Jumping into the DSLR world. (I think?)

W

WDWfreak07

Member
Hi everyone,

I dont post here often, and I am only a 16 year old who is really interested in photography and have benefitted many times here when I have started my own thread.

Anyway, Christmas is coming and since I got a Canon SX110 last year and still wanted a DSLR since I have been pushing and pushing my camera to its limits, I have re-visited the entire DSLR idea.

If I get a DSLR for Christmas, it will most like my my only gift, since it is a very expensive one and we arent the richest people in the world-which I am fine with. I have looked into the Canon XSI because Amazon is running a promotion until the 21st of this month, where I can get the ; Canon Rebel XSi with the 18-55mm IS lens and 55-250mm IS lens for $645-which is very cheap compared to the normal price of the Canon XSi and lenses.

We also arent going to visit Disney until November of 2010 and by getting this, I will have plenty of time to practice with it and hone the entire DSLR thing. With my current point and shoot I am very familiar with photography terms and I know by getting a DSLR I will get great use out of it.

I wanted to see what you guys think of the Canon XSI as my first DSLR with these 2 lenses. I used zoom alot on my point and shoot, which had 10X zoom so I dont know how close this lenses will be to that, if at all. I like taking my point and shoot wherever I go, and as I said, I am really into photography and I hope that I can get this DSLR and finally make the jump into the DSLR world. I do the lighting design/tech for all my high school and community productions and I need a better cammera with more control to take pictures of the productions for my college portfolio. My point and shoot is a great camera and I have taken great pictures with it, I just hope to upgrade to a DSLR to have even more control over my pictures that I have had with my SX110 and because of the fact that I really, really enjoy photography and Graphic Design.

Do you all have any advice? I have already felt the XSI in my hands, and have looked at the T1 for the video and extra features, but for those features the money is just too tight for my parents for me go directly to that one I think. Let me know what you guys think, and sorry for starting another thread!

Thanks everyone!
 
i think it's a great starting point, as time goes by, you can build other necessary items, such as a tripod, ballhead, and cable release, it'll take you quite awhile to push the boundaries of that setup
 
Cool, I already have a very nice tripod, but yes the other accesories I will need/can get down the road.

Is there any way to tell how much the 250mm lens compares to my point and shoot at 10X zoom?

thanks
 
Well that would be a good starting point!

Between the two lenses, you would have a little wider point of view to about an extra 40mm equivalent at the long end.

250mm on the Rebel is the same field of view as a 400mm full frame lens, the SX110 goes to 360mm equiv to full frame.
 
This sounds great.

The only thing my parents worry a bit about (besides price) is the size of the DSLR. I dont have a problem bringing a point and shoot anywhere, but a DSLR is much bigger. It will just be something that I would have to get used to, but thats about it.

Do you guys take your DSLR everywhere or alot of places?

Thanks everyone!
 
I try to bring it when I know I'll be taking pictures. ; Now there once was a time when I would bring a smaller camera when the weather was bad, but not as much anymore...
 
I still carry my point & shoot every where I carry my dSLR. ; I'm still learning and haven't mastered getting the correct shot in every instance. ; Plus, my dSLR doesn't have a "green box" mode (aka Auto). ; So, when I must absolutely get the shot for posterity sake more than anything, I may whip out the P&S and shot it with that first and then try with the dSLR just to make sure I got it
 
Fortunately my wife had her P&S with her when my dSLR took a turn for the worse while we were in the parks this summer. ; It's worth keeping it with you for those "just in case" moments.
 
Hi again!

I went into a camera store today ready to show my mom the Canon XSI as the one I wanted to get....and we were presented with the Nikon D5000....which I errr...LOVED.

It felt SO much better in my hands, and I love the swivel LCD screen and it just felt like a sturdier and better built camera. I played with both of the cameras in the store, and I am now leaning to the Nikon even more. I understand that the Nikon has the AutoFocusing built into the lenses and not the body, so when I get new lenses that I want to AF I need to make sure they have them in it.

I wanted to see if you guys have any opinions on the Nikon D5000? The D90 is not in our budget at all, so it is not being considered. Also, I am going back to another store tomorrow to look at the XSI, the D5000, and the T1i to view them all and to hopefully make a decision. They are all going to have roughly the same features, I just need to find the one that feels the best in my hands and one that I will be comfortable using, as of now that is the D5000.

Let me know your opinions, please!
Thank you everyone
 
You've taken the right approach I think...testing them out to see which ones feel best in your hands. ; That is one of the most important factors with a DSLR if you are going to be carrying it around a lot...you should be comfortable with it. ; Lots of different designs out there and people are all different in their likes and needs. ; Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about getting the 'right' DSLR, or a good enough one - they're all quite capable, all tools you can learn and grow with, and all more capable than your P&S. ; Don't worry about brand or model number as much as ergonomics, layout, features, and price. ; Personally, I'd always encourage a person to look at the wider field of DSLRs out there, not just Canon and Nikon - sometimes the Perfect Camera for You might be out there with a different brand name on the front...you'll never know unless you try them. ; Sony, Pentax, and Olympus all make quite nice products too, some of which have some features that might be useful or desirable that Nikon and Canon don't have. ; Not that there's anything wrong with any of the brands - they're all that good that you don't need to worry too much on brands!
 
"WDWfreak07" said:
Hi again!

I went into a camera store today ready to show my mom the Canon XSI as the one I wanted to get....and we were presented with the Nikon D5000....which I errr...LOVED.

It felt SO much better in my hands, and I love the swivel LCD screen and it just felt like a sturdier and better built camera. I played with both of the cameras in the store, and I am now leaning to the Nikon even more. I understand that the Nikon has the AutoFocusing built into the lenses and not the body, so when I get new lenses that I want to AF I need to make sure they have them in it.

I wanted to see if you guys have any opinions on the Nikon D5000? The D90 is not in our budget at all, so it is not being considered. Also, I am going back to another store tomorrow to look at the XSI, the D5000, and the T1i to view them all and to hopefully make a decision. They are all going to have roughly the same features, I just need to find the one that feels the best in my hands and one that I will be comfortable using, as of now that is the D5000.

Let me know your opinions, please!
Thank you everyone
Click to expand...

The D5000 doesn't have an internal AF motor, so you'll have to make sure that you're using an AF-S lens on it. (the kit lenses are AF-S, so no worries there) ; Basically the older prime lenses, and the 80-400 doesn't have a built in motor, so you wouldn't have AF with them. ; Canon has AF built in on all of their lenses....but you can't mount an EF-S lens on a FF camera without breaking the FF camera....Nikon's made for Digital DX lenses will mount on a FF camera, but will show a cropped view most of the time.

I believe Scott Kelby bought a D5000 as an emergency backup and loves it. ; The only caution I would have is to see if the one you're getting is a recently manufactured one....the D5000 seems have caught the manufacturing bug and got recalled twice, but that was months ago.

Scott's post on his blog:
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/5202
 
Yeah...I have researched the recall and from what it seems, the ones out now have been updated and are all good.

I just looked at the Olympus E620 online and that seems very nice as well, so tomorrow I plan to try out as many of the DSLRs that are there within our budget and go from what has the features I want and from what feels best in my hands.

I do have to say, the entire Canon vs Nikon thing is very tough and online it is usually just people who prefer only Nikon vs those who prefer just Canon. I am just going to go by what feels best to me.

Right now, it is either the T1i, d5000, or possibly even the olympus 620...any input on these cameras?

thanks
 
All good.

The E620 has a smaller lens lineup, however, all of them will be image stabilized. ; The biggest problem with the Olympus 4/3 system is low light performance and the lack of wide angle primes at affordable prices. ; But they also have lenses that other systems can't touch.

Go with what your gut tells you. ; That's why I was with Canon for 10 years before I switched early last year.
 
Alrighty...yes I am going to go with my gut. No matter what I get I am sure I will be happy.

Even though we cannot go to WDW as much as we used to, I would be using this there, and there is a ton of low light situations, so the e620 may be ruled out.

I am unsure how the d5000 is in low light, but I hope it is "usable" because I will have low light situations even outside of WDW.

Is there anything I should try out on the cameras specifically tomorrow? I try to run through everything: changing settings, aperture, shutter speed, all that stuff just to get a feel for the camera.

I really like how the d5000 felt and I like the swivel LCD, I think it would be a good feature to have. The Live View wasnt that great on it, but I wouldnt be using that too much anyway.

Thanks for all the advice!
 
Do you have SD and CF cards? ; If you do, I'd try and take sample pics and view them at home as well....

The Canon and Nikon should use SD/SDHC. ; I believe the E620 is CF/xD. ; (I don't use xD in my Oly, xD is too slow compared to CF. ; Or SD for that matter)
 
Good move...definitely bring spare cards along when you check out the cameras so you can fire some samples at the store to look at at home.

Don't worry too much on the low light, unless you really intend to shoot a ton of low light photography - all DSLRs are leagues above P&S models, so even the worst DSLRs can yield ISO1600 shots usable for large prints...whereas a P&S camera would be hard-pressed to look as good at ISO800. ; And truly, if you're getting into low light photography, the lens can be as or more important - a nice fast prime like an F1.4 or 1.7 will give you 2-3 stops advantage over most other lenses. ; When talking about low light prowess, the newest crop of cameras is getting almost crazy, with ISO12800 and 25600 becoming more common...though only the full frames can really make those ranges cleanly usable for large prints. ; The camera I just picked up a few weeks ago is surprisingly good through ISO6400, whereas my last camera was usable to ISO1600...so technology marches on.

Oly has a good fan base, so if they feel good to you and the price is right, they're worth a look. ; Olympus, Pentax, and Sony do all have sensor-based stabilization, which is a useful feature for making any lens you buy stabilized...even older used lenses and cheap primes...that's a nice feature especially for beginners that don't want to spend big bucks on lenses.
 
OK, thanks so much for the advice.

Like I said, today I plan to look at all the DSLRS that are within our budget, then try to narrow them down based on feel/having the features I want.

I hope this gets easier and not harder-dont want to find another camera that I really like that will make my decision even harder, haha!

I think no matter what DSLR I get, they will out be more than fine for what I need, as of now, it is just a matter of how it feels to me.

Any more advice is appreciated, thank you all very much.
 
Just got back from the store....they didnt have the Canon T1i, but I got to try all the other DSLRs within our budget.

The Nikon D5000 is still my favorite by far, and it should be a great camera if that is what I go with, but I just read online that it doesnt have a DOF button.

I know what a DOF button does, and I think I may use it, but I am trying to decide if thats a dealbreaker on this DSLR, any advice?
 
Ever since the digital era began, I haven't used my DOF button as much as I used to. ; You can use Live View to preview a shot, plus, it's not that much time wasted to take a picture and reviewing the image on the LCD..
 
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