Which budget Ditigal SLR? Pentax, Nikon or Canon

pin

I want to buy a new toy (a digi SLR). There are three on my list of possibilities:

Pentax *ist DS
Nikon D50
Canon 350D

All are about the same price (Nikon D70s is a possibility but slightly above my price range).

I use a film SLR at present, but want to move to digital. I have hit the review sites and have read reviews of all three cameras. I have also been into a camera store to see their size and how they feel. However I still can't decide which to opt for!!

I was wondering if any of you guys have any personal recommendations on any of these cameras.

All help will be greatly appriciated.

Rave

What's your current SLR system? If it's Pentax, Canon or Nikon autofocus, then go with whichever brand you already have so that you can keep using your existing lenses. Otherwise, there's not much in it; I'm a big fan of Canon SLRs, but when I worked in a Camera shop my best advice to people was to buy the camera that they felt most comfortable using, since there was rarely a great deal of difference in features or picture quality.

pin

I've actually got a Minolta 7000i at present.

Rave

Minolta are releasing a cheaper version of the Dynax 7D soon, called the 5D I think- it's in this week's Amateur Photographer anyway. It'll have the rather cool image stabilisation technology. If you've got lenses that you want to keep you might want to wait and try it out.

http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/review/konica_minolta/dynax/5D_EN1.html

pin

I'm not good on the whole digital SLR front (but am learning)! So I can use an existing old lens on a new digital camera??

Rave

You should be able to yes- I've forgotten a little about lenses since I stopped working in the camera shop but I believe there are two generations of Minolta autofocus lenses. The earlier ones should still fit but they might not allow all the camera's advanced features to work. Once the 5D is out you could take your lenses along to the shop to verify that they work.

There's one caveat though, which is that consumer level digital SLRs use a sensor which is smaller than a piece of 35mm film, so you get a telephoto effect where the lens gives a narrower field of view on the digital SLR than it would on a film camera. For example, if you had a 200mm lens, it would give the same angle of view as a 300mm lens on a film camera. This is ideal for sports and wildlife photographers who need plenty of magnification, and it's a pain for photographers who like to do scenery because they can't get wideangles as easily. That's why the lenses supplied with digital SLRs tend to be something like 18-55mm- that's equivalent to a 28-80 on a 35mm camera.

EvilMonkey

Very little more to add, Rave's highlighted the bext course really. You should be able to use your old lenses and accessories (flashes etc.) with the new digi SLR.

If you've not got many lenses \ they don't work \ you fancy a change etc. The next step would be to go pick the fella's up and try them out. For this kind of purchase I'd say that's an essential step.

Theyr'e all great camera's with some unique features and some unique flaws. I find they all balance each other out, so it comes down to the smaller things like how it fits your hand? Does the button placement feel natural to you? etc.

Reading reviews (see www.dpreview for plenty of them + forums discussing the cams endlessly) can help, but as I say you can get bogged down in figures and miss the reality quite easily...

E.M.

pin

Thanks evil. That is where I have come to I think. It seems I have been bogged down with information overload and can't decide!!

shrek101

The image stablisher on the Minolta's are brill I have the Dimage A2 and what a difference the stablisher makes to taking good pictures even on the move.

Hintza

Remember to take a look at the canon outlet on EBay. Some good deals on the EOS 300 runout model.

pin

Hi. OK home now. The lens I have for my Minolta is an AF35-105. The flash is the 2800AF. I will be looking around the internet to see if these can be used on a KM DSLR, however I was wondering if some of you guys will know the answer.