Adam's Awesome Anecdotes

My boss recently suggested he’d like to purchase his first digital SLR and asked for some info to help him get started.  His only stipulation was to keep his initial purchases below $1000 if possible.  I only purchase my first SLR, a Nikon D40 less than a year ago, but I love to research! As a disclaimer, I also made sure he understood in person that he’ll want to research all of this to decide what is right for him; this was merely to help kick-start the search!  The following is what I told him:

If you’re just starting out, you’ll want to consider Canon, too.  Pentax, Sony & Olympus are all players in the SLR market, too, but Nikon & Canon pretty much own the market.  From what I’ve noticed in the entry to mid-level market, Canon seems to under price Nikon recently, but I hear that can go back and forth.  All research aside, Nikon & Canon are so close that for me, it really boiled down to how the camera felt in my hand.  The Nikon just felt right, but I’ve heard people say the same about Canon.

Note all pricing was done at B&H Photo, but I recommend you shop around. Adorama is also good (I know they have a decent selection of used equipment). Froogle is your friend.  Don’t forget about Amazon and Newegg, too.  If given the choice between USA & Imported (Grey Market), buy USA.  You’ll pay a few extra dollars, but Nikon won’t honor Grey Market warranties.  

For research sites I tend to read a lot on forums.dpreview.com (the general site has great reviews, too) and the forums on photo.net, flickr, and nikonians.org. Also people give kudos to fredmiranda.com’s forums.  http://bythom.com/ is also good. Beware of Ken Rockwell.  Sometimes he has good reviews, but generally he’s considered quite controversial and people think he’s out there for profit only. And http://www.slrgear.com/ and http://www.photozone.de/ give very in-depth reviews.  

Camera Body you might want to consider:

• Nikon D40 - This is my camera.  You might be able to find it around, but it’s pretty much being phased out.  Still gets great reviews though.  It was around forever.
• Nikon D3000 [$550] - The new entry-level camera. Comes with the 18-55 VR lens.  At a glance it has quite a few improvements over my D40.
• Nikon D5000 [$750] - Comes with the same 18-55 VR lens.  Just the body is $630.  Has a CMOS sensor (same as the D90) versus the D3000’s CCD sensor, supports live view (you can use the screen to setup your shot versus being required to use the viewfinder), has a tilt screen, and is capable of shooting video (none of the SLRs get rave reviews for their video capturing capabilities), 4fps burst mode versus 3fps, 12.3 megapixel as opposed to 10.2.
• NOTE: None of the above cameras have a built-in motor, which means all your lenses have to be AF-S lenses or you will have to focus them manually. Many of the newer lenses are AF-S.
• NOTE 2: You can also get the above cameras in a kit that includes both the 18-55 and 55-200 VR lens
• Nikon D90 [$900] - Body only — you can get a kit with the highly rated 18-105 VR lens for about $1200.  D90 has a bigger screen, brighter / bigger viewfinder, same CMOS / 12.3 MP sensor, slightly faster burst mode, better build quality, better iso & AF, an LCD screen on the top, more manual controls, etc, etc, but one of the key features is the built-in motor which gives you broader lens selection.

Camera Lenses you might want to consider:

• I don’t know how much you know about lenses, but some things to consider:
  • Focal length — do you mind switching lenses frequently or do you want to keep the same one on all the time?
  • AF-S - Lens has a high-speed, ultra-quiet built-in motor
  • Size - How much equipment are you willing to carry around
  • Min Aperture (how much light the lens lets in across all of its focal lengths).  The lower the number, the more light.
  • Focal Distance
  • “IQ” / AF Speed — this is fairly subjective
  • Manual Focus / Auto Focus versus Auto Focus with Manual Override — (you can adjust the focus without having to flip the switch)
  • IF - Internal Focusing (the lens doesn’t spin when adjusting — useful for polarizing filters and such) — speaking of which, I tend to keep a UV filter on all my lenses.  That way if they get scratched it’s a $10 or $20 filter and not the lens itself.
  • VR - Vibration Reduction - good for handheld shots
  • VRII - Even better vibration reduction, including ‘Active’ and ‘Normal’ mode
  • Distance Scale - some lenses include a distance scale which is useful to see about where the lens thinks it is focusing
  • There is plenty more, but I’m WAY past the subject line on this message, so I’m not even sure you’re still reading
• Also to try out lenses, I’ve used lensrentals.com before.  That worked quite well.  Probably not worth it on the cheap ones, but definitely once you start collecting gear.
• 18-55 f/3.5 - 5.6 VR [$180] - The kit lens.  It’s rated very well, but just doesn’t give you much reach.
• 55-200 f/4 - 5.6 VR [$225] - A decent telephoto lens.  Supposed to perform pretty well for its price. — Make sure to get the VR version of this lens!  You’ll want it at the longer focal lengths!
• 70-300 f/4.5 - 5.6 VR [$590] - A very well rated lens that should last you a long, long time
• 18-105 f3.5 - 5.6 VR [$330] - Said to be one of the best all-around travel lenses as far as the bang for the buck.  I seriously looked at this lens.
• 18-200 f/3.5 - 5.6 VRII [$765] - I have this lens and really like it!  There are two versions out there.  Make sure to get the one with the zoom-lock on it.  I have the first version. This lens is pretty big and heavy.  It’s considered a travel lens and as such definitely has it’s compromises, still it’s pretty nice.
• 35mm f/1.8 [$200] - I have this one, too.  Great for indoor / low-light shooting.  
• 50mm f/1.8 [$125] - This is NOT an AF-S lens, so you’ll have to focus it manually.  It’s supposed to be incredible though.  Once I get my D90, I’ll probably pick it up.

I won’t bother listing out any of the f/2.8 lenses, because it didn’t sound like you wanted to make that kind of investment yet.  

Summary:
It looks like the cheapest way for you to start out would be the D3000 kit (that includes the 18-55) and the 55-200 for around $700.  Or actually, what I might recommend is buying the D3000 body only off Amazon for $370 and the 18-105 VR lens for $330.   It comes out to $700 also, and I think you’d get a lot more use out of the 18-105, but it depends how you shoot, too.  You loose quite a bit of zoom, but that 18-105 is much more versatile and you can always add on the 55-200 or 70-300 later on.  I’d also seriously give the D5000 and D90 a look.  The D90 was simply out of my price range at the time and the D3000 & D5000 didn’t exist, so I don’t actually know that much about ‘em.  From a cursory glance though it looks like the D5000 could be worth an extra $200.  Then again, that $200 could buy you the 35mm lens or an SB-400 flash.  Oh and don’t forget to include bags, memory cards, filters, etc!