Beginner SLR camera for newbie

[Cheffy Dave]

*And here begins the anti-Rockwell rhetoric*

🙄maybe, but his views made sense to me,I am not a stranger to photography and his settings he used,(uses) equal the saturation I like. Been into SLR's since the 60's, fav's are 3 Canon FTB QL's and one 1970 F-1, a sweet F1-N all in perfect working order, and still in use. (love match needles most)😱😱. First digital,a Canon SD 900 P&S, this will be my first Nikon ever😀😀, but opinions are like everything else, we are free to agree and disagree.

 

[Everythingisnt]

I love Ken Rockwell's reviews... I love the fact he thinks the 'P' stands for 'Professional' mode, the green A = "dummy auto", and that you can tell if a camera is professional or not depending on whether it ships with the "silly beep" turned on or off.. 😀

 

[termina3]

I like Rockwell too. I find him easy to read and straightforward (is that redundant?). His photos are often a little too saturated for me, but I'm still always amazed at the people who despise him and his opinions.

BTW: Thom Hogan is another one worth reading.

 

[John T]

I'm still always amazed at the people who despise him and his opinions.

Methinks there's more than a bit of envy with these people 😉

 

[Wingnut330]

I was in this same situation a couple of months back. I went to my local shop to buy a D40 but I left with an XTi. Personal preference and a few feature differences. I had the XTi for a couple of weeks and started hearing about the new XSi.

I returned the XTi and waited for what seemed like an eternity (2.5 months) for the XSi to be released. Now I have the XSi and I love it. It's easy to use, has great lens options and is a camera that I can grow in to. Once I outgrow it, I would still keep it as a knock-around camera.

It takes great shots and I'm very pleased with it. In all, I think you would be happy with a Canon, Nikon or even the new Sony - it's a personal preference. I like Canon, I like their lens system and I like a few of the features on the XSi, so it was a no brainer for me.

Good luck - make a decision and start taking pictures! Don't get in to analysis/paralysis. Buy a camera and start shooting!

 

[jalagl]

I use a Canon Digital Rebel XT. It is a great starting camera, and can be had for less than $400 nowadays. I chose Canon because of the large lens selection plus a couple of features that it had over the Nikon D40.

You should also consider Olympus cameras. The new E-420 is amazingly small and thus more portable, and the E-520 also looks great. A couple of friends have E-510s, and they are very happy with them and take great pictures.