I am going to buy my first DSLR. So I do not need to go nuts of course and had thought of the canon 5d MKII.Then someone said the nikon was more ergonomic as compared to the old SLR.
I am just doing this as I just got told I can no longer do my job since of an injury.So I am thinking of starting low,I almost went crazy,but common sense came into play.Thank goodness,plus a divorce has a little bearing as awell....
I know this is a battle , canon vs Nikon,but I am looking not for the newest and best as anything wiuld be better than what I have at the moment.....

Best bet on feel is to go into a store and hold them. What feels right for me won't necessarily feel right for you.

I think Nikon has the more compelling bodies these days (particularly those using Sony sensors, eg the D7000 and D800). If I weren't invested in canon stuff, I'd get the D800 (almost did regardless).

I generally point people who are just getting started towards the D7000.

Two questions need to answer. What are you going to use for: landscape, sports, events, portraits,... Then how much of a budget do you have for the camera, lenses and if you don't have a good processing computer then a computer with a good monitor with a calibrator?

Is this going to be hobby, semi-pro or pro?

You can easily spend $10,000 on nice body, couple of very good lenses and computer setup.

I started with a laptop and Adobe Photoshop Elements, Nikon D90 and two lenses - 18-105 and 70-300m. Then built a new computer from scratch - very good monitor, lots of storage, monitor calibrator and Adobe Lightroom. Recently bought a used Nikon D700 - got a very good one with only 2,000 actuations. Now need to buy a few lenses - easily combined cost will be more than the camera body.

If you can wait a month of so, Nikon is expected to announce a new full frame camera.

There so much great stuff to choose from.

Good luck.

Phil

Originally Posted by lifeinfocus Two questions need to answer. What are you going to use for: landscape, sports, events, portraits,... Then how much of a budget do you have for the camera, lenses and if you don't have a good processing computer then a computer with a good monitor with a calibrator? Is this going to be hobby, semi-pro or pro? You can easily spend $10,000 on nice body, couple of very good lenses and computer setup. I started with a laptop and Adobe Photoshop Elements, Nikon D90 and two lenses - 18-105 and 70-300m. Then built a new computer from scratch - very good monitor, lots of storage, monitor calibrator and Adobe Lightroom. Recently bought a used Nikon D700 - got a very good one with only 2,000 actuations. Now need to buy a few lenses - easily combined cost will be more than the camera body. If you can wait a month of so, Nikon is expected to announce a new full frame camera. There so much great stuff to choose from. Good luck. Phil

Thank you.Computer is covered,ASUS 17.3" screen 16GB RAM 1 TB hard drive and the latest niveda card.Someone bought it and got into trouble finacially so I was lucky.
The closest camera store is 300 miles away,but I will make the journey next week and hold off until Photokina as even if I do not go for the newest it will usually lower the cost of the older ones.I do not need the newest by any means being I am a real noob when it comes to digital....

Originally Posted by PHOTOMAYBE Thank you.Computer is covered,ASUS 17.3" screen 16GB RAM 1 TB hard drive and the latest niveda card.Someone bought it and got into trouble finacially so I was lucky. The closest camera store is 300 miles away,but I will make the journey next week and hold off until Photokina as even if I do not go for the newest it will usually lower the cost of the older ones.I do not need the newest by any means being I am a real noob when it comes to digital....

If you are close to big metro area, you can shop used via Craigslist. Unfortunately, I am not. The best Craigslist camera city is about four hours away for me. If you look for used, check out both Ebay and Craigslist to find the going rate.

If you buy new - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/,http://www.adorama.com/ are couple of the good ones.

Phil

Originally Posted by lifeinfocus If you are close to big metro area, you can shop used via Craigslist. Unfortunately, I am not. The best Craigslist camera is city is about four hours away for me. If you look for used, check out both Ebay and Craigslist to find the going rate. If you buy new - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/,http://www.adorama.com/ are couple of the good ones. Phil

I held the D800 yesterday and it sure felt really comforatable.Now I know I do not need it,but boy am I tempted...

"I know this is a battle , canon vs Nikon,but I am looking not for the newest and best as anything wiuld be better than what I have at the moment"

Based on this statement, the MOST important thing you need to be considering right now is now what camera you should buy, but what system. If you are like anyone I know, surely whichever body you decide to buy today will not be your last. And surely you will buy a lens here or there. They last thing you want is to wish you had X brand in three years while you have a Y body and 3 Y lenses, and a Y flash.

Bodies come and go.

Originally Posted by supermarvin76 "I know this is a battle , canon vs Nikon,but I am looking not for the newest and best as anything wiuld be better than what I have at the moment" Based on this statement, the MOST important thing you need to be considering right now is now what camera you should buy, but what system. If you are like anyone I know, surely whichever body you decide to buy today will not be your last. And surely you will buy a lens here or there. They last thing you want is to wish you had X brand in three years while you have a Y body and 3 Y lenses, and a Y flash. Bodies come and go.

Agree with this completely. Furthermore, you need to determine what sort of photography you enjoy seeing in the world. Is it landscapes? Portraiture? You can get a used 5D Classic, full frame, excellent rectangle-maker for about $800-$900 in superb condition. Spending less, you can get one that's a little rough around the edges.

Are you into your kids' sports? Fast moving action? You might want a 7D, which can be had for a relatively low price these days, it's a slightly more advanced camera, though.

You need to answer these questions. For a relatively low price, you can also rent at least the 7D, and any other new cameras. It may be worth it if you think you'll become a serious photographer. In reality, though, I don't personally believe there's much way of determining that prior to getting your first camera.

Remember, though, that it's less about the camera than it is about your specific system choice, and then the lenses you put on that body.

Everyone has already given great advice. I too would suggest going to a store and physically handling both Canon and Nikon and making your own choice. My advice to anyone buying their first camera is NOT to spend a lot of money on the body. An expensive camera does not make a great photographer. Buy a starter DSLR and use it as a learning tool to then decide what type of pro body you need. As others have pointed out, the type of body you need really depends on what type of photography you do (ie: sports vs landscape, etc). The other aspect of not diving in too deep as first is that if you do decide to jump from one system to another you really don't loose a lot of investment.
The computer is also a tool that is vastly overlooked. A laptop is not a workstation. It was never designed to be. If you start coming home with 3000 images from a shoot you will quickly find that a laptop will fall very short in meeting your needs. Another issue that many overlook is BACKUP. Digital photography does not have negatives. The original images on your computer are priceless so they should be backed up to AT LEAST one other location (external HD, second computer, optical media, etc). I personally back up every original image to 2 locations.

Originally Posted by Rufus280 Everyone has already given great advice. I too would suggest going to a store and physically handling both Canon and Nikon and making your own choice. My advice to anyone buying their first camera is NOT to spend a lot of money on the body. An expensive camera does not make a great photographer. Buy a starter DSLR and use it as a learning tool to then decide what type of pro body you need. As others have pointed out, the type of body you need really depends on what type of photography you do (ie: sports vs landscape, etc). The other aspect of not diving in too deep as first is that if you do decide to jump from one system to another you really don't loose a lot of investment. The computer is also a tool that is vastly overlooked. A laptop is not a workstation. It was never designed to be. If you start coming home with 3000 images from a shoot you will quickly find that a laptop will fall very short in meeting your needs. Another issue that many overlook is BACKUP. Digital photography does not have negatives. The original images on your computer are priceless so they should be backed up to AT LEAST one other location (external HD, second computer, optical media, etc). I personally back up every original image to 2 locations.

I personally disagree regarding the laptop statement. My MacBook Pro is my sole computing device for all my imagery, and I know there are many photographers on the go who rely on the MacBook Air. A Mac is much more Photoshop friendly, on the go, than a Windows laptop, which I see he said that he has. In that light, you are correct.

It does all depend on what you're using that camera for...once again. Still, I think a laptop can work.

Originally Posted by Quincy T I personally disagree regarding the laptop statement. My MacBook Pro is my sole computing device for all my imagery, and I know there are many photographers on the go who rely on the MacBook Air. A Mac is much more Photoshop friendly, on the go, than a Windows laptop, which I see he said that he has. In that light, you are correct. It does all depend on what you're using that camera for...once again. Still, I think a laptop can work.

Quincy, I don't want to aim this thread into a computer related one, so I'll just say that a laptop can no doubt be used when starting out or doing limited shooting, but anyone doing serious shooting and solely using a laptop is crippling themselves in more ways than one. Laptops are too limited in speed, size, convenience of use, comfort, etc, for extensive use.
My comment is meant merely to make people just starting out realize that today's digital photography requires more than just a camera and a lens, and depending on the level that they aspire, require real computers with such things as external HD's/arrays, optical media burners, tape backups, servers, etc.
I know one amateur photographer that doesn't own a computer, but merely buys additional cf cards as he fills them. This apparently works for him, but certainly wouldn't work for most of us.
A laptop, especially the MacBook Air is designed as a "remote terminal" to be used in conjunction with a workstation. I too use a MacBook Pro, but only to have the ability to empty/back up cards at the end of a shooting day while away from home, or to do presentation slideshows for clients.

Originally Posted by Rufus280 Quincy, I don't want to aim this thread into a computer related one, so I'll just say that a laptop can no doubt be used when starting out or doing limited shooting, but anyone doing serious shooting and solely using a laptop is crippling themselves in more ways than one. Laptops are too limited in speed, size, convenience of use, comfort, etc, for extensive use. My comment is meant merely to make people just starting out realize that today's digital photography requires more than just a camera and a lens, and depending on the level that they aspire, require real computers with such things as external HD's/arrays, optical media burners, tape backups, servers, etc. I know one amateur photographer that doesn't own a computer, but merely buys additional cf cards as he fills them. This apparently works for him, but certainly wouldn't work for most of us. A laptop, especially the MacBook Air is designed as a "remote terminal" to be used in conjunction with a workstation. I too use a MacBook Pro, but only to have the ability to empty/back up cards at the end of a shooting day while away from home, or to do presentation slideshows for clients.

Too late, it's now deeply into laptop defense.

"laptop" includes too much technology to paint them with such a broad brush. Yeah, some are designed for ultra portability at the expense of features, but you can get laptops now with a terrabyte harddrive and 12 GB RAM, and high quality screens. Add an external IPS or whatever monitor to use 'at your desk' and a USB mouse or tablet, and that should be enough speed and size, plus portability to boot.

The equivalent system will usually be cheaper in a desktop, but that doesn't seem to be a big part of your argument.

Originally Posted by Rufus280 Quincy, I don't want to aim this thread into a computer related one, so I'll just say that a laptop can no doubt be used when starting out or doing limited shooting, but anyone doing serious shooting and solely using a laptop is crippling themselves in more ways than one. Laptops are too limited in speed, size, convenience of use, comfort, etc, for extensive use. My comment is meant merely to make people just starting out realize that today's digital photography requires more than just a camera and a lens, and depending on the level that they aspire, require real computers with such things as external HD's/arrays, optical media burners, tape backups, servers, etc. I know one amateur photographer that doesn't own a computer, but merely buys additional cf cards as he fills them. This apparently works for him, but certainly wouldn't work for most of us. A laptop, especially the MacBook Air is designed as a "remote terminal" to be used in conjunction with a workstation. I too use a MacBook Pro, but only to have the ability to empty/back up cards at the end of a shooting day while away from home, or to do presentation slideshows for clients.

Photography is a huge investment. That's a good point to make.

As you said, let's not steer this into a laptop discussion. I'll hold my comments on that.

Originally Posted by Quincy T Photography is a huge investment. That's a good point to make. As you said, let's not steer this into a laptop discussion. I'll hold my comments on that.

I've started a thread in DIGITAL DARKROOM to continue this discussion and to prevent from hijacking this thread.

Originally Posted by Rufus280 I've started a thread in DIGITAL DARKROOM to continue this discussion and to prevent from hijacking this thread.

Thank you.......My laptop is an ASUS with 24 GB Ram ssd 138 GB 1TB hdd niveda video 3GB....Laptop that is a desk top but can be be put into a backpack......I am talking camera....

Originally Posted by Quincy T Agree with this completely. Furthermore, you need to determine what sort of photography you enjoy seeing in the world. Is it landscapes? Portraiture? You can get a used 5D Classic, full frame, excellent rectangle-maker for about $800-$900 in superb condition. Spending less, you can get one that's a little rough around the edges. Are you into your kids' sports? Fast moving action? You might want a 7D, which can be had for a relatively low price these days, it's a slightly more advanced camera, though. You need to answer these questions. For a relatively low price, you can also rent at least the 7D, and any other new cameras. It may be worth it if you think you'll become a serious photographer. In reality, though, I don't personally believe there's much way of determining that prior to getting your first camera. Remember, though, that it's less about the camera than it is about your specific system choice, and then the lenses you put on that body.

Renting sounds like a good idea,thanks...