[fureshi]

i was also in the same boat a few weeks ago, trying to decide to get a really good p&s or a dslr. in the end, i chose the d50 over the d70 and higher end p&s like the canon g series. the ability to change lens won me over. my friend and i went to monterey last weekend and while i was still learning how to use the d50, it was still a lot of fun. i would wholeheartedly suggest getting a dslr. they're not difficult to learn how to use, especially in auto mode but it's the ability to switch lenses and have more control over the camera that is its strong point.

the d50 isn't as small as the rebel xt but it has a good feel to the grip. the xt feels almost too small for my hands. you can't go wrong with either camera though. they both perform as well as their bigger brothers, the d70 and 20d. the d50 image quality is as good or even better than the d70. that, its lower price and ability to take sd cards led me to choose the d50.

here are some pics that i took in monterey. the landscape pics didn't look great so here are some close ups. they're not great but i'm still learning:

 

[Oski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey Oski, congrats on the purchase. Where did you get the kit? J&R?

I got it from Beach Camera in NJ. They have a really great price on the kit. Their pricegrabber reviews are excellent and one of my friends had bought two cameras from them which were shipped pretty much overnight for free. So hopefully it'll come without any problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino 1. get a filter for your lens...not so much to do anything photographic, but to protect your lens. a UV filter would work nicely.

Yeah, I was going to just pilfer the Hoya haze filter from the lens from my trusty Nikon 8008s (which will stand as backup instead)…hopefully it’ll fit.

Otherwise I was also considering getting a circular polarizing filter as well. You have any recommendations?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino 3. get a monopod. faster, simpler, and more useful than a tripod, IMO...

I tend to do street and travel photography that require that I travel light and shoot loosely. I actually have a small Ultrapod that is super compact (about 5” collapsed). But I’ll look around at B&H this Sunday and see what good monopods they have there.

Hopefully I’ll get the camera in the mail by the end of the week and see if I can get some shots in over the weekend.

Thanks again for all the advise guys.

 

[The Monkey]

Ok, almost there guys, help me with the final decision:

Nikon D50 or Pentax *ist DL?

I've been to the photo forums, but frankly, I like you guys better.

 

[milhouse6]

Whichever you choose, make sure you set aside enough $ for an external flash.

My pictures improved 10000% when I figured out how to bounce.

Good luck!

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seeberg Not that I've seen. The D200 is the newest thing out from Nikon, and it would seem that their DSLR lineup has no holes in it- the D50 is the beginner's dream machine, the D70s is the step up to semi-pro, the D200 is for the pro that wants a compact brick of a supercamera, and the D2H and D2X are the big bad uberpro, uberexpensive ultra cameras.

Well, I'm in the Canon camp, so you know what's coming

But I actually think that Nikon do have a hole in their lineup - they don't have an answer to Canon's 35mm sensors. The 5D, 1Ds and 1Ds Mk II are unique in that respect (there's also a Kodak DSLR with a 35mm sensor I think). This lets you use all of those L lenses at the focal lengths for which they were originally designed, and not have to worry about the 1.6 multiplier. Of course, this matters mostly with landscape, where the greater availability of wide-angle lenses is really important.

As far as D50 vs Rebel XT vs Pentax - I would go with either the Canon or Nikon variants, simply because of the great lens availability for either mount. Of course, being in the Canon camp, I'd go with the Rebel (that, and the difference between 6 and 8mp is actually significant, whereas the difference between 8 and 10mp is less so).

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milhouse6 Whichever you choose, make sure you set aside enough $ for an external flash. My pictures improved 10000% when I figured out how to bounce. Good luck!

agreed. the sb-600 is probably the one you want and it's going to cost at least $179 (best price i found on pricegrabber)...i think amazon has the d50 kit with two lenses for $799 shipped...

canon, nikon, it doesn't really matter...it only matters when you have a lens collection already built up...

 

[beerguy0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey Ok, almost there guys, help me with the final decision: Nikon D50 or Pentax *ist DL? I've been to the photo forums, but frankly, I like you guys better.

I'd look at the Canon cameras, but I'm a Canon guy from 25 years ago. The Canon CMOS sensors have lower noise at high ISO (ISO 400 and up). Check the comparisons on DPReview, and look in particular at the high ISO test images. If you plan on shooting indoors w/o flash, this will definitely be a benefit. Check the Rebel XT for starters.

 

[milhouse6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerguy0 The Canon CMOS sensors have lower noise at high ISO (ISO 400 and up).

Yeah, I bought an 8MP Sony F828 when it was fresh on the market, and now that I'm Noise Ninjaing almost every photo I shoot, I'm perpetually stuck wondering if I didn't make a mistake in not choosing the alternate at the time, the EOS 300D. Even at 6.3MP I think the larger cmos sensor and substantially lower noise might have made life easier.

However, my final purchase decision was based on avoiding the long-term upgraditis that dSLR/interchangable len$e$ would have instigated. I have enough gear addicitons as it is. And for that, it worked. In two years all I've bought is a case, a WA, memory, and a bounce flash.

 

[fureshi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milhouse6 Yeah, I bought an 8MP Sony F828 when it was fresh on the market, and now that I'm Noise Ninjaing almost every photo I shoot, I'm perpetually stuck wondering if I didn't make a mistake in not choosing the alternate at the time, the EOS 300D. Even at 6.3MP I think the larger cmos sensor and substantially lower noise might have made life easier. However, my final purchase decision was based on avoiding the long-term upgraditis that dSLR/interchangable len$e$ would have instigated. I have enough gear addicitons as it is. And for that, it worked. In two years all I've bought is a case, a WA, memory, and a bounce flash.

that's pretty good strategy. i just got my camera and although the kit lens is okay for now, i already want to start upgrading to better lenses.

monkey, you're probably better off getting either canon or nikon. there is a larger variety of lenses to choose from and if you're okay with used, it'll be easier to also find a larger variety of used lenses. selling might also be easier because their equipment is so popular.

 

[beerguy0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milhouse6 However, my final purchase decision was based on avoiding the long-term upgraditis that dSLR/interchangable len$e$ would have instigated. I have enough gear addicitons as it is. And for that, it worked. In two years all I've bought is a case, a WA, memory, and a bounce flash.

I bought a Canon Pro 1 two years ago for precisely the same reason. I shot professionally for a number of years, and lugged around way too much gear for way too long. For while, the Pro 1 was adequate, but the frustration of having to always shoot at ISO 50 to get clean images got to be too much, and I would up buying a 20D and two L lenses last fall. I love the 20D, it's a great camera and a lot of fun to use. Being able to shoot at ISO 400 when needed with little or no noise penalty is probably the best part. I still need to get a couple (few) more lenses, (10-22 EF-S, a long macro lens, and probably a fast prime or two).

There's always one more lens

 

[seeberg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey Ok, almost there guys, help me with the final decision: Nikon D50 or Pentax *ist DL? I've been to the photo forums, but frankly, I like you guys better.

Hehe, well HeadFi does have on average better members than most forums

....

Anyway, I'd say between Pentax, which primarily benefits from a bigger LCD display, Pentax lens variety, and more ergonomics compactly for it's body, and Nikon, with its lens lineup and image stabilization options, I'd go Nikon. Even the cheapest lenses have performace that can be tapped at the highest skill levels. While getting IS on a Canon DSLR is less expensive, at this point I'm already in the camp, and the 18-200 VR is just waiting for me to go sell my soul to buy it, haw haw haww... Yeah. So uh... I've got that thing going for me

Beyond that, I'm used to the focal lengths I have access to, as the 18-55 and 70-300 are basicall equivalent 27-82.5mm and 105-450, respectively. In most situations I find that I don't think so much about my focal positions while I compose my shots; if I change step a few paces I can usually make up for a few gaps here and there anyway. Also, and let me put my flame suit on LOL, is that I've never particularly minded my D50's ISO performance. I notice nothing at 800 and it's cleaner than film at 1600, although I could be mistaken.

The main thing keeping me back from making great images isn't the camera's specs, it's the talent, patience, creativity and eyes of a photographer that do. Even the cheapest P&S camera can get great shots if you give enough effort, but you have to get around the obstacle that is a camera, and SLR's simply get out of the way of the photgrapher's creativity. With my D50, this is faster and faster becoming a welcome reality.

All IMHO of course, but that's how I see it from an art perspective.

,
Abe

 

[The Monkey]

Got the D50. This is one of the first shots I took. Obviously, I have no idea what I'm doing yet, but this is going to be fun. Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[fureshi]

congratulations in getting the d50! i really like my d50 and i don't think that i'm really missing out on much by not getting the d70.

great close up of the orchid! i'm also still learning and luckily i have some coworkers, who are avid photographers so i've been taking a lot of pointers from them. i recently got a nikkor 28-200 and am gonna try to spend sometime with it this weekend. the next item that i want is a tripod. based on what i've learned from my coworkers, having a tripod is probably more important than an external flash. of course the flash is also important but i'm also a noob and the tripod seems more important, imo.

 

[dj_mocok]

The only thing that overwhelm me about DSLRs is the price.

Anyway, I think if you have large hands, you'll find Nikon DSLR is better in the hand compared to new Rebel. I tried those two, and the Rebel is definetely too small for my hand, it feels like holding another prosumer/P&S camera, compared to D70s.

D70 feels much more solid and offers more grip for my hands. (in other words, more comfortable shooting experience).

EDIT: Nevermind. I just noticed you already got D50 (Nikon). So have fun ! hehe.. Now your next purchase is not lens. It's Photoshop.

 

[seeberg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey Got the D50. This is one of the first shots I took. Obviously, I have no idea what I'm doing yet, but this is going to be fun. Thanks for your help everyone!

Right on! And that's a great first shot, BTW. The D50 is a very fun camera. Sure, the 18-55mm kit lens has no aperture ring, but it's got very fast, quiet AF and I use mine in Aperture Priority mode, where all I need to worry about most of the time is how much light is available before I'll need a flash. The command dial serves as a nice way to adjust the aperture in this case.
Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok The only thing that overwhelm me about DSLRs is the price. Anyway, I think if you have large hands, you'll find Nikon DSLR is better in the hand compared to new Rebel. I tried those two, and the Rebel is definetely too small for my hand, it feels like holding another prosumer/P&S camera, compared to D70s.

True, and true. Even the D50 feels quite solid and manageable. When I went to Circuit City and was messing around with their SLR selection, I found that the most ergonomic grip was probably the Pentax *ist DS, the most solid was the D50's, and the Rebel XT to be kind of out of place. I have average to small hands, but my hands were still too big for the XT's grip, but work perfectly with the D50's. The thing is though, it's not Canon's fault entirely for giving the XT a grip I can't use, they just didn't use a good design on this one. If they use a 20D or K2 grip on their next Rebel model, this gripe would be no more. Also, their battery grip is quite nice when used with the XT. I recall Devwild's Rebel had one, making it quite a bit easier to work with.
Quote:

Originally Posted by fureshi i recently got a nikkor 28-200 and am gonna try to spend sometime with it this weekend. the next item that i want is a tripod. based on what i've learned from my coworkers, having a tripod is probably more important than an external flash. of course the flash is also important but i'm also a noob and the tripod seems more important, imo.

Just wait until you try that 18-200 VR! For me, it makes me want only it as my lens(as apart from using my 18-55 and 70-300, to ditch my tripod, and my case. I imagine it would make things incredibly convenient, but hooo boy, that price tag is huuuuge to me

,
Abe