I'll bet no one ever asks...

R

rnratwdw

Member
...for advice on buying a new camera.

I have been using an Olympus Camedia C-900 for almost 10 years. ; It actually took pretty decent pictures for me all these years and I plan to keep using it. ; Before that I had a Pentax compact 35mm, that still takes great pictures. ; But I think I'm ready for a D-SLR now and want to make that transition.

Some of the first advice I've received so far (that I never thought of) is to go to the store and see how the cameras fit in the hand first...which I will start doing.

I'd like to start with a good entry-level camera to make the transition with. ; I do take a wide variety of pictures, from WDW to family events, to church events, indoors, outdoors, everywhere, so it needs to be a good multi-purpose camera. ; I mostly post everything in online photo albums, but there's always a few pics that I want to make prints of.

So, any suggestions on a camera brand/model and best places to find a good deal?

Thanks in advance.
 
As far as entry level goes, I cannot help but be impressed by Canon's Rebel T1i (I am a Canon guy).
CLICK HERE FOR B&H REBEL T1I KITS

You will get a variety of responses, I am sure, good luck with your upgrade.

The only thing I shamelessly ask is that if you decide to order a new camera, you please go to B&H thru one of the links or banners on this site as it really helps the cause. ;
 
I envy you and am sorry for you, too. ; This is a great time to upgrade to a digital SLR camera. ; However, it's also a very confusing time as there are so many good cameras on the market. ;

The advice about going to a store and putting the cameras in your hand is a very good one. ; Try them with both a short and long lens as the balance changes with the length and weight of lenses.

General purpose photography is a bit different with a dSLR. ; Where as with a compact you used and learned to use the lens you had. ; With a dSLR, you can go from speciality lenses to very wide length zoom lenses.

My adivce...for whatever dSLR you go with, pick up a 50mm f/1.x lens to go with the kit zoom lens. ; A 50mm is a good learning lens and at f/1.8 are in the $100 range. ; Also, pick up a book by Bryan Peterson called "Understanding Exposure", you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and welcome to TMIP!
 
Welcome to the forums rnratwdw!

There are plenty of choices to make for dSLRs. ; I used to be a Canon guy, now I'm both a Nikon and Olympus guy.

The other advice is great, each of the companies have their strengths and weaknesses. ; Unfortunately once you choose a brand, it's kind of hard to change systems without loosing some money on selling the gear, since most of the systems aren't compatible with each other.

Canon has better wide angle primes, but their lenses designed for digital (EF-S) lenses can't be used at all on the more upscale cameras (1D series, 5D). ; There is an upgrade path should you choose to go past entry-level.

Nikon has better zooms, especially wide angle, and their DX lenses (digital crop format) can be used (albeit it with a smaller image circle) on the upper end full frame cameras. They also have an upgrade path.

Sony is almost caught up, you can use used Minolta lenses on their cameras, and they have an upgrade path to full frame as well.

Pentax is still out there as well.

Olympus/Panasonic use an even smaller sensor than the above 4. ; However, this allows for smaller lenses and gear. ; They have pioneered the "no viewfinder" dSLR in the Micro 4/3 mount, and you can get a mount for almost every other brand's lenses to use as manual focus lenses on the Micro 4/3 mount. ; The crop factor is x2 so the lenses will give about twice the length as a full frame camera with the same lens.... noise is a problem with low light shots because of the smaller sensor.

In regards to sensor size, in bright light you'd be hard pressed to find differences, in low light, the larger sensors show why there is an advantage to their size.
 
Tim (rnratwdw not devine),

Glad to see you took my advice to jump on over here for some advice that can exceed the 140 character limit of twitter[nb]I was the one that gave the advise to hold the cameras at the store[/nb]. ; I like TMIP because not only do these people love taking pictures but they also love taking pictures of Disney theme parks. ; That gives an added depth of knowledge for advice than a person who isn't familiar with that subject matter

I 2nd the suggestion of picking up a 50mm 1/x lens. ; I shoot Nikon and it was the best advice this board gave me (I upgraded from P&S to dSLR back in 2007) and it gets used a lot at WDW and DL.

Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. ; I did when it came time for me to upgrade from a Nikon D80 to my current Nikon D300.

You may also want to check out this article that TMIP members Roger Longenbach[nb]Roger, I'm amazed you missed a golden opportunity to shamelessly plug your article[/nb] (who has already replied in this thread) and Craig Bendele wrote on trying to help with the decision on what dSLR to purchase

WHICH DIGITAL SLR SHOULD I CHOOSE?
 
I forgot about the article, prob because it was mostly Craig's idea.

and to the OP:

Olympus does not have a cheap 50/1.8. ; Sigma makes a 30/1.4, not that cheap but cheaper than the Leica(Panasonic) 50/1.4....Olympus makes two 50mm, one is a pancake lens at 2.8 and a macro at 2.8 as well. ; But Olympus isn't designed for low light use.

It's designed for having a very small and lightweight 600mm equiv. f/4 lens.
 
Wow!! Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

What I appreciated the most from your replies is that all of you did not get into a bunch of technical jargon, but kept it simple enough for a novice like me to understand and point me in the right direction. ; I will keep you posted on my progress.

You guys are the best!
 
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