What's a good DSLR for someone that knows nothing about photography?
 

My only experience with photography is disposable kodak's and moved onto a canon point and shoot. After seeing some of the stuff people have been putting up on gfy, photography seems like a great hobby to have.

I was playing around with some DSLRs the other day, and the guy at the store was telling me that the Nikon d60 was a decent camera for a newbie and they are throwing in 18 free photography classes to teach you the ins and outs of any nikon.

What's a decent camera for someone that knows nothing about camera's to use?

canon 20d... 800 bucks give or take

I don't know much about the Canon line but yes the D60 sounds like it would do you very well.

As low as $499 - Olympus e-500 w/2 lenses is what I have. Works Great! :thumbsup
http://www.google.com/products/catal...tle#ps-sellers

I love my Canon Rebel XTi. Takes great photos and its very simple to use. The current series is XSi, but you can still pick up XTis for cheap.

I hear the starter lineup Nikon has is the best way to go.

Nikon D40

Nikon and Canon both make great digital SLRs

40d is a good start for you.

thanks for the input.
a friend convinced me to go with the canon 50d this morning, this fucker is going to take me a year to figure out :Oh crap

The D40/40x/60 is more than just decent for a noob. It is good for even a serious hobby. Go take a look at the D40/60 Flickr groups and tell me that is all noob work.

I would take a closer look at the D40 along with the D60 though. They are very similar. The VR on the D60's kit lens supposedly doesn't mean much at such short focal lengths. Then there is the extra MP, but the difference in resolution between 6 and 10 actually isn't that big.

You'll also want to eventually add an SB-400 or SB-600 so that you can do bounce flashes to avoid inaccurate colors associated with any camera's built in flash directly hitting the subject. The SB-400 only moves up and down, but it is a lot smaller than the SB-600. Some people have both.

And if you need a zoom there is a very clear winner... Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR

The only drawback to the D40/40x/60 is that they don't have an auto focus drive motor in the camera body. They require special lenses with the motor built in. So if you want to use older Nikkor lenses that you can buy on the cheap, you'll be doing so in manual focus. I believe all new Nikkor lenses have this motor. Sigma and Tamron also have some lesser priced lenses with the motor built in, but no lens is going to top Nikkor quality.

everyone who answered you so far is a moron in that your presumption is that the camera will make your photographs good (it wont)

Used properly by a real photographer any camera with manual mode that is properly calibrated is as good as the next.

what you should be doing is taking photography classes with a cheap MANUAL camera and THEN chose the camera that best represents your needs.

Canon Rebel or Canon 30D, just put it on "dummy" mode. The green thing and shoot away.

my starter dslr was a nikon d40x
www.digicombos.com
http://www.digicombos.com/camera-sho...Combo-1/1.html
Our price: $698.65
Nikon D60 Camera with Nikon 18-55mm AF Lens

You might want to go back and read his post. You're giving him advice he doesn't need, nor did he ask for.

Makes me wonder who the real moron is... :thumbsup

ditto :2 cents:

here is a hint..
try to find one which has automatic setting for ISO and flash..
i know some of the newer nikons does and i have seen it working well on some of the canon dslr..but i dont recall the model.
if you have to learn flash settings and ISO, you might as well go full in and learn everything.
you could also consider some of the point and shoot digital cameras, many of them rival dslr's in image quality and certainly ease of use.

Canon Rebel XSi

Buy Nikon...
If you need something really cheap find second hand Nikon D50,
and spend all your remaining cash in glasses...
When you learn what you need just buy better body...
And yeah, don't buy Nikon D40 or D40x, and try to avoid D70...
Don't waste your time with Cannon (cheaper ones) and Olympus...

re-read my initial post, dipshit

just my luck, bought the camera from ritz/wolf photo because they were throwing in 18 free photography courses, and find out that they just filed for bankruptcy protection. Hopefully they stick around long enough for me to use a couple of the lessons.

Sweet, this thread totally applies to me too. I have a great eye for shots, but I'm a noob with technical knowledge regarding cameras. I do a lot of insect macro-photography and I need a setup than can allow me to take close up shots from 3-4 feet away that still have crystal clear detail, and to be able to take shots at 4-8" away that can show the details of the compound eyes or fine hairs on their bodies.

Is this gonna cost me a bajillion dollars?

get anything from Canon or Nikon. Once you start buying a few lenses the bodies seem cheap :)

You can get a Sony a200 for cheap online .. very reliable .. very decent images .. and once your in and happy with the workings and know what our doing you can move up the ladder and use all your lens .. right up to the Sony a900 full frame 24MB camera ..

Canon are fantastic .. not as cheap entry level models .. but their top end model the 5D Mark 2 shoots HD video to flash drives with ALL the canon lens choices .. hard to beat that ...

just get one that fits your budget if your not sure what your doing, and learn it :thumbsup

This is an old thread but I'll reiterate that buying a DSLR isn't just about a particular body, it's about a whole SYSTEM. You may upgrade your "old" 8MP body when 20MP is entry level, but your lenses will probably still work just fine for many years beyond that. :2 cents: Unfortunately there's no standard between manufacturers so you really need to choose between Canon, Nikon etc from the start.

get a canon or a nikon and invest in lens, that way when you do move up to a better camera your lens will follow you along with a new body

the canon rebel line is awesome. The new 500d is out and you could give it a try. It has HD video recording as an added bonus :)
Just get a decent lens like the 24-105 L.

Nikon D300 best cam i can think of. VERY user friendly, you dont have to go into the digital options to change the fstop, ISO, and shutter speed like you do with canon. Everything is at your finger tips. The also have the best photo processing chip. Nikon was rated #1 for the last 10 years. There len's are cheaper and better then canon as well. I am a proud owner of a D300.