Camaras???

[kjr_trig]

I am considering getting my wife a camara upgrade for X-mas, by that I mean a new, better camara. Currently have a Nikon 4.0 MP, with 8.3X zoom, thats about all I know about it, and I know very little about camaras other than point and click. She was raving about one of her colleagues camara...A Cannon Rebel, she was blown away by the color detail of the pics she saw with it, and its ability to take action shots.
Are MP the most important thing to look at?
Costco has a Nikon (sorry can't remember the name) that has 10 MP for $899. I am trying to find the best camara I can under a grand. Any help or advice appreciated as I have seen many excellent pictures here. Hopefully Ruaround will read this

 

[1journeyman]

I love my Canon Rebel XT. That said, you aren't going to get it and any lenses to go along with it for under $1000.
I bought my Rebel without researching lense cost... oops. Be sure to factor that in when choosing a camera.

 

[ruaround]

your wish is my command... lol...
MPs arent as important as one would think... the quanity of MP isnt as imprtant as the quality produced... unless youre going to be printing out 11 x 14s or 8 x 10s all the time...
a few things to consider are what will be the primary function... how often will it be used... how easy is it to carry with you... whats yor budget... what other functions the camera has... do you want a D SLR or just a Digital...
cannon is my fave... fuji, nikon, pentax and olympus are all HIGH quality D Cameras...
Canon Power Shot is a great compact camera... and it should retail under $200...
i LOVE my EOS Rebel but the price tag on them (depending on which one you get) is $600+...
the Nikon D40 or the Olympus 330 are great SLRs for under $600...
you get what you pay for when it comes to a camera so dont buy something cheap that youre going to pay for in the end (quality memories in an image)...

 

[dskrezyna]

Like Bob said, "You get what you pay for"... ESPECIALLY when it comes to photography equipment. If you buy crap, that's exactly what youlll get.
Photography has always been a hobby but I will be trying to make some living at it. I just bought a Canon 5D and I have top of the line Canon L lenses, all of which were pretty expensive. I have a Canon 30D as my backup and a Canon Digital Rebel as my original DSLR camera.
Again like Bob suggested, it depends what you are using it for and how often youll use it. The same goes for lenses.

 

[autofreak44]

for your purposes i vote the Nikon D40 because its $550 with a stock lens which leaves you plenty for tripods, flashes, lenses, memory cards etc. The Nikon has only 6.1 megapixel while the canon has 10, but i would say the nikon is the better way to go for what you are doing. also just go down and see which one you like better (how it feels in your hand, how it shoots, ease of use etc)... you can go to staples and they have both these cameras.
have fun

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
I love my Canon Rebel XT. That said, you aren't going to get it and any lenses to go along with it for under $1000.
I bought my Rebel without researching lense cost... oops. Be sure to factor that in when choosing a camera.
Thanks, just curious what the "stock" lens is like (I assume it does come with a lens?), and what the purpose of addition lens are? Are they just for zoom?

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by ruaround
your wish is my command... lol...
MPs arent as important as one would think... the quanity of MP isnt as imprtant as the quality produced... unless youre going to be printing out 11 x 14s or 8 x 10s all the time...
a few things to consider are what will be the primary function... how often will it be used... how easy is it to carry with you... whats yor budget... what other functions the camera has... do you want a D SLR or just a Digital...
cannon is my fave... fuji, nikon, pentax and olympus are all HIGH quality D Cameras...
Canon Power Shot is a great compact camera... and it should retail under $200...
i LOVE my EOS Rebel but the price tag on them (depending on which one you get) is $600+...
the Nikon D40 or the Olympus 330 are great SLRs for under $600...
you get what you pay for when it comes to a camera so dont buy something cheap that youre going to pay for in the end (quality memories in an image)...
I know SLR is "single-lens reflex", but not really sure what it means

And thanks, glad you responed as I have seen some of your fine work....were the pics of the Seahawk-Buc game with your Rebel?

 

[ruaround]

Originally Posted by kjr_trig
I know SLR is "single-lens reflex", but not really sure what it means

And thanks, glad you responed as I have seen some of your fine work....were the pics of the Seahawk-Buc game with your Rebel?
with an SLR you actually view the subject through the lens via a single lens (SL) and mirrors to bring the image to the viewfinder ("reflex") (R)... there was a day when cameras had 2 lenses one to view the subject and one to capture the image... other cameras have a window to look through that doesnt go through the lens or project an image via LCD...
yes the Bucs pix were taken with my Rebel... 70mm-300mm lens...

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by kjr_trig
Thanks, just curious what the "stock" lens is like (I assume it does come with a lens?), and what the purpose of addition lens are? Are they just for zoom?
Yes, it comes with the regular lense.
The other lenses allow for zooming in, wider shots, macro-shots, etc.
If your wife is looking to take a lot of action shots, wildlife photos, etc. it's a great camera. If she will use it more just to pull out and take shots of family at the yearly reunion I'd say it's a bit much. The bag to carry it and a couple of lenses is rather cumbersome, versus just putting a camera in your pocket.

 

[agent-x]

what's a camara?

 

[shrimpi]

I just ordered the rebel it was shipped today!
cant wait...

 

[lovethesea]

When I purchased my dig SLR (Pentax) I steered away from Cannon because their lenses are proprietary lenses. My digi pentax can use my origianal SLR lenses and I just purchased my first digi SLR lens

 

[ruaround]

Originally Posted by lovethesea
When I purchased my dig SLR (Pentax) I steered away from Cannon because their lenses are proprietary lenses. My digi pentax can use my origianal SLR lenses and I just purchased my first digi SLR lens

i am confused LTS... Canon has several different companies lenses that are compatible...

 

[lovethesea]

I don't know......the sigma and tamron lenses from my Pentax slr would not fit the Canon digi slr that I was orignally looking at.

 

[ruaround]

odd... cuz i have a sigma and it works fine... and i know tamron has lenses for the Canon as well... i thought Nikon was the only brand that had its "own" lenses...

 

[nano reefer]

I am on the market too,
my local camera store is pushing me for the Nikon D40x kit or the Canon Rebel XTi kit.
Both are under $1,000 but the Nikon D40x kit is $150 cheaper. They are both great quality.
The Nikon is more user friendly but the Canon is a bit better performance-wise.

 

[dskrezyna]

Originally Posted by lovethesea
I don't know......the sigma and tamron lenses from my Pentax slr would not fit the Canon digi slr that I was orignally looking at.

Some lenses need specific mounts for that specific brand of camera. When buying a lens, make sure you have the specific mount that fits your brand camera.
Canon also has lenses that are made for a specific Canon camera body. Full-frame, 1.3x crop and 1.6 crop camera bodies (i.e. the Canon EF-S 10-22mm wide angle lens will not work on a full frame body, only a 1.3 or 1/6 crop.)

 

[kjr_trig]

Thanks for the much needed advice from everyone, I think I am going with the Rebel. I went by Best Buy yesterday, they seem to have as good a price as anybody. Normally I am against the "Extended Warranty", but I think in this case it may be worth the $129. What do you guys think?

 

[shrimpi]

I got my rebel kit on amazon for 543.00 shipped with the memory card.

 

[autofreak44]

Originally Posted by Shrimpi
I got my rebel kit on amazon for 543.00 shipped with the memory card.
is that with lenses and is that the xt or the xti