DSLR advice for a newbie

[Camping Griswalds]

I have never owned any type of camera other than a point and shoot. I really want a DSLR. We have some huge family events coming up, graduations and sports that I really want pictures of. I am looking to spend around $500-800 if I can. Is this reasonable? Here is what I want to be able to take pictures of....High School soccer, basketball and lacrosse. So indoor and outdoor sports. We take frequent trips to Disney as well. I want something user friendly, that as I grow more confident, I can play with and be more adventuresome in the future. I have no desire to be any kind of professional or take studio pictures. I have been recomended by friends about 3 different cameras. A Canon xsi, Nikon D50, and Sony A300. My 17 yo son has used a D50 in school for their yearbook pictures, so he is familur with the workings of that. Are there any deals out there? anything you would recommend? Thanks in advance

 

[handicap18]

The Nikon D50 was discontinued about 3 years ago so I would instead look at the D60, D5000 or D3000 (the last 2 are the 2 newest entry level Nikon bodies).

For your estimated budget, you can get a good dSLR body and a kit lens and probably a good, fast indoor lens (ie: 50mm f/1.8 {for Canon}).

For outdoor sports you'll need a long lens. I use a 70-300mm, but once you get close to around 5pm in the summer months you start to loose light and getting fast shutter speeds becomes a problem. I've taken shots at college level night games under the lights with my 70-300mm (maximum aperture at 300mm is f/5.6) and have done ok.

For indoor sports, thats going to be tough. High school gyms are not known for good lightings. You need a lens with a very wide aperture (aka f/stop). You can probably get away with the inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 from Canon (inexpensive being about $100).

The Nikon D3000 with the 18-50mm VR kit lens will run about $530. If you add the 50-200mm VR lens it will be about $700. The D3000 doesn't have a focus motor so for a fast lens you'll have to spend more for the Sigma or Nikon 50mm f/1.4 is about $450. (Nikon now makes their lenses with a focus motor in the lens rather than in the camera body, at least for the entry level camera bodies)

The Canon Xsi with Kit lens and 50-200mm zoom is more expensive than the Nikon package, but you can get a Canon 50mm f/1.8 for right around $100. So in the end they will run about the same, Canon might be a little less.

The Sony package will be about the same. The don't have a real inexpensive 50mm like Canon, but its also not as expensive as the Nikon.

Keep in mind that the 50mm lens in a gym is still kind of short. You'll have to be on the sidelines or in one of the first 2 rows. I dealy you'd want something more line the 70-200mm f/2.8, but that runs upwards of $1700. Down the road once you get comfortable and want to move up, maybe a 24-80mm f/2.8 lens from one of the 3rd party companies like Sigma or Tamron, which will run around $500, would give you a little more convenience for indoor sports.

So basically, you can get started with your listed budget. It will give you lots of room to grow. Keep in mind that a dSLR set-up is a set of tools. There are lots and lots of different "jobs" you can do and thus lots and lots of different tools. The more specific you want to get, the more expensive the tools become.

If you go into it with the right mind set you will do very well, learn a lot and have a lot of fun along the way.

Best overall bet is to go to a store and try each camera out. Hold them in your hand. See how they feel. Do you like where the buttons are. Do you like how it feels overall in YOUR hands. Thats where the final decision will come from.

 

[ogreenlee]

no offense to sony, but i'd stick with canon or nikon. if for no other reason, it's easier to find lenses, and really... you can't go wrong with either.

i'm a canon girl, but nikon's kit lens is better than canon's. so if you don't plan on buying a lens right off the bat.... you may want to go in that direction.

i haven't priced nikon's consumer cameras, but i do own a rebel xti, and it's a great little camera. it's my backup camera now, but i use it a lot when i don't want to lug my heavier camera around.

when looking at lenses, don't overlook brands like Tamron and Sigma, as you can get some nice quality lenses for a lot less than Canon or Nikon's upper line. I know many people love Tamron's 28-75mm over the Canon L version in the same range.

There are specific boards for each maker, and they usually have a lens archive of images so you can see the quality from member's photos.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Olympus all produce very good entry level cameras that should suit your needs.

Kyle gave some very good info on the Canon's and Nikon's. I'd recommend going to a camera store to hold the camera's themselves and see what feels best to you. I originally went in having decided on a Canon and ended up walking out with a Sony after trying all of the brands.

The lenses are going to be the most expensive part of the deal b/c of what you are looking to take pictures of. But the nice thing about lenses is they can be used for years and years. I have several 20+ year old Minolta lenses that I use on my camera that work perfectly.

One correction on the lens info of the 50mm 1.8 lenses - Sony has released a new lens with those specifications. Not as cheap as the Canon at $100 but it's around $150. And all the Sony camera's have in camera focus motors as well as in camera image stabilization. Pentax and Olympus has this as well. The Sony A300 you mentioned has been discontinued and I don't know if you'd be able to find it anywhere other than ebay or someplace that is still clearing them out. The newest Sony entry level camera's (A230/A330/A380) had a body design change from that camera. They are very much designed towards people that are coming from P&S cameras to their first DSLR's and the camera menus are designed to be helpful in that area so you may want to check them out. There is also the newly released A500 that is getting very nice comments but that will be at the top of your range.

And don't worry about finding Sony lenses if you do decide on a Sony camera body. I know my husband wishes they were as difficult to get as the PP says! Best Buy won't carry a lot but they can be ordered as easily as any other brand and I think a majority of camera owners of any brand order their lenses when they start expanding beyond the kit lenses.

 

[bob100]

I have never owned any type of camera other than a point and shoot. I really want a DSLR. We have some huge family events coming up, graduations and sports that I really want pictures of. I am looking to spend around $500-800 if I can. Is this reasonable? Here is what I want to be able to take pictures of....High School soccer, basketball and lacrosse. So indoor and outdoor sports. We take frequent trips to Disney as well. I want something user friendly, that as I grow more confident, I can play with and be more adventuresome in the future. I have no desire to be any kind of professional or take studio pictures. I have been recomended by friends about 3 different cameras. A Canon xsi, Nikon D50, and Sony A300. My 17 yo son has used a D50 in school for their yearbook pictures, so he is familur with the workings of that. Are there any deals out there? anything you would recommend? Thanks in advance

All the entry level DSLR will work but it's the lens that's going to hurt your budget! The newer DSLR models now have video which is a good feature for family events, sports, etc.

 

[ukcatfan]

I swear that I am not just saying this out of brand loyalty, but the Pentax K-x should seriously be considered. It has an extremely impressive list of features and is supposed to have class leading ISO performance and goes to 12,800!. It has not been reviewed yet, but people are saying that it is impressive.

 

[kevrab]

The best lens, that I've found, to shoot basketball with is an 85mm (shooting under the net) I shoot Nikon and use an 85mmf1.8 (love to have an 85f1.4--maybe someday)The 1.8 is about $400-500.

I've shot soccer and lacrosse usually using two bodies. One with a 300mm f4 and the other using an 80-200mm f2.8. Great glass but neither are cheap.

Canon and Nikon have 75-300mm lenses that are fairly reasonably priced.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

Thanks so much for everyones help and advice. It is a bit daunting, yet exciting as well. From what I can tell, I really need to go hold onto some of these different cameras. I will be watching for sales as well. I am amazed at all of the information just on these threads. I have read all of the "sticky" posts and about 4 pages back as well. I think I didn't realize what i was getting myself into

 

[kevrab]

Watch all the Black Friday sales. I'm sure Best Buy and other stores will have good discounts on Nikon, Canon and Sony packages.

 

[zackiedawg]

To add to the Sony 50mm lens comment...not only does Sony have a 50mm F1.8 now that is not too expensive, don't forget too that it is quite easy to pick up a Minolta 50mm F1.7 for $80-110 or so...this is an excellent lens that pairs very well with Sony bodies. And it is of course image stabilized as well, as are all lenses on Sony bodies (like Olympus and Pentax too).

One thing that makes Sony's lens selection much bigger than some think is that you have a large legacy of Minolta lenses available on the used market...all Minolta AF lenses use the same A-mount as Sony bodies (Sony bought Minolta). So though Sony doesn't have as many branded lenses as Canon or Nikon, they do have a very large legacy collection, and also good support from two of the largest third-party manufacturers (Tamron and Sigma). I haven't had a problem yet finding a lens I wanted, from 30mm F1.4s to 500mm long zooms to macros to ultra-wides.

As for brand...don't even worry about it. Before you worry about all the recommendations...I strongly recommend you find yourself a camera store, and go handle some cameras. The ergonomics are something to consider as you should be comfortable and happy using a camera...so see if Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony, or Nikon grip and body designs, button locations, etc feel intuitive and comfortable. You may just eliminate a brand or two from that alone, then you can start to whittle down to a model. You won't make a wrong decision between any of the major manufacturers, honestly. They're all that good.