need advice on purchase of first DSLR

smartypants

I want to buy my first DSLR, but the pro is to heavy. Which are near pro, but lighter in weight?
any advice will be appreciated. have checked out Nikon D80.
live in small town, so cannot test and have to rely on your help and google.

Art Scott

smartypants wrote:

I want to buy my first DSLR, but the pro is to heavy. Which are near pro, but lighter in weight?
any advice will be appreciated. have checked out Nikon D80.
live in small town, so cannot test and have to rely on your help and google.

If you a re looking at the D80 then go up one to the D90, as I believe itdoes not have to have AF-S lenses.....I believe also you can shoot with FX lenses and have your lenses when you are ready to go full frame...that is if you want to......

On the other hand an extremely fantastic system is the Oly....very light weight and small....it is a fantastic system as fellow DGRINNER: SWINTONPHOTO can tell you....his living comes from shooting with OLY's...........
on the same note there is also Pentax and Panasonic that are of the smaller breeds of cameras..............

smartypants

ok, what is an Oly and what is an FX lens?
I understood, that it is wise to get a lens that is maybe 18-75 or larger. Mainly I want to start out with one lens, that is wide and telephoto- is that possible?
there are so many packages out there- can you advise more on the diff between the Nikon D80, D90 and D200?

Tee Why

Near Pro level and light?
I'd say Canon 5D or 5D Mark II, Nikon d700, and Sony Alpha 900.

However, if you are looking at the Nikon d80, that's more into the beginner/enthusiast line up. In which case the new Nikon D90 or a Canon 40D may be a good buy.

I'm sure others will chime in for other brand favorites as well but I like either Canon or Nikon b/c their systems are very diverse and you can find a lens or an accessory for just about everything fairly easy.

ziggy53

smartypants wrote:

I want to buy my first DSLR, but the pro is to heavy. Which are near pro, but lighter in weight?
any advice will be appreciated. have checked out Nikon D80.
live in small town, so cannot test and have to rely on your help and google.

How will you be using the camera?

Sports?
Family events?
Weddings and events for hire?
Portraiture?
etc.

The more you can tell us the more we can help you.

Also what is your experience in photography?

davidweaver

Bump to Ziggy. How are you going to use it? What do you think you'll do with it?

swintonphoto

Thanks for the kind words as always Art

smartypants wrote:

I want to buy my first DSLR, but the pro is to heavy. Which are near pro, but lighter in weight?
any advice will be appreciated. have checked out Nikon D80.
live in small town, so cannot test and have to rely on your help and google.

To answer your question based on my personal preferences and experience:
I am an avid Olympus user. One of the reasons I was drawn to Olympus cameras is their great size, and their amazing features for prices far better than the competition. They are light, slightly smaller than competitors, yet carry more professional features than comparable cameras by other manufacturers in the same price bracket. If I was looking for a good setup these are the possible bodies I would consider based on your budget:

E-510: body only $470, 2 lens kit: $590 (just replaced by the E-520 so it is very affordable right now, and the upgrades in the E-520 are minor)
E-520: body only $600, 1 lens kit: $630, 2 lens kit $710
E-3: body only $1450 (this is their top pro body - much larger than the others)

Here are the lenses I would consider getting if I was buying a new kit:
Standard Lenses:
14-42 f/3.5-5.6 (comes in 1 and 2-lens kits with E-510/E-520 camera)
40-150 f/4-5.6 (comes in 2-lens kit with E-510/E-520 camera)
70-300 f/4-5.6 lens ($320)

Pro Lenses:
14-54 f/2.8-3.5 pro lens ($400)
12-60 f/2.8-4 pro lens ($800)
50-200 f/2.8-3.5 pro lens ($950)

I currently use the following setup as my main camera & lenses for my professional studio:
E-510 camera body, 14-54 f2.8-3.5 pro lens, 50-200mm 2.8-3.5 pro lens + some other lenses (but those two lenses are used 90% of the time.

Here is a link to more info: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_slr.asp

See my websites below for samples from this and other Olympus cameras.

Cato

In addition to all the other stuff already said, what's your budget?

Oly = Olympus.

Archer_1

When I first considered getting a DSLR, I took my friends Nikon d-80 for a 'test-drive' for an entire day. By days end, I'd determined that the weight and balance of the system were important factors to me and that the Nikon din't have the kind of 'feel' I was looking for. After trying a few other bodies out, I ended up with a Pentax iSTD, which I'm fairly happy with.

ziggy53

Archer_1 wrote:

When I first considered getting a DSLR, I took my friends Nikon d-80 for a 'test-drive' for an entire day. By days end, I'd determined that the weight and balance of the system were important factors to me and that the Nikon din't have the kind of 'feel' I was looking for. After trying a few other bodies out, I ended up with a Pentax iSTD, which I'm fairly happy with.

Archer_1, welcome to the Digital Grin.

I am a longtime Pentax user but I haven't gone Pentax dSLR, ... yet!

I do use Pentax lenses on the Canon camera bodies (via adapter) and I am constantly impressed by their quality. I am so happy that Pentax has chosen to support their older lenses even back to M42/screwmount with just simple adapters.