Need some camera buying advice

[brutus87]

Check Costco, they have great bundle deals.
I have a t3i, and I love it.

[Wschnitz]

Check Amazon, they have great bundle deals.
I have a t3i, and I love it.

FTFY

Been to Costco, deals really are not that great most of the time, unless there happens to be a sale amazon is easier and usually cheaper.

[flyboyx]

hey pat. you mean you cant use your antique brownie collection? just kidding.

i saw further down the first page that you have narrowed your search to a dlsr. that was going to be my first recommendation. so....half the battle has already been won. when i was in college i was a commission salesman in a professional camera shop so i know a little about this.

here is another suggestion: i know you aren't planning to be a professional photographer, but i have to say that the cheap arse lenses that come in the kits are complete shit. if i were you, i would buy the body only. you might look on craigs list for a nice used one in leu of new. that will save you some cash. for a lens, i would look at a new sigma or tamron "all in one" lens. that way you get a nice quality wide angle and telephoto all in one. it will be much cheaper than anything of comparable quality by the major manufacturer. also, there will be no carrying several lenses around and bumbling around trying to change them when you want to go from telephoto to wide. this may not save you money, but your system will be 5x better and 3x more usable than the crap that canon or nikon sells with the camera. i would also buy a removable bounce flash if i were you. you don't need the top of the line here. just a flash made buy the manufacturer that has the bounce feature and is fully compatible with the camera you want to buy.

as far as the choice between canon and nikon, that is like choosing between chevy and ford. it is a personal choice. read the reviews of the cameras in your price range. go to a local camera store and play with both models. make your decision based on that. you don't have to buy there, but know that the salesman is likely paid commission. he may try to skew you based on how much he makes on one brand over the other. don't buy any other brand than canon or nikon. you will always find accessories for those brands and they will probably always be in business.

if i were to choose between the two, i personally would buy canon.

good luck and give me a call if you need advice.

brian

[mrsleeve]

Why is it I am the only one thats has shown some love for the M 4/3's???

Its the best of both worlds, you have the best of both worlds, you have the flexibility of a interchangable lens Out fit and 99% of the IQ of a DSLR, in mostly the size of a bigger point and shoot like the SX

Yes the format has a few short comings to some like the Crop factor of 2 and a lack of fast zoom lenses but that is getting much better, and there is outstanding collection of fast primes for the format from both Pan and Oly, Most of the short comings mentioned will not be noticed but a hobbyist just getting started and is a less intimidating set up for being on both sides of the lens.

I love my M4/3 gear and have gotten to where I reach for it before I go for my canon rig even when they are side by side.... I am slowly becoming and Olympus convert

[flyboyx]

this is the lens i would buy for your needs:

http://tamron-usa.com/lenses/prod/18270_vcpzd.asp#ad-image-0

here is the sigma:

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/multi-purpose

it costs 100.00 more but i have not read the reviews as to which is best.

[gtdragon980]

Why is it I am the only one thats has shown some love for the M 4/3's???

Its the best of both worlds, you have the best of both worlds, you have the flexibility of a interchangable lens Out fit and 99% of the IQ of a DSLR, in mostly the size of a bigger point and shoot like the SX

Yes the format has a few short comings to some like the Crop factor of 2 and a lack of fast zoom lenses but that is getting much better, and there is outstanding collection of fast primes for the format from both Pan and Oly, Most of the short comings mentioned will not be noticed but a hobbyist just getting started and is a less intimidating set up for being on both sides of the lens.

I love my M4/3 gear and have gotten to where I reach for it before I go for my canon rig even when they are side by side.... I am slowly becoming and Olympus convert

To be honest, I have never dabbled into that realm. I'm a

[F34R]

this is the lens i would buy for your needs:

http://tamron-usa.com/lenses/prod/18270_vcpzd.asp#ad-image-0

here is the sigma:

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/multi-purpose

it costs 100.00 more but i have not read the reviews as to which is best.

It really is based on what lens you go with. But as an entry level needs I think a factory lens is all he will need. I am personally buying a body and picking up a high end lens that I never have to swap out. It is annoying shooting close then having to swap out to a 55-200mm when an 18-270 will do everything.

[eskimo810]

Why is it I am the only one thats has shown some love for the M 4/3's???

Its the best of both worlds, you have the best of both worlds, you have the flexibility of a interchangable lens Out fit and 99% of the IQ of a DSLR, in mostly the size of a bigger point and shoot like the SX

Yes the format has a few short comings to some like the Crop factor of 2 and a lack of fast zoom lenses but that is getting much better, and there is outstanding collection of fast primes for the format from both Pan and Oly, Most of the short comings mentioned will not be noticed but a hobbyist just getting started and is a less intimidating set up for being on both sides of the lens.

I love my M4/3 gear and have gotten to where I reach for it before I go for my canon rig even when they are side by side.... I am slowly becoming and Olympus convert

I don't have anything against them really, but they never seemed awesome to me. My boss used to keep an olympus in the kitchen to take pictures of food and events, and has since been replaced with a D3100. A D3100, essentially the lowest end DSLR you can buy, proved to be much more robust in terms of low light situations and capturing color better. It just took much better pictures in general.

And it's not like a DSLR is hard to use. Yes it has a learning curve, but you can also just put it in auto and it's like a point and shoot. You can learn at your own rate, and you're not really forced to experiment. With that in mind, I think people are just trying to recommend the most capable setup for $800.

[wikkid]

Why is it I am the only one thats has shown some love for the M 4/3's???

Its the best of both worlds, you have the best of both worlds, you have the flexibility of a interchangable lens Out fit and 99% of the IQ of a DSLR, in mostly the size of a bigger point and shoot like the SX

Yes the format has a few short comings to some like the Crop factor of 2 and a lack of fast zoom lenses but that is getting much better, and there is outstanding collection of fast primes for the format from both Pan and Oly, Most of the short comings mentioned will not be noticed but a hobbyist just getting started and is a less intimidating set up for being on both sides of the lens.

I love my M4/3 gear and have gotten to where I reach for it before I go for my canon rig even when they are side by side.... I am slowly becoming and Olympus convert

I would look at a Panasonic G3 or similar. Leica lens(es). (Barely) used models available all up and down the Panasonic line.

[mrsleeve]

^

Yes 2ed gen sensor from oly or pan really makes the format shine. That Leica glass is not made in Germany nor in a Leica production facility. The name is under license to panny, and supposedly "manufactured to Leica standard" in japan with Japanese style muliti coatings. Leica is to panny as Zeiss is too Sony in this respect.

To put it shortly its not real leica glass, as much as panny would like you to belive. I reallly think the olly f1.8 primes are superior other than maybe the pan-a-leica 25mm

Also when it comes to bodies, oly all the way. G3 is statistically similar to the omd but oly has its image stabilization in the body using a 5 axis sensor shift, as opposed to panny using a in lens image stabilization system. This means when you put the adapter on to run that bad ass heritage glass from almost any manufacturer you retain you I.S. the same sensor and I.S. as the OMD can be had in the epl2 iirc

[wikkid]

^
I was thinking of the Panasonic G3, that is a lot less than the Oly OM-D. It looked more in the OP's budget.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...G&A=details&Q=

[Steven]

Get a used dslr and get good glass. It is less about the body and more about excellent quality glass.

[mrsleeve]

^
I was thinking of the Panasonic G3, that is a lot less than the Oly OM-D. It looked more in the OP's budget.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...G&A=details&Q=

Yeah I was phone posting so I was trying to keep it short, but thats why I mentioned the EPL2 that has the same sensor and IS as the OMD for about 1/2 the money and well with in the OP's budget...

The High ISO performance on the gen 2 sensors for the M4/3s is absolutely astounding, with my OMD I can shoot B&W with no noise up too 12800 and Color with nothing really noticeable even in the blacks up too about 6400. MUCH MUCH better than my 40d which starts to show noise at about ISO 800 and my Old EP-1 at ISO 1200.


As to image quality This was taken with my 40d w/28-135 @ 28mm 35mm equivalent focal length of 44mm


This was taken about 2 mins latter with my OMD and a 17mm Prime 35mm equivalent focal length of 34mm.

[Turf1600]

How do you guys feel about the d3200?

[mrsleeve]

^

When I was in your position I went with a used 40d