Photographers i need your advice

[henk4]

You can pick up a decent 100-300 for about $200 here, they aren't the greatest but fine for an amateur.

new or 2nd hand?

[LotusLocost]

What's that hideous contraption? Did you forget to clean the lens?

hmfhmfhmf
I'm laughing

good to...

BTW: I'm very pleased with my Eos350D.. It's a good novice cam I think...

[Piacki_117]

Currently the best cameras for this amount of money would be the Canon 400D or the Nikon D80. Then you spend the remainer buying lenses.

[Gt1Street]

you can go for a full Sony DSLR A100 Kit with two lenses, UV filters and a wide angle lens for that price...

[zeppelin]

I'm seconding, thirding, fourthing, whatever we're at, the Canon Rebel. The XTi (400D) is recently out, and as a happy 350D owner I can assure you the 400D is a great camera, especially if you're just getting into SLR photography.

With that budget I recommend buying the 400D body only, and grabbing a couple good lenses (for reasons mentioned before me). With any extra grab a couple accessories, memory card, filter, tripod, etc. You'll get the most kit for your money with a 400D.

[SPHFerrari]

assuming the prices are equivalent in the UK, although im pretty sure they arent, i would get either a rebel xt or rebel XTi. i have heard a lot about problems with underexposure in the XTi, but other wise im sure its a fine camera. you will have to think about storage, i would say at least a 2 gig CF card. get it with the kit lens, it should be under a grand for the camera with lens and a 2 gig card, with a couple hundred dollar difference between the two. then i would work with that until you can take the best shots u can with that lens and you know you want to invest in better glass. then theres a wide variety, im spoiled by L lenses, but canon makes a bunch of great lesnes that arent as expensive. i dont think a 20D or 30D is worth it for someone just starting out as an amateur.

[man 430gt]

i now want to buy an SLR camera and lenses.

Last one for tonigh! Just joking, My uncle recently brought a SLR camera, after upgrading from a digi, and he thinks it's awsome. I'll get more detail for you well I can..

[johnnynumfiv]

new or 2nd hand?

New. A canon lens my store used to carry was 75-300mm that sold for $219.99.

[Quiggs]

What's that hideous contraption? Did you forget to clean the lens?

That would be a 1998 Ford Mustang GT, equipped with a 4.6 Liter modular V8 and a T5 transmission.

[henk4]

New. A canon lens my store used to carry was 75-300mm that sold for $219.99.

nice.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Don't go for the A100, unless you like shooting at less than ISO400 the whole time and/or running a noise removal program over all your shots.

Go into a shop and just pick up and hold a heap of cams and then go for whatever feels best in your hand. Though I'm gonna toss my hat in and say get a K10D. Has a better viewfinder and feel than the Canons, has a tough weather sealed body, in-built Shake reduction so you won't need to buy stabilised lenses. Has the exact same sensor as the D80 but with a much more advanced image processor than either the D80, 400D or 30D. To top it all off, Pentax glass =

Also, an SLR won't make you a better photographer.

[my porsche]

I would reccomend a Nikon D50, or.... *sigh* Canon Rebel XTi. That's about $550 (D50) or $700 (XTi) and then spend the rest on a couple good lenses. Something Like a 17-55 F/2.8. Go for fast (large aperture) lenses, trust me, I wish i had, having a slow lens is really limiting as to when you can shoot.

So this might be a good setup:

-Nikon D50 $550
-Nikon 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 Lens $350
-Nikon 80-200mm F/2.8 Lens $800
Total: $1700 USD

Or:

-Canon Rebel XTi Body $750
-Sigma 17-70 F/2.8-4.5 (Couldn't find any Canon Equivelant) $390
Total:$1140

The Nikon appears more advantageous, but that's probably because of my lack of knowledge of Canon lens options, so I don't know what's out there for what prices. Either one would be great, but you need to go try both out in person and see which you prefer.

Then of course there is Pentax, Sony, and Olympus, Pentax being the only ones of those thats really worth looking into in the SLR range, in my opinion.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Olympus has some very cool f2 lenses, like 100, 135 and 200 IIRC, but the 4/3 sensors are just shite.