If you are considering getting a dSLR camera, there are lots of brands who produce them, but the main ones with the largest market share are Nikon and Canon (both Japanese companies). In dSLR world, the camera body and the lens are the two separate components (unlike when using a point-and-shoot camera where the lens is "built-in" and both the camera and the lens are called simply "camera"). So, in dSLR, the lens and the camera body are separate concepts. Unfortunately, there is no common standard when it comes to lenses, so most companies produce their own proprietary lenses, which work only with their cameras. That means that if you buy a Nikon camera, you can not buy a Canon lens and put on it, and vice versa (there are exceptions when a third-party company makes lenses for several brands, Sigma for example). And because often lenses cost more than the camera itself and photographers normally have not one, but two, three and more lenses, the investment into lenses becomes quite substantial. Therefore, most people who start with a particular brand don't easily switch to another, unless they sell all their equipment and start from the scratch. Nikon and Canon are like two religions with very devoted followers. If you choose Nikon (like I did), the company categorizes all their digital SLR cameras into 3 groups: Beginner, Advanced and Professional. If you are a professional, you already know and have what you need. But for general use, for hobbyist photographers like myself, the way I see it, as of today, the logical path when moving from one level to another is using the following cameras (camera bodies, actually, because lenses are a separate topic):
Beginner: D40 (alternatives: D60, D5000) [$350 - $1000]
Advanced: D90 (alternatives: D300, D300s) [$1000 - $2000]
Pro: D700 (alternatives: D3) [$2500 and up]
(I listed only those models that are currently available in stores. You can also buy lots of other Nikon models, used. My current camera is D40.)
This is how I would recommend it to anyone who loves taking pictures, but is not doing career with that (although, who knows, you might one day). [L]
2009-08-25
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2 comments:
Nice summary.
You could also specify the price
range for the cameras :).
My thoughts.
On one of the links that you gave me, the author wrote that if you do not learn the theory behind it and how to operate the camera in a manual or half manual mode, the more expensive cameras will not do the job for you. You can take crappy pictures with really expensive cameras as well as not expensive ones.
As for me, I still filter out around 85% of taken pictures.
If you get a good camera, be prepared to spend some time to read (or watch learning videos) and practice practice practice.
Thank you.
I absolutely agree. Most people when they start out with dSLRs, make pictures that look exactly the same as if when taken with cheap point-and-shoot cameras. So yes, it takes a lot of willingness to learn and a lot of practice to take artistic pictures (or simply beautiful pictures, pleasant for the eye).
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