Advice on basic equipment needed ....
 

I am planning a several week trip through Europe and need a bit of advice about what kind of equipment I should take along. At the moment, I have a relatively good compact digital camera, but I would like to get a nice compact SLR with one or two lenses and maybe a flash, but I'm not sure about the flash yet ...

Anybody got any ideas??

There are good choices from each of the five remaining major DSLR brands – Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax, and Sony.

I am sure a Canon owner will be along to suggest a Rebel this-or-that outfit, a Pentax owner to suggest a K200d, etc.

You really can’t go wrong with any of them but I sincerely believe that in the entry-level DSLR game that Nikon has the best overall image quality of the lot, as opposed to digital compacts where Nikon is an also-ran.

I would recommend the D60 with the 18-55 VR II and 55-200 kit lenses. The image quality from the D60 is superb, the two lenses though not the most stout of Nikkors is excellent and both the camera and lenses are compact and light. The flash on the D60 is also good enough [out to about 20-25 feet] that you could likely eschew carrying a shoe-mount flash in order to save weight and bulk. The two-lens kit is about $850 but B&H has currently an instant $150 rebate so you only pay about $700.

Some will say don't buy the D40/D60 because you can't use Nikon's older lenses, you have to use AF-S lenses. This is true but you don't sound to me like you have a stash of older Nikon lenses. Just about every lens Nikon has made for the last five years, and every lens they make from this point on will be AF-S, or D40/D60 compatible.

The other option, and the one I personally would go with would be the D60 kit with just the older version of the 18-55, which B&H is selling currently for about $550. I would then sell or give away the 18-55 kit lens and I would buy the Nikkor 16-85 AF-S VR-II, which runs about $600. It is a excellent lens optically and gives you a very workable one-lens solution, which saves even more bulk and weight.

The 16-85 is equivalent to a 24-130 in 35mm terms, which should be enough for most people. When I travel I find that a wider-angle lens is of more use than is a long telephoto. This may or may not be true for you but IMHO the difference between 16mm and 18mm [24mm and 28 mm in 35mm terms] is more significant than is the difference on the telephoto end of the lens. Sometimes you just can't back up anymore but you can always crop in order to enlarge.

Well, that's my advice. Others will surely disagree or have their own, differing suggestions.

An entry-level dSLR with two lenses, one around 18-55, then other 55-200 or 250, will be fine. At this time, the lenses should be image stabilization (Canon calls IS, Nikon calls it VR, etc), or the camera body should have stabilization (like Sony's).

If you're planning to go further in the hobby - getting more lenses, lots of accessories, etc - then don't look further than Nikon and Canon. But if you think two lenses (and probably a flash) is it, then it doesn't really matter which brand. They all take pretty good pictures. But go to a store and actually put one in your hand and try the controls.

I don't usually carry an external flash when traveling. All of the entry-level dSLRs have onboard flash, which may be used. But if you plan to take a lot of portraits on the trip, rather than just scenery, then an external flash will be preferred.

IMHO, buying a Nikon D40 or D60 locks you out of getting some really superbly priced used lenses. They are fine cameras, but I feel that the removal of the in-body focus motor will substantially limit your future lens choices. I personally bought a D80 for just a bit more than a D60 because of this, and I have more than made up the difference by getting several used lenses that would not autofocus on a D40 or D60. For example: Nikon's 28-200mm AF-D can be picked up for $200 or so 2nd hand. And the 50mm f1.8, which can be picked up for $100 and makes a great portrait lens and available light lens - and it might be the sharpest lens Nikon makes. Neither of these lenses will auto-focus on a D40 or D60, but work great on a D80 or D50 (as well as Nikon's higher end pro cameras).

Just a few points:

[1] Many [most] of Nikon's older extended range AF zooms suck - big time. Being able to use most of Nikon's older non-f/2.8 AF zooms is no advantage IMHO, particularly on digital bodies with a high pixel count/density.

[2] Nikon currently produces about 30 AF-S lenses that will auto focus on the D40/D60 which cover a range from 16mm to 600mm. I have no doubt that the OP will have no trouble finding what he needs from this list, in terms of range, price, and quality.

[3] Nikon has recently introduced a 35mm f/1.8 AF-S for under $200 which is effectively a 50mm lens on APS-C cameras like the D40/D60.

[4] Pretty much every lens Nikon will make in the future will be AF-S.

[5] The D90 [while a great camera] is both significantly heavier and bulkier and much more expensive than is the D60 which would seem to violate two of the things the OP wanted most.

May I play the role of the Pentax owner here? ;)

Get a Canon or a Nikon. The lens selection is better, particularly on the secondary market. I love my camera but I wish that I had the flexibility of the second-hand market for lenses that the two big boys enjoy.

The older Pentax SMC-FA auto focus lenses for the PZ/SF series work on the newer digital bodies.

The older Pentax SMC manual focus lenses will fit as well.

Remember also that Tokina is now making Pentax's lenses so you shouldn't see any drop-off in quality from what you would expect with a Pentax AF lens by going with a less expensive Tokina.

It's not that you can't use manual and AF lenses on D40/D40x/D60. You have to do manual focus, which most of us still know how to do. The 1.5x crop factor made many focal length ranges undesirable too. Then there are the newer features such as VR.

I understand what you mean. Just pickup a Canon FD 35-105mm one touch for $10 in Tokyo. Not that I will run to it instead of using my D40+18-55mm.

Yeah, but there still aren't nearly as many lenses out there for the Pentax bodies as there are for the others. Like I said, I love mine and like the options I have on it, but for people buying in to a system new right now I'd suggest the two big boys.

Well, true.

As a Pentax K10D owner the older SMC manual focus lenses really don't work with the Pentax new K's The only aperture setting is wide open. I personally have Sigma Lenses. I love my K10D and the in body shake reduction is great (works with any lenses) With that said, I've recommened the Nikon D40's to a few new to DSLR who were on a budget. It's hard to beat the quality of Nikon lenses.

1. Please give us some more info. How techy are you? How long have you been doing this for? Is this your first SLR? How important is compactness and weight? How much are you willing to spend? Are you going to want to add on to this with more lenses and accessories? What are you going to use it for, landscape or city, people or buildings, indoors or outdoors? What's your current compact camera? Are you going to print those photos, yourself or with a service?

I know that's a lot of questions but you could just as well ask us which kind of car you should buy to drive in Europe. The fact that you use the cam in Europe has no influence on what kind of cam we can recommend, so basically any info you get out of this request is (at least methodologically) worthless. Sorry, guys!

2. Read www.dpreview.com . The best source on cameras on the net afaik. THe forums are extremely helpful. Do a search for travel+ dslr.

3. Wonder if you really need a DSLR with two lenses or whether an Ultrazoom like the Olympus and such wouldn't do it. Or maybe even a G10 or Panasonic TZ5 or TZ7.

Good luck,

Till

When I purchased my camera about 10 months ago I spent a lot of time looing at Nikon and Canon. In the end I went for A Canon 400D (Rebel in the US). I was just happier with the image and AF. Also at the pice point £450ish the Nikon I was looking at didn't have AEB.

I have alwasy used Nikon before going digital and dont regret then change but to be honest 99% of couldn't tell the difference. I would go for a good shop that will let you change the standard lense from say a 18-55 to a 18-250. Yes it will cost more but cope with 99% of your needs.

I won't get into the whole Nikon vs. Canon thing as that discussion is a non-starter IMHO. As I said - you can get excellent results with cameras from any of the DSLR makers.

But I will offer this opinion: The forums on DPReview are about the least helpful resource I could possibly imagine.

The "discussions" on those forums are worse than are arguments between democrats and republicans.

The forums are nothing but a bunch of fan bois driven pissing contests and what is more often than not - uninformed and incorrect information - given by a bunch of idiots who have too much money and free time on their hands so they spend $5K on a 200mm f/2.0 lens in order to shoot nothing more than resolution test charts and the squirrels in their back yards.

In my experience it seems that about two-thirds of the posts [regardless of which forum] are from people b'ing about what equipment their favored company doesn't produce or b'ing about the short comings of the stuff said companies do make though likely-as-not they - the posters - don't even actually own the equipment they are complaining about but are basing their opinions on other "reviews" or on their brother-in-law's "experience".

Just my opinion.

Don't know this is true in the US, but there have been some real fire sales on Olympus dSLR's in my neck of the woods (Finland, that is). Olympus E-420 kit with 14-42 mm and 40-140 mm lenses (the crop factor is 2x) are being sold at €399, which includes 22 % VAT. The pre-tax price for the kit is therefore just over €325, which I think is pretty great.

If I was shopping for a first dSLR and this kit were available for around $400 or so, I'd look at it very carefully...

Cheers,
T.

PS. I am a Nikon man myself and have invested so much in Nikon lenses, I am pretty much stuck. Not that I am not happy.