reasonable.

Good Luck.

 

[jana616]

I completely agree that your best first step is to go into a camera store (not Best Buy, they know nothing), and play around with different models. I got my first DSLR last July, and did just that. It really helped to hold both a Canon and a Nikon and see their menus, take a few pictures, etc. I decided that for me, I liked Nikon better. I also researched and learned that the D40 and D60 (the entry-level models) do not have an internal focus motor-this means you can only use certain kinds of lenses if you want them to auto-focus. So I decided I wanted a D50, which has the internal focus motor, but has been discontinued. I bought mine on ebay and had great luck getting one in wonderful shape, with an extra lens, for less than a D40 new.

All that to say, start at the camera store, ask them tons of questions, and make sure you feel comfortable with whatever brand you pick. Lenses are not interchangeable between brands, so once you buy Nikon or Canon or Sony, you're committing to that brand for the future. Good luck!

 

[poohfriend77]

Thanks for the advice. We don't have a camera store nearby, but it sounds like I need to make a roadtrip so I can actually compare cameras and talk to people who know about them. You should have seen the blank stares I got when I asked the guy at Target about a camera they had there. I didn't expect him to be an expert, but he was truly clueless.