Suggest an SLR for me

[Pauly]

Okay guys, I am looking to get a DSLR camera in the low price range as an entry camera into the world of SLR. What are the basic important parts that I need to know. Whats a good starter lens I should have? I was looking about getting a canon digital rebel xt (EOS)

 

[Operational]

Well my Dad recently sold his Film SLR and got a Pentax K100 and he is very pleased with it.

 

[sinkoman]

Okay guys, I am looking to get a DSLR camera in the low price range as an entry camera into the world of SLR. What are the basic important parts that I need to know. Whats a good starter lens I should have? I was looking about getting a canon digital rebel xt (EOS)

Nikon F3.

GREAT camera, VERY durable, a TON of compatible lenses, tons of accessories and upgrade parts, and it shouldn't cost too much.

FM2's are really great cameras too. Durable as **** (thing could take a bullet and still work).

BTW, digital < film.

 

[Viperidae]

I was looking about getting a canon digital rebel xt (EOS)

I bought the XTi recently. While there are differences in the sensor, the frame is the same (I think). It's a solid camera. The starter lens leaves a little to be desired, mainly because it tries to do too many things well. If you're getting this one and seriously going into photography, you'll want to get a better lens.

Overall, the sensor's good. Memory's awesome (you can take tons on the XT--a crapload of pictures compared to most point-and-shoots). The flash doesn't do much, in all honesty. Doesn't project far.

My biggest gripe with the thing is the LCD. The backlight on the thing is so bright by default that, on review in the field, a dark shot will actually look evenly lit.

 

[baron insig]

i have a rebel, called a 400D in the uk

its good, yeah id agree with the screen statement,

just take a range of shots, or lower the things brightness.

the 400D is my first SLR, i jsut jumped in with it and started fiddling with stuff its a good one to start of with, and it isnt hugely bulky, feels good in my hands has so weight to it

 

[jondy]

BTW, digital < film.

Heh, schoolboy error. Sweeping statements like that are the bane of internet forums. Film and digital are just different tools, and I think film is the wrong tool to choose for someone that's just starting up.

• For a novice to be able to review their shots instantly is possibly the best that happened to their demographic since the nikon E series.
  
• As an aspiring photog he should be shooting hundreds of frames a week. This gets expensive very quickly on film. The cost of shooting 10,000 frames a year, assuming 36 frames a roll with a total cost per roll of 5 quid (and that's getting them developed in a bargain basement lab, which will probably oversaturate and crop them like a mother), is a little short of 1400 pounds. Shooting digital is cheaper, which means more equipment, which means more opportunities.
  
• The average 10MP DSLR resolves better in colour than film, shoots at higher ISOs with less noise (even at equivalent speeds) and gets more out of full-frame optics.

The only reason I'd recommend film, apart from freedom to experiment with darkroom kit (which, fair enough, is great experience), is for medium/large format shooting, something someone wouldn't be asking for on HL2.net.

You really can't go wrong with entry level DSLR's on the market today - my choice would be a Pentax K10 or 100 (anti-shake! Yes!) - they're happy to take (almost) literally any Pentax mount lens back to screw mount - a godsend for aspiring photographers as you can pick up fantastic quality lenses cheap.

Good Luck!

 

[Dalamari]

I hear this is a pretty good SLR

 

[Higlac]

Canon AE-1P, That is the SLR that I use, and also a Digital Rebel. I like using my film camera though, cause I don't have much in the way of lenses for the digital. I have a darkroom in my basement, so I do my own black and white.