I am looking to buy a digital camera that I can take profession quality pictures with for under $700. What do you suggest? After some research I saw that this may be a good camera but normally I found it for over $1,000 but this site has it for $499 and seems like it comes with the neccasary things in the box and is brand new.. can I trust this site or what?
http://www.expresscameras.com/prodetails... Please go to this rating site before buying anything from an on-line store that you have not heard of.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Exp...
You will see that this is not a very good rating.
Compare it to:
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Can... - which has only gotten 165 reviews, but all good
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/B_H... - which has over 3,000 reviews
I am glad that the too-good-to-be-true price seemed suspicious to you.
For a camera and lens that can take "professional quality pictures, I'd say that the Nikon D40 is a great little camera, very easy to use and quite reasonably priced. It will get you in the Nikon family which is a great place to be. If you buy accessories and lenses, you will be able to use everything on any Nikon that you might upgrade to later on.
Here are a few reviews, in case you have not read them yet. Be sure to note that they are several pages long and some of the reviews also have some sample images that you can look at.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_revi...
http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3756/cam...
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/d40...
I hate to see people slam the camera because it can't autofocus with older Nikon lenses. It is true that there is a "slight problem" with older Nikon lenses not autofocusing on the D40, but if you do not own a bag full of older lenses, it is not going to be a problem. It is barely a problem anyhow. If you check www.nikonusa.com for "AF-S" lenses, which are ALL 100% compatible with the D40, you will find 23 lenses, including 7 "VR" (vibration Reduction) lenses and one true macro lens with "VR". There are another 25-plus lenses in the current catalog that provide all functions except autofocus as well as many (possibly dozens) "out of print" lenses that will work just as well. In addition, although these lens will not autofocus, most of them will still give focus confirmation. From the D40 manual: "If the lens has a maximum aperture of f/5.6 of faster, the viewfinder focus indicator can be used to confirm whether the portion of the subject in the selected focus area is in focus. After positioning the subject in the active focus area, press the shutter release button halfway and rotate the lens focusing ring until the in-focus indicator is displayed."
The D40 only has 3 autofocus zones arranged horizontally at the center, 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. This might be considered a limitation, but realistically, most people will find this perfectly adequate, especially if you are moving up from a point and shoot with only a center zone.
You can get the D40 with the 18-55 kit lens at B&H Photo (available through Yahoo! Shopping or at 1-800-622-4987) for $550 (April 2007). You will want to add a decent SD memory card and I recommend a Sandisk Ultra II or Lexar Platinum II - either 1 GB or 2 GB would be great. You can get one from B&H also for $30-45.
I assume that you are looking to spend no more than $700, so I won't go into meaningless answers about cameras that cost $700 without the lens, even though ALL SLR cameras are available without the lens. This is one of the great things about this design. If you don't WANT to buy the most popular lens, you can choose something else. suggestion
go to yahoo shopping
digital cameras
digital camera GUIDE
check out all titles on left side
this guide will help you choose No don 't trust this site. Somebody in the net reports that the site is a scam. They use a bait and switch tactics. I would normally buy online from Amazon, B&H, or J&R. They are more trustworthy. A used DSLR -- even an obsolete one -- with a used kit lens will blow any new compact right out of the water.
Scour the big camera store sites and eB*y for a body and lens setup that fits your budget. If you can't find one, raid the piggy bank. You won't be sorry. I always thought that FUJI gives you the BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK! Fuji makes some of the best lens out their! people seem to forget how important the lens is! pardon my french but if the lens is junk that means your photos come out yuck!! always find out what kind of rating or how good the lens is! the lens is the most expensive part of both your digital and film cameras!
Thanks,
Bob |
