Which Digital SLR

Going on holiday later in the summer and need a camera.

Was going to go D-SLR as I'm fed-up with the slow response of compacts.

Have read-up a little bit and have to decide between the Nikon D60 and Canon EOS 450D

The latter is about £100 more than the Nikon (so my leaning is towards the Nikon)

Any of you photography boffins here know these camera's well enough to say if the extra £100 is worth it? I'm not a serious photographer but need low shutter lag and quick time to shot from power up. Useful for kids and wildlife which is what I'll be snapping.

Probably likely to be used mainly in auto mode if i'm honest but you never know I may get into it.

 

I've got a canon 400D - not sure of the exact differences between that and the 450d - but the 400d's spot on...!

you can get some good deals on that too...

 

Mr.Cats a canon man.

I'm for Nikon.

Go into a shop and handle both...see what seems right.

I did with that with my nikon 5700 and didn't want anything esle. Thats was 4 years ago though and things have changed totally.

I like the def and colours my camera gives (more than my dads canon s5!)but it is PAINFULLY slow in comparison with modern cameras.

The modern dslrs should have that cracked.

My mates (local) has got a canon similar to Mr,Cats and the start up speed is TOTALLY different to mine.

UP to date Nikons will be as well....so as I say, go and take a ganders at both and see what seems right to you.

 

Yes, I did look at the 400D. The 450D is being touted as a quantum leap forward from the 400D hence my question as to whether it warrants the extra £100. Apparently a lot of the technology features of the 40D are now in the 450D

from Steve's Digicams...

"The last Canon Rebel we reviewed was the XTi back in 2006. Now we have a brand new Rebel XSi and it's a beauty. The list of improvements over earlier models is impressive and include a 12.2-megapixel image sensor, Live View capability, 3.5 fps continuous shooting, the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, 3.0" LCD, the DIGIC III Image Processor and a longer lasting battery..."

 

im neither a nikon nor a canon man... what i am is a realist... and the new nikon's just doing quite do it for me on their cheaper products. I think they are outgunned by the canon offerings. The likes of the D300 etc are astonishing cameras... but the D40 and D60 don't convince me.

if you fancy a nikon, and want a fantastic feeling, operating and well built camera... then try to find a used (or new old stock) D50, its a much nicer camera to use.

the real question to ask... is if your mainly going to use auto mode... and maybe stray into a few tweaks later on, why on earth do you want an SLR? there are plenty very well equipped bridge cameras and large compacts that will give you everything an SLR will, and probably more, for your needs, such as a decent zoom lens.

The kit lens on a nikon/canon will have very little useable zoom on it, wont take you in very far, and will likely be pretty pointless on holiday. The likes of a canon powershot G9 will give you full manual control if you want it, but will also give you a better amount of zoom, and will produce much better photos in auto, straight off the camera.

Im sorry, but SLR's just aint designed to be used that way, and its likely, that used on auto, with a kit lens, the results will be uninspiring and dull.

a compact avoids you all sensor cleaning issues, live view is standard, you will get anything up to 10x zoom if you shop around... by comparison a kit lens of 18-55 is only a 3x zoom and wont do you a blind bit of good with wildlife, where something like a 300mm is a realistic minimum.

 

Hmm I think I'll pop into a shop and cop a feel as David suggests.
May even take some test snaps to check whether shutter lag is an issue.

 

shrink I take your point about compacts but aren't they terribly slow unresponsive things? With my current compact ( a minolta F-100) I usually miss most of the shots I want to take as by the time the camera is ready to shoot, the subject has moved away and the moment is lost.

i am willing to learn a bit about it to be more proficient. Might even go on a short course as i've alwasy found the damn things mystifying. Now I know how an old perosn used to feel about trying to programme a VCR..

 

its true that an SLR will give you near instantaneous (at least as close as your body can tell) shutter response. I just think you will find the kit lens very very limiting. I ditched mine as quickly as i could. Nikon do however do a nice 18-200 lens which would be great for general point and shoot use.

the secret will be to set the camera up to sharpen, boost colours etc for JPEG's so that you will get fairly decent looking shots off camera.

I think its worth checking out a few compacts though, i found the canon powershot A570IS to be a great little camera, so newer more expensive alternatives should perform well.

 

Could you be a bit more speciifc about the Nikon 18-200 lens so i can check prices.

I could then get just the body of a D60 and then get the lens you mention

 

ooh just googling Nike 18-200 lens comes up with £400 quids worth..

sort of doubles the price with the body

 

yeah well i really think the kit lens will be a huge dissapointment... it'll take you from pretty wide angle, to not really telephoto, and if you have any intention of doing wildlife, you aint getting close with the 55mm longest setting on the kit.

for most of my bird photography, im using a 400mm lens, and even that aint quite close enough sometimes.

 

why not look at a used D50, or a lower end D40x with the 18-200 lens rather than a D60 with kit lens, should surely cost about the same with enough savvy.

 

I've got some cheap canon lenses for sale...just get a cheap body...

but to be honest - there isn't a great deal of difference between a cheap nikon and canon - despite what some people may say...

I only got the canon because it was cheap and available when I had the cash...it could have easily of been a nikon...

and these are my pics -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/weardaleone/

where are your's dave..? - you always seem to complain how crap your camera is..!

 

Kit lenses AFICT don't get a good write up. Period.

Go for some thing up the scale a bit......there are people better aquainted with whats around to advise you.......but keep away from the kit lenses.

My 5700 I was one of those bridge cameras that gives laods of zoom (8x), my Dads s3 and s5 give 10x.

I suspect the speed issues with the bridge cameras have been largley resolved as my dads old s3 (which I now have) is tons quicker than mine. I just don't rate the colours/definition.

I did by the way drop my Nikon a week ago onto a pretty hard canal tow path.

The lens cap took most of the shock......the camera is fine.

My brothers 8700 came off a tripod last xmas.......again ......fine.

 

kit lenses are largely dire, i usually suggest buying body only and getting a mid-range zoom seperately.

I Must admit im a lens addict, and use a large variety of canon L glass, simply because ive found very little below them, that encouraged me to keep them (50mm 1.8 mk1 aside). A lot of nikons cheaper glass is quite a bit better than canons consumer stuff.

 

I'm not entrely saying that Mr.Cat.

I think they are aimed at pretty much the same market.

I just feel there are a few slightly harder materials in nikons whereas as canons get more features.

Opinons anyone?




Like I said befoe my dads old canon a1 film felt like it was hewn out of solid rock.

I'm not so sure on modern C's.

Technology is moving so fast with them they will all be out of date in 5 years time anyway, so who cares?

 

well... i compared the nikon D50 of the time, to the canon 350D, and the canon was a cheap plastic toy, albeit with great features and higher megapixel count. But the nikon was sturdy, solid well made and comfortable to hold.

Until you get up to canon's semi pro, the build is sufficient, nothing more.

 

yeah, I don't use my kit lens - but these are some pics i took when i first got my 400d shooting with the kit lens...



this one was sharpened a bit with CS2 -


and this one sharpened with the RAW viewer that came with the camera...

 

"May even take some test snaps to check whether shutter lag is an issue."


....good plan.

Start up speed + write speed also.

I've lost many a picture.......

 

check it out.....

http://www.dpreview.com/


http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/


I put that in for the comparison of shots between the n and c.