I bought the Canon Digital Rebel. They just released a new version, the Rebel XT. It's got a bunch of upgrades, and is a better purchase. Can be found for under $1k easily. It's main competitor for the quality affordable DSLR crowd is the Nikon D70. The D70 comes with a better basic lens, but you pay more for it. I bought my Canon with the 'kit' lens, plus a really sweet lens, for about the same as the the D70 with the kit lens alone. For me it was definitely the best deal at the time.
If I were buying now, I'd have trouble deciding between the D70 and the Canon Rebel XT. They're both nice cameras, the Rebel has a smaller body (which I like) but the Nikon has a bit more of a pro feel to it. (The rebels are definitely "consumer" cameras, but still very nice.)
The way I see it, the major quality and cost come from the lenses you purchase. With either the Nikon or the Canon system, you're going to invest in lenses which aren't going to lose much value over time. The bodies will get obsolete quickly. I went with the cheaper of the two bodies, so that I could afford nice lenses, figuring that I'll upgrade the body someday anyway, and that way I could get my lens investing started.
Oh, where to buy. I got mine used from someone, which is always an option but can be iffy, as I'm sure you're aware. If I'd bought new: Buydig.com, which is the same company as Beachcamera.com but often has better prices for some unknown reason. Great prices, not a rip-off site. Right now, they have MY rebel (not the new XT) with the kit lens, for a mere $674. Pretty damn good deal. If you don't mind upgrading the body in a few years, I'd say that's a really good starter one. The XT by contrast is $950. The D70 with kit lens is $1200.
Oh, don't forget a compactflash card, I'd recomend a 512mb at the minimum. The UltraII cards are great, and you can find a 1gb one for under $100 pretty easily.
Let me know if you want me to babble more, I'd be happy to. ;o)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2005-04-09 06:23 pm (UTC)I bought the Canon Digital Rebel. They just released a new version, the Rebel XT. It's got a bunch of upgrades, and is a better purchase. Can be found for under $1k easily.
It's main competitor for the quality affordable DSLR crowd is the Nikon D70. The D70 comes with a better basic lens, but you pay more for it. I bought my Canon with the 'kit' lens, plus a really sweet lens, for about the same as the the D70 with the kit lens alone. For me it was definitely the best deal at the time.
If I were buying now, I'd have trouble deciding between the D70 and the Canon Rebel XT. They're both nice cameras, the Rebel has a smaller body (which I like) but the Nikon has a bit more of a pro feel to it. (The rebels are definitely "consumer" cameras, but still very nice.)
The way I see it, the major quality and cost come from the lenses you purchase. With either the Nikon or the Canon system, you're going to invest in lenses which aren't going to lose much value over time. The bodies will get obsolete quickly. I went with the cheaper of the two bodies, so that I could afford nice lenses, figuring that I'll upgrade the body someday anyway, and that way I could get my lens investing started.
Oh, where to buy. I got mine used from someone, which is always an option but can be iffy, as I'm sure you're aware.
If I'd bought new:
Buydig.com, which is the same company as Beachcamera.com but often has better prices for some unknown reason.
Great prices, not a rip-off site.
Right now, they have MY rebel (not the new XT) with the kit lens, for a mere $674. Pretty damn good deal. If you don't mind upgrading the body in a few years, I'd say that's a really good starter one. The XT by contrast is $950. The D70 with kit lens is $1200.
Oh, don't forget a compactflash card, I'd recomend a 512mb at the minimum. The UltraII cards are great, and you can find a 1gb one for under $100 pretty easily.
Let me know if you want me to babble more, I'd be happy to. ;o)