siesta181 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Guys, Don't really know where to post this. I am thinking of upgrading to a DSLR and have narrowed it down to 2 choices, Nikon D60 and Pentax K200D. Been visting the photography forums to read their input but the replies are heavily biased. Nikon or Pentax all the way. Fanatical. Would appreciate a few thoughts on this from our resident photographers. I have had experience handling SLRs before but the digital age came in and I have since been slacking on the P&S type digital cams. DSLR prices have come down quite a fair bit and its acceptable to my wallet now. ps; If I don't spend on a DSLR, it will probably go towards another rep - very likely an AP secs@12. Cheers Siesta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hoopty Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Check out the new Sony DSLR's they are really good. I have had Canons and Nikon in the past though the new Sony's are something and very well priced in comparison to the Nikons and Canons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caracarnj Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Bro, Nikon or Pentax you better decide fast! Comex @ Suntec City ends this Sunday!!! Go grab some huge discount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stolikat Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 (edited) Get an Olympus. The 4/3rds system oly uses is way better than the others. I have smaller lenses that have twice the range that my friend has with his sony. I was at a Willie Nelson show tonight and sat next to my buddy with a sony dslr we took shots with the same settings all night and my oly smoked his sony!!! He was flustered and [censored] that he could not match my pics!!! hehehe! http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/OlympusE510/ http://www.4-3system.com/modules/news/ Edited August 29, 2008 by stolikat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siesta181 Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Get an Olympus. The 4/3rds is way better I have smaller lenses that have twice the range that my friend has with his sony. I was a Willie Nelson show tonight and sat next to my buddy with a sony dslr we took shots with the same settings all night and my oly smoked his sony!!! http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/OlympusE510/ http://www.4-3system.com/modules/news/ Damn.... had a look at your avatar and I realised... Shiieeettt, who needs a camera??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stolikat Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Damn.... had a look at your avatar and I realised... Shiieeettt, who needs a camera??? hehe. Till the admins slap my wrist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I shoot Canon (40D, 20D, reb xt). All the DSLRs are really nice these days. I found that the body I chose was not as important as the lens selection from a given manufacturer. I love Canon glass for it's extremely high quality and relatively low price. Their bodies don't exactly suck either (especially for a sports shooter like me). I've always loved the low noise performance of Canon. This is a must for sports, as night games are generally shot at high ISO, but not as important for watch photography. Check dpreview.com for reviews and great forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Get an Olympus. The 4/3rds system oly uses is way better than the others. I have smaller lenses that have twice the range that my friend has with his sony. I was at a Willie Nelson show tonight and sat next to my buddy with a sony dslr we took shots with the same settings all night and my oly smoked his sony!!! He was flustered and [censored] that he could not match my pics!!! hehehe! http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/OlympusE510/ http://www.4-3system.com/modules/news/ 4/3 gives a higher crop value than the standard APS-C due to it's smaller size, so the tele end of a zoom lens does look closer to the subject, but the wide end isn't as wide. So it's a trade off. I'm personally not a fan of 4/3. Smaller sensor = increased noise. For ultimate image quality (especially when you print big) the bigger the sensor, the better. That's why Canon's top models have used a full frame (same size as 35mm film) sensor for years. Nikon has also recently joined the full frame ranks along with Sony. If you're mostly posting on the web, 4/3 is plenty, but I like to hang big (20"x30") prints on my wall. sensor size explained: http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/C...or_sizes_01.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siesta181 Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I shoot Canon (40D, 20D, reb xt). All the DSLRs are really nice these days. I found that the body I chose was not as important as the lens selection from a given manufacturer. I love Canon glass for it's extremely high quality and relatively low price. Their bodies don't exactly suck either (especially for a sports shooter like me). I've always loved the low noise performance of Canon. This is a must for sports, as night games are generally shot at high ISO, but not as important for watch photography. Check dpreview.com for reviews and great forums. Yup, you are right. Most of the DSLRs are good now. But I am woking on a budget and my choices are limited to the following D60, K200D and the Sony A200. I am leaning towards the Sony and Pentax (in body VR, useful for a smoker and caffeine junkie like me). Lenses are a factor as well. Carl Zeiss lenses are not cheap. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Yup, you are right. Most of the DSLRs are good now. But I am woking on a budget and my choices are limited to the following D60, K200D and the Sony A200. I am leaning towards the Sony and Pentax (in body VR, useful for a smoker and caffeine junkie like me). Lenses are a factor as well. Carl Zeiss lenses are not cheap. Cheers All 3 solid choices. I used to spend a lot of time on dpreview just reading and researching. It's a great site for help in making your decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 The Sony and Pentax are probably better deals for body function these days...but in the long run, if you are an "upgrading" kind of guy, Nikon or Canon might be better as they have a more complete line to "move up" to in terms of both bodies and lenses. You can even get their full frame ad Live View there if you wanted to. If you buy Pentax or Sony...you are limited on the professional grade stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolfire Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Never knew you were into cameras, siesta! Like what cara mentioned, visit comex tomorrow, i'm sure you'll find some cool deals with freebies! Good luck my friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boutchou69 Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I agree with Toadtorrent. With Sony and Pentax, you get the image stabilization the cheap way (in the camera body). It's much more expensive with Nikon and Canon since you have to buy IS lenses. With Sony, you'll probably have an easier time finding used lenses on ebay since every Minolta AF lenses are compatible. Go with Nikon only if you plan to upgrade on more advanced segments later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 I agree with Toadtorrent. With Sony and Pentax, you get the image stabilization the cheap way (in the camera body). It's much more expensive with Nikon and Canon since you have to buy IS lenses. With Sony, you'll probably have an easier time finding used lenses on ebay since every Minolta AF lenses are compatible. Go with Nikon only if you plan to upgrade on more advanced segments later. I have so much invested in Nikon pro glass I have no alterntive. As far as super values go, the Olympus e-Volt series is really good value too. A friend was shipped an entire top-end kit to try out by Olympus...everything!! The schtick was, that they have a smaller market share and were shipping out full kits to certain folks who attended the pro shows to try and woo them over to Olympus. Again...very good value and quality...but limited upgrade path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllergyDoc Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 If you're on a budget, get the Nikon D40. You can get it for $499 now with a fabulous kit lens that focuses very close. You might not even need a macro lens. Then pick up the 80-200 VR for less than $200 and you're set. My wife has the D40 and the images that come out of that camera, especially the people, are better than the ones that come out of my D80. I say Canon or Nikon. Sony is a close 3rd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Picked up my Canon Rebel XT earlier this month for less than $500; came with an 18 - 55mm lens and battery. Personally, I love it and have found it to be a great value for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siesta181 Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Thanks for all the input guys..... Got me self a camera about 3 hours ago. Needless to say, the missus (aka Finance Minister, Secretary of the Treasury to you yanks) wasn't too pleased. On the way to trade show (Comex... guys), had the choice narrowed down to the Sony A200 and Pentax K200D. Pentax clearly in the lead at this time. Reason being; IS lens are way too expensive. the A200 and K200 has IS in body. Both are also compatible to Minolta and legacy Pentax lens respectively (ebay here I come....) Handled both cameras and spent close to an hour on each camera. Verdict; almost indistinguisable in terms of perfomance. The K200 is an all weather cam (60 sealing points) but user friendliness was not as good as Sony's. With regards to handling and feel, the Sony felt so natural in my hand whilst the Pentax... well ... it was not as ergonomic to me (personal taste here) At the end of the day... I chose Sony... simply because its offers the best bang for your buck. USD 800 buck gets you the body, 2 sony lens (18-70mm + 75-300mm) and lots of freebies (2 battteries, 02x4G CF cards, tripod, dry cabinet...). But to be fair the K200 was probably just USD 200 more and offered the same freebies (more or less) At the end of the day, I didn't feel like spending too much on something that might not sustain my interest in the long run. And did I mention the Sony sales promoters were cuter... yup, shallow shallow me... Going for a short trip across the border for some go-karting action, lets hope the weather holds up so I can test my new toy. Its true what they say, boys don't grow up, they just have more expensive toys. Cheers Siesta ps; anybody in the market for a dry cabinet, its still in my car boot... I am too chicken to bring it back to my apartment, doubt the missus going to believe its a freebie. Buyer takes care of shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Congrats on the camera. I hope to see results soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolfire Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Now siesta, let's see some beautiful shots of your Doppel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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