It has to be in the $300-$1000 range.
I would prefer it to be a digital camera.
And not something that's small and easy to lose.
~Thanks Thanks to everyone who already answered. And thank you for your suggestions.
Tom - I'm asking for specific models. Not yahoo shopping. When you say "amateur photographer," it makes me think that you already have some experience. You could have said that you were a beginner, but you didn't. Here's a camera that will allow you to grow with almost no limits. It doesn't weigh a ton, but you are not likely to lose it, either.
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 with the lens from $475.
If you are not up for this kind of camera, I agree totally with TX-USA in recommending the Canon Powershot A630. The A640 is nice, too. It's a great camera, but I guess I already said that. Thanks to everyone else who said the same thing. :-) Report It
Canon Poweshot A630 has rave reviews. Consumer reports had it as a 'Best Buy'. I have one and it works superb. It has lots of good features, size is decent and the price is between $200 to $300 only!
Specs / Video:
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/...
Checkout the following camera buying guide before you buy any camera.
linkhttp://reviews.cnet.com/Digital_cameras/... In total agreement with Dr. Sam above.
I'd like to add this thought, though. You asked about a $300 - $1000 range. You could buy a camera in the $1000 range (eg. Nikon D80) and have a fine camera. Or you could by a $600 camera (eg. Nikon D40) and have $400 to buy lenses and a flash.
A Nikon 55-200mm VR runs $249.99 retail. You could a Nikon 55-200mm non-VR for $199.99. A Nikon SB400 or SB600 would round out your camera bag nicely.
It's a case of wanting to or being able to take those pictures you dream of. There are a lot of digital cameras out there that are good for the beginner to intermediate level photographer. There are digital SLR's, Digital zoom and point and shoot cameras. I am an amateur, myself, and I shoot my nephew's ATV races. I didn't have the funds to go for a digital SLR so, I went with the Fujifilm finepix s9000. It's a 9MP camera with a 10.7 manual zoom function. Keep in mind, megapixels aren't the end all be all of digital photography. 5-6 MP is more that enough for most applications. Optical zoom is the most important of the zoom functions. Digital zoom is, generally, useless and isn't a factor when looking for a camera. Be advised, when they say "10X total seemless zoom", they are multiplying the optical by the digital zoom so, check the optical. 2X optical times 5X digital is 10X garbage. If you do get a long optical zoom camera, invest in a good tripod and, maybe a remote shutter release. When you get out to the far end of the zoom, every little movement (yes, even your heartbeat) is magnified many times through the screen. Image stabilization is a good thing. Many cameras have this. Mine doesn't really, it ups the ISO to a higher speed to negate any shakiness and this works for me. My best advise is, search for, at first, cameras. Once you have some ideas, search for reviews of those, specific, cameras, do some research and you will not be disappointed. Nikon D40 It depends on your preferences. I have a canon 400d, which is simply amazing. But the camera doesn't really matter, its the lenses you have my suggestion
go to yahoo shopping
digital cameras
digital camera GUIDE
be sure to check titles on the left side
the guide should answer your questions The best "affordable" value is the Pentax K100D 6.1 mp DSLR which comes with two Pentax lenses: a normal 18-55 mm lense and a 50-200 mm telephoto. The Pentax K Series has the best in-body "shake reduction" bar none. It also have "multiple" burst exposure capability. This camera kit sells for $600 [after Pentax mail-in rebate good until July 31, 2007] at samys.com. and comes with (1) case; (2) 1 gb SD memory card; (3) tripod; and (4) 200 free prints @samys.com Here's a review link:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
Good luck! Either a nikon d40 or a canon rebel kit will be perfect to start and learn on and they are both great cameras to grow with. |
