Good deal?
I'm in the market for a new DSLR. I'm new and trying to get started into photography other than point and shoot. I don't have any equipment what so ever. I'm trying to stay under $700 as best I can. I can pick up a XTI from a local Best Buy for around $630 with the kit 18-55 lens. Does that seem like a pretty fair price? Granted, I'd love to have an XSI, but its out of my price range and they are too new for haggling with local photography shops. So, what do you think? Thanks!
Kris
Kris
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Kris,
What are your goals in photography? (Personal use only? Will you aspire to professional status and wish to sell your work?)
How will you use the camera? (Family, events, sports, ... ?)
What is your experience level and background in photography?
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
My goals are to take nice pictures that my fiance and I will appreciate. I don't really plan to try to become a pro at this point, but who knows?
I'll be using the camera for mostly taking pictures of family and people (in natural settings not studio portraits), outdoors, and architecture.
My experience is strictly point and shoot cameras, most of which were Canon. I haven't taken any classes, but will when I get a DSLR to get the basics.
Kris
That's very reasonable. Either the XTi or the used 30D that Gus mentioned should work fine. I do highly recommend an external flash and some simple light modifiers that you can build very inexpensively.
The "kit" lens really needs to be used at smaller apertures for best results. Try to use at least f5.6 on the wide end and f8 at 50mm. That means you will likely need additional light for the indoor shots.
Outdoors the flash can provide some fill light as well, although sometimes the built-in flash can suffice for fill applications.
The external flash can be as simple as a Sunpak 383 Super or a Vivitar 285HV. It does appear that the Sunpak was discontinued and it's getting hard to find.
Either the Canon 430EX or 580EX would make a great choice, but the 580EX is fairly expensive. A Sigma EF 530 DG Super flash is also a good choice IMO. All of these flashes come with an autofocus assist light to help the lens focus in really poor light.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I have been watching Ebay, as well as the local classifieds for an XTI or 30D/40D. I haven't really run across any "great" deals yet, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled. Thank you for the advice on the external flash and the aperature settings.
Kris
Recent ratings for Butterfly are pretty poor (and lifetime ratings are not so good):
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/ButterFly_Photo
I don't think I can recommend them with only a 50% approval.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
The cheapest is the Nikon D40 w/18-55mm (470.00) which has fewer megapixels (you can still make good prints from it though to 8x10 no problem, if its a good lower ISO shot they can go up to 16x20 and larger). You just have to be careful which lenses you buy, because not all autofocus with the body.
If you're a member at Costco they are selling the Olympus E-420 for 500 on their website with the kit lens and a 2gb cf. I just picked one of these cameras up a few days ago and it's been amazing.
Also at $500 is the Sony A200 w/18-70mm I don't have any direct experience with these bodies, but it definitely seems like a good deal for what you're going to be shooting. And for $100 more you can get the a300 which includes live view and tiltable LCD
The only complaint I have about them (and I consider it minor) is that when you place your order you can expect a cal to "confirm" it so they can try to sell you a warranty/extra battery/memory card, etc. I just tell them I'm broke after buying the camera and they drop the subject and ship my stuff. It's no worse than Best Buy, etc trying to sell you an extra, but it slows down the shipping by a day.
But if I had seen these reviews before I ordered from them, I probably would have passed them up myself.
The BBS report on there says they relocated to NJ in 2006. I've been ordering from them since 2001-2002 and they've been in NJ since then. The area code they always call from is NJ and the return shipping label was always a NJ address. Maybe they had a NYC storefront and a NJ warehouse?
I've had worse luck with Adorama. I bought my 1D MK2n from them on Ebay and they dropped the ball from start to finish. No responses to emails after I paid, shipped a day late (they did upgrade to overnight at least), forgot to put the charger in the box, didn't mention the hot shoe was loose in the auction description, finally shipped the charger, which arrived a full 8 days after the camera and it isn't an OEM charger. I think that should have been mentioned in the auction description. Every time I called I got passed off to someone else 3 or 4 times and hung up on more than once. And a minor bitch, but the camera was filthy when it arrived. Adorama is supposed to be one of the trustworthy businesses to deal with, but I doubt they'll ever see another dime from me.
My last order with Butterfly was Nov 2006, so I'll be watching that list to see how they do before I buy from them again.
My coworker just bought the A200 w/2 lens kit. It's OK, but it kind of feels like a toy. It had a good review (IIRC) on dpreview.com, but I wasn't that impressed with it in person. The lenses felt cheap too. I know, they're kit lenses, but even the Canon Nifty Fifty feels more solid than the Sony kit lenses. The camera just didn't look/feel like it was going to be around for more than 12 months before it started falling apart.
My first DSLR was the XTi. I've used and abused it and it still works great after 60,000+ actuations. Shutter life is supposed to be 50,000. It's been through a lot for a consumer camera and it still works like it was new. I carried it everywhere up until a few weeks ago. Now my wife has it and she's learning how to use it.