Recommendation on Digital SLR
 

hi
I am finally making a switch to the digital world. I have had a Nikon SLR for a while now and am looking for Digital SLR. I like the Nikon D70S would potentially same my investments in the Lens I have made to date.

At the same time I am concerned about the Nikon coming out with a replacement model with > 6.1 MP. Does it make sense for me to wait?

Does anyone know if I can use the Nikon lenses for a N80 on non -Nikon Digital SLR like Canon, Olympus ?

Nikon lens will not work on Canon SLRs. I'm not very familiar with
Olympus lenses but I think they use their own type of mount.

I personally prefer Canon SLRs and I've been with Canon all along.
Niko is just as good, and if you think you can streatch a bit longer,
a new and better camera should be on the way.

I'd say a good lifecycle for a Digital (SLR or any) camera would be 2-3 years
from the day that model is released. If you are not a heavy user, you can
own it for a few more years. Camera will last lot longer, but with the
new models out, a 2-3 year old model doesnt look appealing.

So its upto you you how much you are willing to invest and how much
you have already invested in terms of lense and other accessories.

If you have high end lenses, sticking to Nikon would make more sense.

I'm a Canon person as well, and extremely happy with my 350D (Rebel XT). But I have friends who are very happy with their Nikon D-SLRs. If you have some lenses already, Nikon's probably the way to go, since you can't use the lenses on other cameras as cpx said.

Check DP Review for reviews and such if you haven't been there.

You also need to take into account lens quality, the type of shooting you'll be doing, and what you'll be doing with the images if you're considering waiting for more megapixels. If you have lower-grade lenses and/or will mostly just be putting pictures up online or making prints that aren't huge, 6MP is quite sufficient. If you have professional grade lenses or plan on blowing up prints, you might want more than that. Also remember the 1.5x crop factor on the consumer/prosumer-range Nikon D-SLRs; if you're using a lens that has optical abberations at the periphery (but is more decent towards the center), the crop will eliminate that to a decent extent. (And you'll get far better pictures in any case than pocketable cameras with a pointless 8-10MP that have nowhere the optics and sensor size of your D-SLR, even at the lower pixel count.)

It's never a good day to buy a DSLR. By that, I mean that there will always be something better down the line shortly after you buy. :)

I have a D70s and have found it to be a quite capable camera that takes great pictures. Yes, if you are planning on making huge enlargements, then more Mpix may be better, but I have a number of 11x17s taken with the D70s that look great.

If you can afford the extra $$$ the D200 is a significant step up in performance.

I, too, have a D70s and it's a fine camera. It's available now for about $800 with kit lens (the 18-70 is quite good).

If I were buying today, I'd get the D200, hands down. That is one sweet camera. It should be for a little more than double the cost of the D70s.

In either case, your Nikon lenses will fit.

Comparison between D70, D70s, and D50 here

There are adapter rings between Nikon lenses and Canon cameras, but you lose the electrical connection between the lens and the body. All camera control of the lens goes away, i.e. aperture, autofocus, etc.

If you have a collection of *good* Nikon lenses, there is no reason to switch. If your lens collection is so, so, then the field is wide open. Nikon, however, makes a quality product.

As noted above, no time is a good time to buy a digital camera with the field evolving so quickly. I shot for years with a 6mp Canon 10D and felt no need for more pixels. I recently stepped up to a 12.8mp Canon 5D, but that was mainly so I could take advantage of my collection of full-frame lenses.

Get a D50, D70 or D200 and don't look back

With 613 posts, I'll be you know how to use the Search function. ;)

There was an extensive discussion in this thread

Personally I love my Nikon D50, which I used to take some great action shots at the Winter Olympics. The D70 is even better by some reports.

Make sure you go to a retail store before you buy. Many have reported finding that the Canon Digital Rebel is uncomfortable to hold due to its compact grip (v. Nikon), but YMMV.

Yeah; I generally stop by Ritz Camera since they're all over the country to try stuff out before I buy it, and they usually have a good selection of Canon products in stock compared to many local outfits. (And I NEVER buy stuff there, since they're a horrible, overpriced, uninformed-consumer-gouging store. But plenty fine to just look at stuff I'm going to buy elsewhere. :))

If you're in the Boston area, Hunt Photo & Video is a wonderful place to buy camera gear. I've bought a few cheaper things (backpack, tripod, 17-85IS, a couple filters) from them. Though stuff will of course almost always be cheaper online... In this case it was nice to pay a fairly small premium to buy locally from a fair merchant.

Example: When I first got my 350D, I got a 75-300IS ($450.) Dropped it onto concrete when I didn't properly close my camera bag. The lens was fine, but the UV filter was shattered, bent, and stuck onto the lens. (This is half the reason you should always have a UV filter on any lens!) Ritz wanted a MINIMUM of $250 up front just to send it into Canon, plus possibly more for repair costs. Hunt told me how to safely try to dislodge it with pliers myself; when that didn't work, they sent it off to a 3rd party for me who removed the filter (and checked the internals of the lens for glass dust and such.) Total repair cost including their shipping costs: $20. Minor scratching on the lens cap, but other than that the lens survived quite well!

I've been much more careful with my gear since then. :)

I've found Canon to be very resilient. I have a few lenses
that survived the fall very well.. havent lost anything yet.

My advice? Buy the cheapest camera you can get away with and use it until full frame sensors come out in a body with an F mount (either Nikon or Fuji).

:D are you reading my mind? i'm waiting for a full frame to come out for
under 2k. (Canon) .. around 1.5k preferred.
5D is nice, but too expensive.

Well I know that I'm going to be in the minority here, but I recently made the switch to digital and I settled on an Olympus Evolt-500. Definitely the dark horse in the market.

There is a standard that's out there for interchangeable lenses called Four Thirds (http://www.four-thirds.org/), but I really don't know where it's going to go.

Uh, oh... I own two EF-S lenses. Canon had better stick with making good quality small sensor cameras or I'm going to be miffed. But back to thread... Nikon is fine, and if I owned decent Nikon glass, that's where I'd stay. Also with regard a comment about the Digital Rebel being too small to easily hold.. I have big hands and have no problem.

I fell (on rocks) on top of a $5K Canon lens two weeks after I bought it. :eek: My hand bled like a stuck pig for the entire hour hike back to the car, but the lens was unscathed.

Take a look at what the DNC photographers saw at their 2004 convention

And scroll down a few frames to the cameras at the 2004 Olympics

That said, I did suggest a D50 to a friend who wanted a digital SLR with good specs that wouldn't break the bank. She wanted to the the camera for horse show type events.