...but the choices are overwhelming! What I need is to be able to take wide angle shots of kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms, but it would be great to be able to use it for fun also. I need to get the widest possible angle without getting the "fish eye" effect (is that what they mean by rectilinear distortion?) but don't want to spend thou$and$ on a lens. I know DSLR's are more difficult to use than a point and shoot camera, but I don't want to make a career of learning how to use the camera. I'd like a high quality camera, but, I'd also like to keep the price down to earth. Any suggestions? [See the end paragraph, which I added for you particularly.]
The Nikon D40 is a great little camera, very easy to use and quite reasonably priced. It has a few "consumer friendly" totally automatic modes that make it very easy to use - including a "Child Photo" mode - but still offers total photographic control when you are ready to take charge. 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.
Check out Nikon's "Picturetown" promotion, where they handed out 200 D40's in Georgetown, SC. http://www.stunningnikon.com/picturetown...
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." (See http://www.members.aol.com/swf08302/niko... for a list of AF-S lenses.)
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.
There is no "Status LCD" on top of the camera, but Nikon chose to use the rear LCD for this information. This is actually a nice move, as the display is bigger than the top display and you aren't using the read LCD for anything BEFORE you take the picture anyway. This is not a step backwards and it actually makes sense to me.
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 $525 (June 2007). Add a Lexar Platinum (60X speed) card for $25 or 2 GB for $35. Or - get the D40 with 18-135 lens and 1 GB Lexar card for $750. This is a decent lens and it is very versatile. You will find it suitable for pretty much anything you want to do, other than really long telephoto shots. It will let you explore the range of focal lengths to decide where to start filling in your lens collection. If you don't want to buy any more lenses, this one will carry you through pretty much everything. B&H also have used D40's from $475.
The kit lens is the 18-55 mm zoom. This is the equivalent of a 27 mm lens on a 35 mm camera. (This is still better for your purposes than almost any point and shoot out there.) I just checked this out for you. If you stand in one corner of an 11' x 14' room and aim at the opposite corner, you can pick up about 12' on one wall and 9' on the other. You'd really need two views to show the entire room with this lens, but one view is probably adequate. In order to do a better job without really breaking the bank, you'd have to look to an alternate lens manufacturer like Sigma's 10-20 f/4-5.6 or Tokina's 12-24 F/4 for about $500 each. The Nikon 12-24 costs over $900. Besides the likely improvement in image quality, the Nikon is also an AF-S lens that will autofocus with the D40. The others will meter just fine, but the autofocus will not work. With these wide angles, accurate manual focusing is pretty easy, though. As you shop, compare this to a Canon Rebel XT. They are similar size and you might like the feel better. I personally prefer Nikon, but Canon is okay to buy also. Report It
In January, I bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT. I am somewhat experienced with a film SLR, but this is my first digital. I'll admit that the learning curve was quite steep, but with the help of an excellent book (the manual that comes with it leaves alot to be desired), I find it easier and easier to use every time I shoot. I can't speak about the wide-angle lens, but the Rebel is really a good choice in my opinion. OK. I would suggest the Canon rebel, or if you want to spend a little bit more to get a 10 megapixel camera to get bigger blow-ups, get the Rebel xti. , now, for the lens you are going to need about a 20-24 mm lens to do that.
I think the best lens for this purpose would be the Canon
EF-s 10-20mm lens. Keep in mind that when you place it on the XTi or most other Digital Cameras there will be a conversion factor. The 10-20mm lens will become equivalent to about a 16mm-35mm zoom lens, perfect for the needs you are suggesting.
There is also a nice Sigma lens as well I saw on amazon
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
(15 customer reviews)
15 Reviews
5 star: (12)
4 star: (3)
3 star: (0)
2 star: (0)
1 star: (0)
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List Price: $679.99
Price: $459.95
You Save: $220.04 (32%)
Camera: About 600 bucks for the rebel and 500 for this nice sigma lens
About 900 for the rebel xti and 500 for the nice sigma lens
The Canon lens I referred to is about $800 Canon is a great brand, it has worked for me.
Here are a few great cameras from them that I would recommend:
Canon Powershot A630
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon-Pow...
Canon Powershot A560
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon-Pow...
Canon Powershot A710
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Canon-Pow...
Also, check our this website, just fill out the answers to the left and press see results. it will try to match your camera to you
http://sy.adiho.com/ASA/Controller?adi_h... |
