What SLR would you recommend?

We could recommend al of different types of SLR’s but the most important thing is what YOU want your camera to do and the functions it should have. The biggest mistake people can make is to buy what friends or family recommend to buy and then find out that it’s not their cup of tea and then decide to buy another one and sell the damn thing on e-bay or something. This costs you quite an amount of money because you never can get the money for it, you bought it for.

I self use Pentax equipment and i realy love it. I bought myself a second hand model to get the hang of it and to get some experience shooting with a Digital SLR for a small amount of money (total about 500 Euro). I liked it so much so i bought a second one (newer White K-x model) this year that has some beter features and posibilities as the first one i bought (still keep it for backup).

Lenses are also a big point of investment (like said before). Quality of the lens you use is a huge factor if the picture is perfect or not. Although alot can be Photoshopped, a soft picture will always stay a soft picture how much you shop it. Lenses come in various stages of quality and price range. Better quality and apperature, means a bigger price on the lens. Pentax has the option of using old film SLR lenses on their new models (these lenses don’t cost that much, but quite alot have great image quality).

Perhaps you can check some pictures i took on my website for some impressions about the image quality.

www.htd-photography.nl

Greetz,

TG1984

To be honest it’s fairly pointless saying Zeiss are better than Canon when talking about the very highest level of lenses they do. It’s kind of irrelevant because at that level they’re all very, very good and that’s all that matters. As for which camera to go for, every modern DSLR performs very well in general use where you don’t need things higher end models give (like more fps), so basically there are two main things to consider to me; comfort and range of things to go with it. Using a camera is just like playing a musical instrument and if it doesn’t feel right then you won’t want to use it, so you need to make sure that whichever one you go for feels good to you and you’re happy with the positions of switches, menus, shortcuts, etc. Also, while there are plenty of lenses available for cameras like Sony there’s nothing like as many as there are available for Canon or Nikon, so that may be one thing that sways your decision.

You also need to consider things like crop factor because that can have a big effect on your results. If you buy a Four Thirds camera then the sensor is half the size of a full frame, meaning your lenses appear to be twice as long (so a 100mm lens on a Four Thirds camera will give the same field of view as a 200mm lens on a full frame). This can be great if the vast majority of what you’re shooting is aircraft because it means you’re a little closer to the action, but for other things like landscape photography when you sometimes want to go wide it may be more awkward because your lenses have to be wider than they would otherwise.

After Olympus stopped making SLRs I started buying Canon because the were the best I could afford. I’ve never been disappointed and I still use Canon both for stills and video.

Who makes Sony lenses? Their video lenses are made by Zeiss and they’re definitely inferior to Canon lenses.

Regards

Sony’s top lenses are all Zeiss and are equal to if not better than any Canon offering. Their “G” Lenses were originally Minolta – the old ‘uns will fit all Sony’s cameras, although the latest ones are, I believe Sony’s. Bear in mind that Sony acquired the rights to Minolta so they draw heavily from their experience and expertise. The 70-400 “G” is recognised as being the best in class – probably.

And yes I do shoot Sony!

Have you considered a used one? It doesn’t have to be the latest model. A used Canon 50d would be in your price range – an excellent camera. I use Canon (including the 50d) for the past 25+ years so I would recommend it.

After Olympus stopped making SLRs I started buying Canon because the were the best I could afford. I’ve never been disappointed and I still use Canon both for stills and video.

Who makes Sony lenses? Their video lenses are made by Zeiss and they’re definitely inferior to Canon lenses.

Regards

Have you considered a used one? It doesn’t have to be the latest model. A used Canon 50d would be in your price range – an excellent camera. I use Canon (including the 50d) for the past 25+ years so I would recommend it.

A lot of people are biased towards Canon and Nikon because the Sony Alpha range is aimed at the enthuasist and those new to DSLR photography and because of that they are dismissed as being a bit basic.

I seem to do alright with my Sony Alpha and there are plenty of models in the range to chose from depending on your budget and there are pleny of lens available, from Sony/Sigma/Tamron, to fit them.

Sony Alpha Range

Brian

The only thing with the Sony range as I found out is that the 290/330/390 range uses different batteries to the rest of the range It uses video camera batteries which to be honest aren’t that great. Also because they call it the beginner range, there is no battery grip available so the extra battery needs to be carried around.

Canon :diablo:

A lot of people are biased towards Canon and Nikon because the Sony Alpha range is aimed at the enthuasist and those new to DSLR photography and because of that they are dismissed as being a bit basic.

I seem to do alright with my Sony Alpha and there are plenty of models in the range to chose from depending on your budget and there are pleny of lens available, from Sony/Sigma/Tamron, to fit them.

Sony Alpha Range

Brian

I’ll second that, don’t dismiss Sony.

I looked at the settings and he had the quality set to medium.

I always shoot in RAW with my Nikons (D2x originally; D300 and D700 nowadays); which provides you with just one quality level: the best possible!!

Nikon D5000 is good for the money. A while back my mate said he wanted to buy a DSLR and was dead set on the Nikon D300 at £1100 for the body. I asked him why he wanted to spend that much on one. He said he liked all the bells and whistles. Anyway he used it on a Europe trip in June – I had my D40 which is much inferior camera. He came back and wasn’t too impressed with the pictures. Mine looked better quality. I looked at the settings and he had the quality set to medium. Dozy fool !

Sony Alpha Range

A lot of people are biased towards Canon and Nikon because the Sony Alpha range is aimed at the enthuasist and those new to DSLR photography and because of that they are dismissed as being a bit basic.

I seem to do alright with my Sony Alpha and there are plenty of models in the range to chose from depending on your budget and there are pleny of lens available, from Sony/Sigma/Tamron, to fit them.

Sony Alpha Range

Brian

And don’t forget that the quality of the lenses is more important than the quality of the camera body.

A lot depends on your budget, as you say, but in general you can’t go too far wrong with the offerings from Nikon or Canon.
People can get hung up on the detailed specifications, but you should always remember that it’s the photographer that makes a good and memorable picture. But you know that anyway, I’m sure!
I’ve always reckoned that there’s a lot of sound advice on this site. He’s obviously a Nikon man, and Canon users may beg to differ, but it’s still worth a browse.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/

I’d be interested to hear from some of the photographers here too.
Judging by some of the aircraft photos posted on this forum, which are way beyond anything I’ve taken in the last 45 years, it’s time to get a DSLR!