Newbie to dSLR: Taking the next step beyond point-and-shoot cameras

Look at DSLR cameras that use the same memory cards your current digital camera uses. While it probably won't save you too much money, you won't have to include the price of new card in the price of the camera. It's probably safe to say that your current camera uses compact flash or SD cards. While SD isn't up there in capacity yet, and if that's the type you use, you can find decent size cards cheap.

Starting from this point will narrow down the selection to a managable amount. From there, you can narrow it down between shutter speeds, zoom, etc. to find the right camera from there. If you use memory cards that aren't supported by DSLR cameras, start with the type of memory card you want to switch to. After you find which card will best fit your needs, do searches based on that type of card followed by the features you want after that.

This is how I chose my camera. I wasn't in the market for an DSLR camera just a point and shoot, but I already had SD cards from my PDA that's why I used it in my advise, but don't think that's necissarily the best way to go, it just was for me. I do understand the desire of a DSLR camera over a point and shoot, it make the picture feel like it is personal and it's easier to focus on the subject. The latter is the only compliant I have about my camera, it's hard to get it to focus on what I want to shoot.

In case this is of some help: There was a wonderful discussion on using film camera lenses (SLR) with a digital camera body (DSLR). If you already have lenses, you might not have to buy more.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7593_102-0.html?forumID=58&threadID=242320&messageID=2455101&tag=nl.e497

Nikon D80.

As I was using a HP 945 camera that gave me outstanding performance; I found it hard to switch. BUT I did because I wanted to catch more of the ACTION. (My granddaughter plays fastpitch softball and there are lots of action shots.) I went with a Nikon SLR D50, 28-80 and 70-300 lens. It uses a SD Memory card. It has a shutter setting for "machine gun fire" that continues to take photos as long as the shutter release is held down and the SD card can record the photos. I use the fastest SD Card that is available and have recorded over 20 shots before the card's memory was saturated. I take an average of 600 photos per game, so I use a 2 gig SD card. A 2 gig SD Card will take in excess of 1200 normal photos. Photo size can be selected as small, normal and large. My normal size averages 1.3 MB. I recommend that you check your the local Photo Shop market for what YOU need as to camera body, lens and digital memory, then shop for price. FYI, I got the best buy at Ritz Photo.

My daughter is looking for the same thing and found this. Canon PowerShot S3 IS

I'm an amateur photographer who was already familiar with SLRs before I bought my digital. I, too, started with a point and shoot; I still have one for convenience but I use my SLR for most important photographs. I happen to like my Nikon DSLR, but I've always had Nikon SLR and already had the lenses I'd need. SLRs are big. With zoom lenses they can be heavy. Your DSLR should feel comfortable in your hands, not awkward. The controls should be well-placed and make sense to you. You should be able to negotiate the menu without a hassle (different menus are intuitive to different people). You'll need to look at lenses and decide what you'll need. I use one wide angle zoom lens (mine happens to be a 28 - 210), primarily. That means that I don't have to change my lens often and risk getting dust on the internal sensor. My particular zoom lens is not the optimal one for my DSLR, while it was perfect for my SLR because of the focal length factor (which multiplies the focal length of the lens due to the DSLR sensor).
This all being said, unless you determine that you really need a DSLR, I'd check out some higher end point and shoot cameras. I bought a Panasonic Lumix recently, and have been very happy with it. It's not too big, is light-weight, has most of the features I want and takes excellent photos for what I require. There is very little lag time, battery life is great.
Choosing an camera for your own use is a matter of: 1. deciding how much you want to spend 2. Determining how many megapixels you require 3. Listing the features you absolutely require vs. the ones you might like to have 4. Going out to a brick and mortar store and acutally trying the camera for yourself.

For 30 years, I used a Canon AE1 Program SLR and when it came time to buy a digital camera, I naturally looked at Canon. I bought the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT and I've loved it for the past year that I've had it. It has a fully automatic program mode but also can be used manually. There are settings for closeups, landscapes, night, action, sunny, cloudy, etc. and all are easy to use. The camera came wih the standard 18-55 mm lens but I've since bought a 70-200 mm zoom and an 80-300 zoom lens. Overall, I use the 70-200 lens the most. And you can do "burst" shots, great for action shots. I bought my camera on eBay for $630 but they've come down somewhat the past year & you will probably pay around $500 to $575. I would buy from a camera store rather than a private individual & highly recommend 47 St Photo as I've bought a number of items from them the past year & they ship fast & securely. I also bought an instructional DVD which is great for beginners & a "cheat sheet" to keep in my camera bag for quickly looking up technical stuff. My "must have" accessories include an extra battery pack, 2 CF cards - I have a 2 mb and a 4 mb which hold approx. 600 & 1200 pictures respectively. The print quality is excellent - I shoot in high resolution (about 3.1 mbs per picture). The automatic red eye reduction works fantastic, both on people & pets! Overall, I would rate this camera a 10!

I just bought the Canon Rebel xt (February 2007). I had been watching dSLR's for a couple of years, and decided a year ago to get the Canon. I actually bought the 35mm film version at that time. I wanted to do some experimenting with film scanning, etc. I also got a 75-300mm zoom lens. Now, I have both (digital and film), with three different lens to interchange between the two. The Rebel gives you the option to go from quasi- point and shoot, to full manual control. I bought a couple of third party books which have made learning about the operations very interesting. Just today, I set the camera on full automatic and handed it to my wife, showed her which button to push, and off she went. The Rebel xt would be within your budget range (with about a buck left over), but that's a complete set, including a very decent zoom 28-50mm lens. It also has the "burst" mode you mentioned, as well as other adjustments and settings for sports shots and such. Keep in mind that part of the camera speed is the memory chip. I'm satisfied. Good luck.

Prices have come down drastically with the market standards Nikon and Cannon pro/consumer models. There are many other brands out there, but I find that these have the best support networks available.

Make sure you buy from a reputable dealer that has at least a decent warranty which inludes cleanings. I purchased a Nikon D70 2 years ago from a local dealer and got a 3 year warranty thrown in at the time for free. At the time the outfit was $1500.00 US with the body, 2 lenses, fast memory, case, warranty, extra battery, and cleaning supplies. This body is obsolete already--such is the way of technology. Newer better units are out now within your budget. Actually, you can pick the d70 bodies up very cheaply now and would be a good model to learn on. My pro buddy basically gave his body away for $100 to another friend as he upgraded to a D200.

The body of most cameras are relatively inexpensive, it's the peripherals that are going to cost. So that is why I personally would stick to the mass produced Nikon's and Canon units. There are more third party peripherals available.

I would not suggest to buy online even though some will not agree with this. There are many dealers on line that sell "grey market" cameras and not tell you. These cameras are advertised at "rock bottom prices", but the manufacturer will not support nor warrant these cameras. Stay far away from these and ask the dealer outright if the camera is a gray market item. If they are reputable they will most likely tell you this up front. If you must buy on line, go to your local camera store and play with the unit first to see if it is going to be too much machine for you. Don't let the salesperson try to sell it to you. Make your own determination. How does it feel, Is it heavy, Compare the features with another brand, is it too complicated for me, will I like lugging this thing around in 95 degree heat?, etc.

The only reason I went with Nikon is because the film camera lenses are interchangeable with the digital units. Cannon decided not to do this. I was a Canon man for over 15 years and had thousands of dollars of lenses with my film units. When I found out I could not use my old Canon lenses on the digital cameras I felt betrayed and knew I was saying goodbye to an old friend that I could no longer trust. All my Nikon buddies who may have spent a lot more for their equipment were grinning in the end. Therefore I went with Nikon. Canon has come under fire for not fixing known issues with their cameras as well so I was glad I made the switch. After I had some digital pics processed at a lab I never went back to film again.

It's funny as you are looking for an upgrade I am looking for a downgrade--a point and shoot to carry in my pocket for those family photos at amusement parks and other family functions. It's a pain to carry a bunch of equipment to such places. I did this at Sea World last year and vowed never again.

To catch "quick" multiple shots is dependent on both the camera and the speed of memory module used.Not all memory is made the same. Plan on spending anywhere from $30(on sale)-$100 just for the upgrade to a "fast" memory module. I just bought a 2gig non-fast" memory module for $14 at Staples the other day. To be honest it wrote almost as quickly as my "fast memory". I could take 15 pictures in succession until it would stop to catch up with the camera. The "fast" memory will take pictures in succession until it fills the whole module up. I personally would stay away from cameras that use proprietary memory such as Sony and Fuji because you rarely catch this memory on sale and you are going to pay a premium for it.

I take lots of landscape photos and portraits. Most packaged body/lenses are OK for this. If you are serious about close-up pictures you will want to look into a good macro lens. You may be able to pick a used one up cheap, but they can be hard to find used. It's one of those things people hold on to for when they want a change. To be honest you could easily spend your whole budget + on a decent macro lens. The one I want is $1000.00.

Don't be scared to buy third party peripherals. There are lots of good companies out there who are primarily only in business to make third party items for both Nikon and Canon. Some of the third party lenses can be better than that of the manufacturers lenses.

If you want to get your feet wet a good beginners package should do the trick for you. Packages usually are made for folks starting out to take decent landscape and portrait photos. They are in your price range as well. A very good learning vehicle. Save up your lunch money for when you are ready to buy those more powerful lenses. The rule of thumb is that you will always put more money into your lenses. My wife will not let me get the $3000 telephoto lens I want. She says we can see Bambi good enough from our back deck

I've been a photographer (on and off) for over 40 years. I carried with me enough equipment to choke a horse. I had lenses as long as 4 feet. All that changed when the digital camera was invented. At first they were very limited and cost a fortune. Now you can buy systems for cheap and they have built in telephoto at over 5 mgp resolution. First, if you must buy a DSLR do not go cheap. The Sony 10.7 mgp with the 28-200 mm lens is just great. You will not need another camera for the next ten years. This will set you back at this time $1000 to $1200 (next year $700-$900). But with a camera this sophisticated you can blow up pictures 4 feet by 3 feet.
But lighting can still be a problem when taking indoor telephoto pics. 10.7 mgp resolution can be difficult to download into a computer or use with standard printers. And how many of us need to blow up a pic 4X3 feet.
There is an alternative. Its a secret that many will not talk about. The Fuji FinePix 6000fd (also called the 6500fd) looks and feels like a DSLR. It has a lens that no other camera can match (telephoto to 300mm). It has a fabulous light sensitivity system that registers up to 3200 ISO but can be pushed to 6400 ISO with little noise (old name for graininess). It can fire at 1/4500 of a second and instantly fire three frames a second. It has a great antishake mechanism. It can't pick up dust on its sensor like real DSLRs. Its sensor is a super CCD. It can be completely set to auto or can be altered to fully manual. Its light metering can be changed quickly with a number of selections. Menus are easy to use and pictures are outstanding up to 3 feet by 2 feet.
On the downside, it's not a DSLR its really a point and shoot. It only is a 6.3 mgp camera but takes perfect 8X10 pictures. It doesn't have a hot shoe flash but can work a slave flash with a transmitter.
Oh yes, back to the upside. It has a large LCD screen and takes the very small XD memory card. It has a special face recognition system.
And why is it a secret, because you can buy it for less then $400.

Stefan, no camera is perfect - be it digital or film.

That said, I'd recommend my Sony DSC-H5 hands down, except for it's shutter lag. I don't notice it in regular photography, but a friend of mine performs at a club and I was very disappointed when shutter lag made it darn near impossible to get any decent pix of her at all.

However, that said H5's picture quailty is outstanding and I've made some gorgeous 13" x 19" prints from it's images. Sony also makes the DSC-H7 with even higher resolution and that may not have the shutter lag problem.

The H-5's image rendition is very sharp and clear, but not artificially so. The colors are true; strong and vibrant, when the original colors are, but it also copies soft and and muted shades equally well.

At extreme magnification, out around 30x or so with Photoshop PS2, I can see some vertical red/cyan color fringing but it is invisible on 13" x 19" prints cropped to about 50% of the original digital image file.

There are tele-extender and a wide angle twist on on adapter lenses available. I've had no need to use the tele, but I'm going to get the .75 wide angle adapter when I can afford it. The H-5's digital zoom seamlessly takes the overall standard 12 x zoom to 24x with no apparent loss of quality when on a tripod or you are well braced against a tree or building. Speaking of long zoom range, the "Steady Shot" digital stabilizer works very well in a pinch but I strongly recommend a solid tripod out past about 8 x magnification. You will find this is equally true for any camera, digital or film

It's image sensitivity is outstanding! Braced against the back of my home, I took several lovely pix of the rising moon one night and, believe it or not, I could clearly see the Moon's major craters plus some of the more minor ones outlined on the moon's edges as well when I printed the images.

I paid $500 for my H-5 last December and the H-7 was then going for about $750 at Circuit City. One excellent way to get the most camera for your money is to go directly to the manufacture's web site and see if they have "factory refurbished" cameras available. If so, you can often save hundreds of dollars off the retail purchase price.

In addition, you are assured that every part of that specific camera has been tested and meets every new camera specification. Most manufacturers do not test every single thing on every single camera they ship, for financial reasons. But they do when a camera either doesn't meet spec originally or is returned by a customer for repair.

Good luck and have fun!

I recently (yesterday, strangely enough!) purchased a Nikon D40X dSLR camera from a Costco. It (so far) is working very well for me. I bought the Family Sports Action Pack which came with two lenses (a smaller one: about 18-55 mm, the second: 55-200 mm), a battery charger ('course), an SD card, a camera bag (It actually fits my old digital camera, my digital camcorder, both the lenses, and all its peripherals!), 2 (very helpful) DVDs for teaching you the ropes, and all for about $1000. yes, i know it's more than you want, but there are cheaper bundles. It is only in the stores, but you can buy them at many assorted camera stores.
I pretty much had the same curiosity as you, but needed the (way better) camera for my family pics. BTW, it is 10.2 megapixels and has far more modes than you want, and has manual zoom with auto focus. This is one of the best cameras i have ever seen! In a dSLR camera, you should look for good rapid fire shots, high megapixels, long battery life, and good lenses included (not many cameras come with good lenses, let alone good ones!). I also looked at the Canon XTI that is a 10 MP camera, but otherwise, I don't know anything else about it. Good luck finding your ideal camera!

Generally speaking, you can't really go too wrong with either Canon or Nikon. They're both highly respected camera manufacturers with a large array of lenses and other equipment. That said, I'd wholeheartedly recommend the Nikon D40. It's an outstanding entry-level dSLR that will unquestionably please you. It has auto and program modes, but also lets you play with shutter priority, aperture priority, or full manual modes. Nikon's built-in flashes on their dSLRs are very nearly flawless. Do a search online for professional reviews of the D40. Avoid the D40x as it doesn't improve significantly enough on the D40, in my opinion, to justify it's $200 higher price tag. The D40 available in the U.S. with an excellent lightweight 18-55mm AF lens for a list price of $599. I shoot with the D80 myself, and have also owned the D50. Both are fantastic cameras, but the D40 gives you the best bang for the buck, and fits neatly into your budget WITH a good lens.

NOTE: Costco.com sells the D40 with the 18-55mm lens AND a 2GB SD card for $579.99 and that includes shipping.

Dear Stefan M,

Simply shut your eyes and go for Nikon D-70.
It will suit your needs very well.

In case you want to save more money, then you may consider the D-40 by the same manufactuer.
You will not regret your decision.

regards.......
Karan Raina

Nikon D40-within your budget, accepts all the fabulous Nikon lenses. Canon also makes a camera in this price range that would access the Canon lens line. Other cameras are peripheral players. Both the nikon and the Canon are a starting platform that will take you on a journey that is limited only by your alent and your budget

Hi, I'm a semi-pro photographer and I would like to recommend the Canon Rebel XTi, I beleive is the model out now. Bought mine last year and have had so much fun with it. I can use it as a point & shoot and it takes pretty good pictures both inside and out. The built-in flash is lame but there's a hotshoe to use external flash. Program mode is available, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual and Blub. All the goodies photographers like plus you can monkey with the white balance, set to take just black & white and many other things I haven't explored yet. You can buy a myriad of lens for this camera and the down side to all this is that when you change lenses you risk getting dust on the sensor which you will have to learn to clean or pay to have done professionally. I also have a low end Leica D-Lux 3 and have had a ball with it too. It's a point & shoot with manual capabilities and is pocketsized. I take it everywhere. So for me, a dslr for working and a Leica for playing.

Nikon D80 is the best choice for what you want to do. Nikon has great reputation for Lens and glass. It is able to take 5 pictures per second. Nikon is know to have the best in camera reproduction from RAW NEF files to jepg. That will reduce time editing picture on the PC or Mac. Nikon is well supported with accessories from Nikon or aftermarket sources. It seems that other camera manufactures try to catch up to Nikons new inovations. I am a racing photographer and have been using the Nikon D70 with on problems. I take action shots during races at night using a 79 to 200 mm f-2.8 nikon lens. The Nikon D80 has many more features over the D70. If you want to stay in the lower end of your price range the D70s is the answer. Personally for the extra money I would go with the D80 when I purchasing a new camera.

Brian

I am another "point-and-shoot" user, but I have been strongly tempted to step up to dSLR as well. I am sure current users will have more technically strong and personally tested answers for you, but I thought I would pass on my thoughts anyway.

Keeping your budget in mind, you probably want to look for a camera in the $400-500 range to give you room to buy lenses, a camera bag, memory cards, spare batteries and other accessories. Otherwise you will pass $1000 in a hurry. All of your concerns aside, the most important factor in buying a camera is the ability to produce high quality photos. No matter what brand loyal enthusiasts tell you, find photos where the camera used and settings are listed and look at the pictures they were able to achieve. Go to a few camera stores and see how the camera feels and how user friendly it is to you. Hunt for cameras bundled with lenses, but look at the lens reviews as well.

Most of my research was done right here on CNET and I found a few cameras that consistently received high praise from users as well as good editor reviews. The Nikon D80 was an editors pick in Aug. 2006, but rests a little above your price range. The Canon Rebel series has some nice cameras too, but I found a good review that I recommend you check our on Newegg for the OLYMPUS E-500. I recommend it mainly because in addition to the review, it comes with a couple lenses.

eBay may be the way to go for a bundled kit, such as this listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/OLYMPUS-EVOLT-E-500-E500-8mp-DIGITAL-SLR-3LENS-4-GIG_W0QQitemZ290110512995QQihZ019QQcategoryZ43457QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem but I would look very carefully into warranty coverage before making any such large purchase. Hope this helps.

You want to take sequences with small time lag between shots. Me too. What I have found is that most often I shoot these sequences of my children and that I do it indoors. Turns out the major problem is not the time lag of the autofocus or autosense, but rather the time for the flash to recharge. Recommendation: obviously you want an dSLR that you can fully control aperture, shutter and focus; get yourself a lens with really good depth of field so you dont have to mess with refocusing. And spend your money on a good lighting system!

when i upgraded i got a canon rebel xt (body only) then i bought a 28-135mm is lens. all in all less then $1000.00 and i could not have made a better choice.
tj

I won't confuse you with the technical details. More than likely you aren't really ready for those so I'll summarize by getting right to the bottom line. You can't beat the Nikon SLRs for features and lens availability. Battery life is exceptional. I've shot as many as 500 photos on a single charge with my D100. If you can find one, a (discontinued) D70 would be my first choice for the money, but if not, a D80. Start with a Nikon 28-105 lens. It's a great lens for a very reasonable price. Don't get too hung up on megapixels unless you're planning on printing a mural. They all have more than they need. One recommendation on add-ons. I would buy right off at least a gigabyte flash card. Also, if you don't already have it, Photoshop Elements. It's got all you need. Enjoy!!!

I was in a similar position about a year ago, and spent a lot of time asking questions, testing out cameras, and even talking with a few professionals that I know.

I eventually settled on the Canon Powershot S3. It's not a dSLR in the traditional sense because of the built-in mega-zoom lens and some of the built-in "point-and-shoot-like" features, but it does offer a lens attachment that will let you pop on any lens or filter you want to use, and can be set up to offer full SLR control.

I was leery about dropping that much money on a camera that I hadn't actually used, but I'm glad I did. It's a fantastic camera, and has more features than I could ever be reasonably expected to master.

The one thing I think you'll like in the S3 while making the transition from a point-and-shoot to a SLR style is the diversity of the control set. You can set it to act like an SLR, a point-and-shoot, or somewhere in between (so that you only have to worry about one aspect of aperture, or "film" speed, or shutter speed, etc.), or set it to a certain shot mode (night, action, bright light, vivid color, etc.) and just take the shot.

To touch on a few of the pros and cons:

The LCD is a little small by today's standards. However, the 180-degree flip and 360-degree rotation of the screen is VERY handy. I've also found that using the optical viewfinder is more my style anyway. (And unless you're sitting on a tripod, you'll want the extra stability that comes with holding the camera against your body somehow. In my experience, holding the camera away from the body to look through the LCD tends to create blurry shots.)

The single-handed grip is SO comfortable. Even more so than most of the cameras priced twice as much as the S3. The shutter button and zoom control are perfectly positioned and angled for one-handed operation.

Shutter lag is almost imperceptible, and the rapid-fire shooting is more than adequate even in low-light situations.

The only real drawbacks are extremely low-light shooting and image quality with ISO ("film" speed) settings in the 400+ range. (In simple terms, the lower the light, the higher you typically set the ISO number.) If you want a good, crisp shot, you need good lighting. I don't know if this is the case with all dSLRs or not, but compensating for low light results in an image that either lacks contrast or has some added graininess.

Added bonuses are the ability to capture full motion video with stereo sound (about 15 minutes will fit on a 1GB memory card), and you can take high quality pictures WHILE capturing video, shutter timers, repeat timers, built-in flash with expansion flash slot, and so forth.

Cnet also has a great review of this camera: http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_PowerShot_S3_IS/4505-6501_7-31740582.html

In any event, I've tried some other cameras since I bought this one, and have yet to regret my purchase. For the money, it's the best out there.

Are you certain you want to go dSLR - especially as you aren't sure if the hobby is right for you? It's a big outlay, not forgetting that it isn't just the initial camera purchase but tripod, filters, flashes and most importantly - lenses, and with your budget it will be at the lower end of the amateur dslr market.
There is a growing class of 'bridge' cameras called 'super-zooms' that offer more than the average pocket-sized p&s, without the giant price-tag. They are usually larger than the pocket camera, but smaller than an slr, but with its looks and 10, 12, 15 and even 18x optical zooms. More importantly they have most of the features of dslrs that doesn't involve lens changing, including RAW formats on a few.
Alternatively there's smaller niche cameras with interesting features - such as extra-wide 16:9 photo taking on the Panasonic LX - perfect for landscapes.

So before deciding it has to be dSLR, just take a look at the alternatives.

The super-xoom types that you can take a look at (I've played with the FZ personally only):
Kodak P and Z series
Panasonic FZ
Canon G7, A630/40/710IS/570IS, S3 IS
Fuji S6000fd (bad image stabilisation apparently but one of the best fixed lenses otherwise)
Konica-Minolta Z
Olympus SP-550UZ
Sony H series