What SLR camera to get?

John_3:16

Sony a200 with anti shake for me. Have one and love it. With anti shake you can go a couple of stops before you need a flash. It also has a good auto mode and the auto focus is very sharp.

Fifer

Marty_J wrote: »

Nikon D40.

Next question!

John_3:16 wrote: »

Sony a200 with anti shake for me. Have one and love it. With anti shake you can go a couple of stops before you need a flash. It also has a good auto mode and the auto focus is very sharp.

As do the Olympus E-410, E-420, E-510, E-520 and ringo's Panasonic (the model number of which evades me right now). We are all falling into the trap (which I've been guilty of doing myself) of saying 'buy [my camera model], it's the D's Bs'. But few of us have much extensive experience of shooting with DSLRs other than those we've bought. And most of the entry level models from Canon, Sony, Olympus, Pentax, Nikon, Panasonic and the rest and perfectly good, competent cameras with capabilities that most users (me included) will only scratch the surface of.

Perhaps we need to give the OP more practical advice. What is anti shake? Do I need live view? How much are accessories and additional lenses? What upgrade route exists with this camera?

And maybe, just maybe, a bridge camera is the solution for this buyer.

unrich

If you want a small all in one solution that will provide perfectly decent photos printing up to a4 then get a bridge camera. Like the Lumix TZ5 (£180ish), or the super LX3.(£370 ish)(Leica pedigree). The long zoom lenses are complete overkill for a few close portraits here and there. Also you'll be shaking about all over the place and unless you use a tripod its pointless. FZ18 for example has a super long zoom.

If you fancy thet you'll want to get a bit more control over things and want to experiment with more range to your shots, get a DSLR. Get ANY of the major brands entry level cameras from the past couple of years. 6 mega pixels and up. You will be fine with the stock zoom lens of about 18-50mm. In the range £250-400. You can then add an off camera flash, a long lens, a tripod, filters etc etc to your kit. Nikon D40,D50 , Pentax K10D, Samsung GX10, Canon 400D, 450D, Sony A100, A200 etc etc all will be fine.

I like my Samsung because as well as all the control it has some green buttons. You set all the dials to green and point and shoot.

The Olympuses also have a good reputation but they lie between the bridge cameras and the DSLRs. Olympus use a slightly smaller sensor and the results can be seen, better than a bridge but worse than a DSLR. but they are light weight and compact.

here are the usual sites I sniff over.
http://camerapricebuster.co.uk/cat9.html
http://www.testfreaks.co.uk/digital-cameras/?sort=score
http://www.dpreview.com/

Fifer

unrich wrote: »

Olympus use a slightly smaller sensor and the results can be seen, better than a bridge but worse than a DSLR. but they are light weight and compact.

Very slightly smaller and whether the effect is significant is debatable. But in case anyone is confused, the Olympus E series is a full blown DSLR.

Just_landed

To add my twopence worth since I moved to Digital SLRs, I started with a Canon EOS 300d, sold it on Ebay and then bought a Canon EOS 400d s/hand on Ebay. I was very pleased with 300d and am very pleased with the 400d camera, the lenses interchange also with both cameras there is a function where you just point & press the button job done. The quality of the pictures are very good too.

unrich

I might be wrong but I think the Olympus uses a 4/3 sensor. At least the E520 does. 17mm by 13mm. (221mm^2)

Standard DSLRs use an APS-C sensor size of 23.5 by 15.7. (369mm^2) I make that 67% bigger than the 4/3 sensor size and not 14% as quoted in your link.

You can see the difference in size from here http://www.thinkcamera.com/news/article/mps/uan/644

You can see the difference in image quality here http://www.digicamreview.co.uk/fujifilm_finepix_s9600_s9100_review.htm scroll down to see the comparisons.

If you want the best quality image for up to A4 then leave the Fuji and the Olympus at home. Take a 6 megapixel Nikon, Canon or Pentax (samsung).

unrich

I know the d300 is overkill and not really a comparison but here are some other side by side 4/3s http://www.pbase.com/viztyger/nikon_d300_vs_olympus_e410.

Also not sure but the e520 is some 240g lighter than my GX10.

They (Olympus) are still way better than bridge cameras but not up to a full blown DSLR for image quality,

Fifer

unrich wrote: »

Standard DSLRs use an APS-C sensor size of 23.5 by 15.7. (369mm^2) I make that 67% bigger

Not 67% bigger. The total surface area of the four-thirds sensor is about 67% of the APS-C, making the APS-C about 47% bigger. But not all the width of the APS-C is used to create the image.

unrich wrote: »

than the 4/3 sensor size and not 14% as quoted in your link.

I think you misread. They didn't claim the area was 14% less.

"The two remaining formats (APS-C and Sigma Foveon) are roughly the same size as Four Thirds, especially after taking into account that most of the difference in the longer dimension is usually cropped anyway to fit the image into one of the standard print sizes). In terms of image height, APS-C is 14% bigger, Sigma — 6%."

unrich wrote: »

They (Olympus) are still way better than bridge cameras but not up to a full blown DSLR for image quality.

Sorry to keep harping on, but the four-thirds system cameras are full blown DSLRs.

unrich

Well, I compose the image through the viewfinder and then crop, if needed, using a computer. I print what I've taken as I cropped it and NEVER to fit the size of a piece of paper. (shrink to fit not crop to fit).

I suppose if one feels constrained by paper sizes one might want to use a 4/3 sensor to help out.

Anyway this doesn't help the OP.

Fifer

unrich wrote: »

Anyway this doesn't help the OP.

I know. That's what I was trying to say in post #13.

But neither does inaccurate information about what is and isn't an SLR. An SLR is a camera which uses a mirror and a penatprism or pentamirror. Sensor size and shape doesn't come into it.