DSLR Camera Suggestions

MrDHEJ

I know some of you guys are all out when it comes to photography, I like taking pictures and I need to replace my old camera. I don't want to take out a loan, or a second mortgage, but I would like a descent DSLR camera.

I was looking at the Sony a57 DSLR, which retails for $800, that I can handle. I really don't want to spend to much more then that.

Is the Sony a57 DSLR, good enough to last me awhile? Any other suggestions?

jbooker82

MrDHEJ wrote: »

Is the Sony a57 DSLR, good enough to last me awhile? Any other suggestions?

The thing is when you start down the DSLR road you need to think about future lens purcahses. It would cost a lot of money down the road to swich from Sony, to Canon, or Nikon. You better off getting a lesser body in the brand you want to stick with. That way as you develop a lens colection you can up grade the body, and still use your old lenses.


I have a Canon 60D it is a fantasic camera, but it is a little over you budget. $1,200

The Canon T3i is also a good starter camera. Both the 60d and 3Ti have lcd screens that flip out and can be rotated around. It comes in handy when doing off angled shots in live veiw mode.


This is a pretty good deal. Canon T3i with 18-55mm lens, and a 55-250mm lens for $900
http://www.rockbrookcamera.com/browse.cfm/4,2854.html

That is my local camera shop where I bought my 60D, 18-135mm lens, and 70-300mm lens

MrDHEJ

I didn't even think about wether one brand of lens fits the other. I guess overall, for the average photograper, what brand would "do it all"

Anything to look out for? Battery life/type? Storage?

jbooker82

Here is a review of the A57 by DPreview.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/sonyslta57/

jbooker82

MrDHEJ wrote: »

I didn't even think about wether one brand of lens fits the other. I guess overall, for the average photograper, what brand would "do it all"

Anything to look out for? Battery life/type? Storage?

Well with DSLR's it is pretty much Canon or Nikon. Both are good. Pentax is starting to become a 3rd. There are a few aftermarket companies that make lenses for most DSLR's, you just need to buy the ones with the right mouting. Those are Sigma, and Tamron.

Ethire one will do it all for a general guy. It is really a Pepsi / Coke thing. If you watch any sports on TV look at the photographers. You see a lot of white and black lenses wich are Canon's professional or L lenses.

For battery life just dont store the camera with the battery in it. It will slowly drain the battery. My 60D has some kind of capacitor or interal battery that keeps the time, date and settings stored. I have left it with out the battery installed for a month and it is still set correctly.

I use a Tamrac Velocity bag. It holds the Camera with lens, and a lens on the side. It is a single shoulder sling pack.
http://www.rockbrookcamera.com/browse.cfm/4,600.html

jbooker82

I dont really like taking people pictures. I like taking high speed action shots, or slow shutter speed shots with a tri pod. Going out and setting the camera up in a storm and taking a 10 second photo makes for some good lighting shots.

mystik610

MrDHEJ wrote: »

I didn't even think about wether one brand of lens fits the other. I guess overall, for the average photograper, what brand would "do it all"

Anything to look out for? Battery life/type? Storage?

Is there any particular reason you're looking at the Sony?

I've never shot with a Sony DSLR so I can't comment on it...it looks good from the specs (better than the Nikon and Canon equivalents in some ways), but I'd much rather have access to more lenses, as lenses really are more important than bodies.

Canon and Nikon are the go to brands in terms of flexibility, as they have the most robust line-up of lenses and gear available, and they can better "do it all", if you're willing to invest in the gear. Unless your heart is set on the sony, pick either a Canon or Nikon. Go to a store a test drive them....see what feels better in your hands, and which interface you like better. The differences between the Canon and Nikon bodies are rather negligible at the entry level product lines (brand wars get a little more heated as you move up the product lines, but they're still relatively comparable). The big differentiators in terms of quality is skill and lenses!

1960brookwood

With a DSLR you are buying into a system. Canon {which I own} had the edge for nearly a decade but the newer Nikon offerings look pretty interesting.

If you are looking for a crop sensor I would check your local Craigslist, as nothing in photography depreciates faster than a generation old body.

A utility to check Canon shutter count on the newer bodies can be found HERE

kevhed72

As far as camera prices go, CALL B&H photo when you decide on a model. I got a great price on a Canon T3i with 2 lenses. I would buy from them again in a minute.

zarrdoss

I got a Sony a330 a few years ago and am extremely happy with what I got, it still works fine and takes amazing pics and I see no need to upgrade anytime soon.

MrDHEJ

I'm not set on the sony, I first looked at the sony because my current camera is a sony dsc-w7. After some long reading I like the look of the canon t3i, so i belive i'll go with canon.

How is the video recording from these cameras? Good enough to replace an aging mini disc recorder?

shack

MrDHEJ wrote:

How is the video recording from these cameras? Good enough to replace an aging mini disc recorder?

Better...MUCH better.

jbooker82

The only down side is you have to use manual focus. Other wise the camera constantly hunts for focus. Going in and out as objects get closer or farther away.

The TV show House is shot with I belive a Canon 5D or 7D MKII

praedet

Go mirrorless...

shack

jbooker82 wrote:

The TV show House is shot with I belive a Canon 5D or 7D MKII

The "House" 2010 season final episode was shot entirely with a 5D MKII (there is no 7D MKII...yet). DSLRs like the 5D MKII are being used more and more in movies, commercials, music videos, etc. As I understand the T3i video is pretty close to the quality of the 5D

emoxley

I'm a Nikon person. For me, personally, I find the menus and buttons much easier to deal with, than the Canon's. I guess it's what you get used to though. I had a Nikon F2 back in the 70s, and loved it, so I stuck with Nikon when I went digital. As said before, Nikon and Canon are the top two brands. They have more lens options than all the other brands, but some of these options are very pricey. A lot of lenses won't even be a consideration unless you're a professional photographer, working for a magazine or sports network. It can cost up to several thousand dollars, just for one particular lens.

So far, I have three lenses, with hopes of getting one more. I have the kit lens that came with the body I bought (D7000) which is an 18-105mm Nikon lens. I've bought a Tamron AF 70-300mm VC (vibration compensation) for wildlife shots, and a Tamron AF 90mm macro lens. I still want to get a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye lens. I'd really like to get about a 600mm or 800mm lens, but there's no way unless I win the lottery. Also, don't forget stuff like a flash, tripod, etc.........

A lot of the camera bodies now are really small. So, if you have big hands like I do, that's another consideration. My D7000 was bigger than a lot of the others, but still kinda small for me. So, I added a grip to it, which holds and uses an extra battery. It added weight and mass to the camera, and feels very good in my hands now. But it also added a little over $200 to my overall cost.

One more consideration is full frame or crop sensor camera? Full frame cameras are much more costly. It just means that the sensor in it is the same size as a 35mm frame of film. Nikon's uses a 1.5 crop sensor, and Canon uses a 1.6 crop sensor. This means that on my Nikon, a 300mm lens is equivalent to a 450mm lens, and a 50mm lens is equivalent to a 75mm. On the full frame camera, a 300mm lens is a 300mm lens.

I know I've told you much more than you asked for considering your budget you stated. But I thought I'd throw it out there anyway, in case something may change the amount you want to spend, to make sure you get what you want and need. A lot of people that aren't into it kinda heavy already, don't think about most of the other stuff involved, that can matter further down the road. Good luck with whatever you get.

agfrost

Gorgeous (and kinda hilarious) video shot on a Canon 60D. Go to youtube for best resolution--Pretty darn impressive.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JaAWdljhD5o&quot; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

bikerboy

I bought a NEX-7 a few months ago and love it. Much smaller and lighter than the other stuff out there. I have the 2 zooms and the fixed wide angle lens. I knew if I had a larger, heavier setup I won't take it out as often. The NEX-5 and the new NEX-F3 are also well liked. There are lots of great cameras out there now. Good luck!

cstmar01

I'm personally a Nikon guy but also do like the Sony NEX line.

The issue with the NEX line is still the limit of lens for it. Mostly it comes down to what are you going to shoot and how are you going to shoot. If you figure you do the NEX and then get the lens adaptor for the other sony lens and then stick a large 300MM on it the thing isn't going to be much smaller than a DSLR.

However if you want to have a smaller camera that you can do more point and shoot stuff with and easy to use menus then the Sony is great. A lot of people like them because they can learn it pretty quick over a DSLR as the menus are easy to go thru and figure out.

Personally if I bought a DSLR I'm looking at the Nikon D7000. I just like the feel of Nikon and menus over Canon.

That being said Canon is also super nice and I have a lot of friends that shoot with them. Just starting out the T2i or T3I are hard to beat. The 3i will have the articulating screen while the 2i is fixed. Pretty much anywhere you go you should be able to do a camera with the 18-55MM lens and then an extra 250mm lens as well for a bundle. B&H, best buy, etc all run that deal. I also had a buddy that got his T2i body only on amazon for like 250 bucks during a golden egg special or whatever its called. He got a bag, battery, HMDI cable and something else as a kit from best buy and in store was like 150 and they matched their online price for like 60 bucks. The battery alone from Canon is about that price. (and yes it was the Canon kit not an off brand)

So there are some great deals and you should be able to stay in your ball park on them. It mostly comes down to the feel and how are you going to use it. I've been really searching hard and been out with my friends shooting with their DSLRs and enjoy the hobby. I've been on the fence with the D7000 as I was hoping a 7100 would be coming soon so not sure if I'm still going to wait or just do it myself.

Best of luck! A lot of it is really the lens and the user. If you got friends or haven't been shooting for awhile just go out and have some fun. Taking it off of auto is one of the biggest things you need to do as well.

MrDHEJ

The video quality is impressive from a camera. and yes, the "making of" the video was funny.

So far I'm 99% sure of the Canon T3i, or is it the 600d? lol Not sure why they have three differant names for the same camera!

As far as storage goes, how much do you all usally have on you? I will probably end up taking allot of video, maybe two hours depending on location. I skimmed thru the manual of the Canon T3i, and it read a minimum of class 6 for movies, but any type, SD/SDHC/SDXC. The T3i will stop recording at 4g file size, or 29m:59s. Is it worth going to a higher class or type?

littlewoodboats

If you go with the Sony DSLR you can save some money by using the Minolta A-mount lenses. As far as cards by the fastest cards you can afford.

I have not camera shopped for a while as my Sony A-550 does everything I want (no video) but the mirror-less bodies will autofocus in video. The last time I looked they also lost about 1/3 stop in light over the mirror type bodies.

The Sony has in-body stabilization also making the lenses a bit cheaper

shack

Right now I keep 4 16G class 10 SDHC cards in my camera bag at all times.

Most of the mirrorless cameras are 4/3 sensors (one may be APS-C size). While megapixels are not that important to most amateur photographers...sensor size really does matter when it comes to image quality as you move up in the world of photography.



Landscape, portrait, wedding photographers want a full frame sensor to get the highest quality and resoulution. Wildlife and sports photographers will scarifice some of the image quality to get that little bit of extra reach the APS-C (crop) camera body affords. While it may not show up in the type of photography one does...in absolute terms, image quality increases with sensor size. 4/3 is better than P&S, APS-C is better than 4/3, full frame is better than APS-C. Then...one can even move up to a digital back on a medium or large format camera and the level of image quality goes to an entirely different level.

I still prefer looking through a viewfinder to take pictures (old school I guess). Some of the mirrorless cameras have electronic viewfinders as options. I will use the live view on the back of my DSLR when the sitation dictates...but just using the display all the time is not for me. Once you get a viewfinder and a bigger lens on a mirrorless camera they really aren't that much smaller. I will sacrifice having a larger camera to get better image quality and features I prefer over a mirrorless one. I can carry a smalll P&S for situations where a is just too big.

MrDHEJ

Well, I picked up a Canon T3i Today. Got a really good deal. I wasn't planning on buying one today but the folks in the shop were very helpful and friendly. Very friendly.

I've taken a couple hundred photos so far and bout 30min of 720p 60fps video. It's impressive. I see a nice long future with this camera.

I got the deal with the 18-55 and 55-250 lens, but i think I will go back and get another lens for closer wider shots. I can see myself filling the 32g sd card takn video.

shack

The 55-250 may be one of the best budget zooms Canon or anyone else makes. I have one, but I had to spend
$1'300 to get a 70-200 f/4 L lens to get better image quality. It is a better lens than the price would indicate. The only realmdrawback is the build quality is a little on the "plasticy" but it is certainly worth the price.

shack

MrDHEJ wrote: »

but i think I will go back and get another lens for closer wider shots.

Are you looking for a macro lens (closeup for things like bugs or really small stuff) or an ultra wide angle lens? 18mm on your lens is pretty wide. There are a few ultra wide angle zooms out there, but you will have to spend at least as much or more than the two you already purchased. I would highly recommmed the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. It is a great lens at a reasonable price (if you consider $650 reasonable). Sigma makes a 10-20mm f/4-5.6 for $479 or a 10-20mm f/3.5 for $599. Canon's 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 is probably the best of the bunch, but the street price on it is $799.

Any of these lens will be pretty good on the T3i and give you great wide angle shots.

If you are looking for a closeup macro lens, that is something different alltogether and you will probably be looking for something in the 100mm to 200mm range. A true macro lens will be a prime (fixed focal length) and pretty specialized.

MrDHEJ

I was thinking something just wide angle. Something for taking pics of an entire room, but for that price I'm going to just work around the 18-55. :P I keep forgetting 90% of the lens out there cost more then the camera!

Mind the mess.

jbooker82

I would like to get the Sigma 8-16mm super wide angle lens. Look on youtube for a video review.

MrDHEJ

Man I'm having a blast with this camera. Been so long since I've had a good one I'd forgotten what all they can do. I've also forgotten allot, going to have to break down and relearn some stuff.

I am definitly going to keep the sigma 8-16 in mind when the time comes.

Any tips taking pics with slow shutter speeds? day and night. I tried takn some 10-30 second star shots, but didn't turn out so well, and day time ends up all white.

audiocr381ve

MrDHEJ wrote: »

Well, I picked up a Canon T3i Today. Got a really good deal. I wasn't planning on buying one today but the folks in the shop were very helpful and friendly. Very friendly.

I've taken a couple hundred photos so far and bout 30min of 720p 60fps video. It's impressive. I see a nice long future with this camera.

I got the deal with the 18-55 and 55-250 lens, but i think I will go back and get another lens for closer wider shots. I can see myself filling the 32g sd card takn video.

Nice purchase, although the T4i comes out in about a week or two

Unless you need the slow-mo, record video in 1080 24p or 30p, it's looks a lot better.

I highly recommend you get your hands on a nifty fifty. Either the Canon 50mm 1.8 or 50mm 1.4 (the 1.4 has much better build quality & better optics). You probably already know this but what these lenses allow you to do is get a far better image in low light and beautiful depth of field (blurry background). You'll be far more happy with your images. The 50mm is more like 85mm on your cropped sensor so keep a wide angle lens around to get wide. The Tokina 11-16 comes highly recommended by some of the best and it's build quality is ridiculous for the price. I say this with confidence, their is nothing better than it in the price range as far as wide angle lenses go. Nothing...

If you want a good walking around lens, for the cropped sensor I always recommend the Canon 16-35mm 2.8 L (definitely a lens worth saving for). The L series glass is far superior to regular Canon glass. Zeiss glass is beautiful as well but I prefer the color of the Canon glass (it has a warmer tone) for what I do. You might be thinking "man, this glass cost more than my camera!" The thing with good glass, like Canon L glass, is that it's value holds. It's almost like investing in gold. You can get damn near close to what you paid for it years & years from now.

Here's a music video I shot with the same sensor in your T3i. The client didn't have a massive budget so we did what we could, but it'll give you an idea of what you can do with these things! It's awesome.

[video=vimeo;36589724]https://player.vimeo.com/video/36589724

jbooker82

MrDHEJ wrote: »

I am definitly going to keep the sigma 8-16 in mind when the time comes.

It is the widest one you can get and I believe it is made specificly for a crop sensor camera.

As for taking long shutter speeds in day light try crankin the apature up.

MrDHEJ

I saw the T4i; it's also going to be $500 more than the T3i. Though it is quite a bit more camera. I probably should have waited, but I'm not complaining. Well ok, maybe a little lol.

I was playing with the video allot today. Mainly to see the difference between 1080 30fps and 720 60fps. I can tell ya, 90% of the time it's going to be in 720 mode. It'll end up being used mostly for action stuff. And I always love seeing videos slowed down.

I'm all too familiar with expensive glass. Only one of my rifle scopes were under a grand, and that one was $400 sitting on top of my 22. The deficiencies of the kit glass will eventually bug me, especially when I see what the better glass will do.