Best deals on cameras? (1 Viewer)
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Stoneyj33
Senior Member
About two or three weeks ago best buy (surprisingly) had the cheapest price I could find. Every now and then nikon has rebates they put in the Sunday paper.
Nikonrumors.com also has good leads on their products.
Nikonrumors.com also has good leads on their products.
CaptainGreg
Senior Member
Man that one expensive camera. Hope you get some good lenses with it.
worth every penny :beerchug:
My wife and are in the market for a SLR. What are the recommendations...
Stick with the Nikon. Even their lower-end DSLRs are amazing.
Of course, I'm comparing them to a Konica-Minolta Z2.
Bwahaha, kidding.
In all honesty - Nikon. Srsly.
The D7000 is quite a bit cheaper than the D300, and the D300 is a lot cheaper than the amazingly wonderful D700. The D7000, which supposedly is amazing too (maybe more amazing in some ways), is a very good bargain.
And yes, make sure you have a few good lenses. Good lenses make a world of difference.
I rented a D700 and a 24-70 f/2.8 lens in June for a wedding I was the photographer for. The D700 was simply fabulous, but even more so, that lens knocked my socks off. Unfortunately that lens sells for about 2K (But if I was making my living doing wedding photography I would buy one in a heartbeat).
@Arsten - I LOVE everything I have ever owned and they have ALL been nikon. Honestly though, I hear plenty of good stuff about Canon too, so you proabably can't go wrong either way.
TBH though, I know of a certain guy that just bought a new camera and now has one for sale
(If you want details, just PM me :beerchug
TBH though, I know of a certain guy that just bought a new camera and now has one for sale
(If you want details, just PM me :beerchug
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My understanding is that the D7000 is simply fantastic.
Personally, if I was going to upgrade from my D200 I would want to wait for the D7000's fabulous sensor to be incorporated into the semi pro body style of the D200 - D300 series (e.g. into a D400). But if you don't want to spend the extra money for the weather sealing, better manual controls, etc, the D7000 would be a simply fabulous choice from what I have read. It is not one of the top of the line Nikon models in terms of its other features (it does not have some of the semi-pro/pro features of the D300, D700, or D3), but it supposedly is the first in the Nikon lineup to have the really superb improved sensor that it has (16 megapixels with amazing low light performance). Some have described it as the best Nikon at the moment (though some professional photographers might argue with that assessment since a camera is more than its sensor, and some pros would not want it because it is not a full frame camera (meaning its sensor is smaller than 35mm film, which is also the case for most other DSLR cameras these days, including the wonderful semi-pro D300)).
If you can afford it, I think you would not go wrong with the D7000.
Then you have to choose some lenses.....
Some of the Flickr groups have useful discussions of lenses, and there is specifically a Nikor group where all photos added to the group pool need to be tagged with the lens information, and most of the different lenses have their own groups as well. So you can browse the photos people have uploaded and get an idea of what sort of quality photos people are getting with the different lenses. Some of the really superb lenses are quite expensive, but there are some lower priced lenses (e.g. the 50mm f/1.8) that give extremely sharp high quality images.
Stoneyj33
Senior Member
I shoot with a nikon d300s, if I could do it over I'd pick up a canon 5d.
Why?
(if you are talking about the newer 21 megapixel version it is sort of an apples to oranges comparison though).
My opinion is that canon has some of the best camera bodies and nikon has some of the best lenses. This is largely due to the fact that the majority of the worlds high quality mined glass with trace amounts of optically favorable minerals is owned by nikon and not really a testament to their lens crafters.
Stoneyj33
Senior Member
Let me first say my dream camera is the nikon d3s...
The 5d is an all around better camera than the d300s without a huge price gap between the two (at the time I bought my camera the body was $500 more however I already had nikon lenses to make the full frame jump in nikon I think It was a $1500 jump from the 300s) Video is 1080p 30 fps and autofocuses compared to 720p 24fps no auto focus. Low light performance is about the same, full frame vrs dx. 21mp vrs 12mp (great for cropping) All around best bang for your buck. nikon offers better lenses.
The 5d is an all around better camera than the d300s without a huge price gap between the two (at the time I bought my camera the body was $500 more however I already had nikon lenses to make the full frame jump in nikon I think It was a $1500 jump from the 300s) Video is 1080p 30 fps and autofocuses compared to 720p 24fps no auto focus. Low light performance is about the same, full frame vrs dx. 21mp vrs 12mp (great for cropping) All around best bang for your buck. nikon offers better lenses.
Stoneyj33
Senior Member
Now you can pick up a d300s for $1300, 5d for $1980, and d700 for $2,200.
No doubt about it that Canon also makes great cameras.
Personally I really like the ergonomics and some of the features of the the semi-pro type Nikons (I have a D200, but have also used a D700 quite extensively which was very very similar in terms of controls and overall feel). The setup of the control wheels and buttons and the menus can make a world of difference under challenging or fast-moving shooting conditions (e.g. bird photography, stage/theatrical photography, weddings), and it is under these circumstances when I particularly love my Nikon. It sounds like Canon is getting some of the good features that Nikon previously had but Canon did not have in the past, and of course many professionals also use Canons so the Canon bodies must work well under such situations too.
Nikon, as I understand it, has had a better track record in terms of long-term backward compatibility with old lenses (that is not the case with the newer lower-end Nikons any more, but pretty much any Nikon lens dating back quite a few decades works fine on any of the higher end Nikon bodies). This might not matter much if you have no lenses to start with, but it bodes well for the future - if you invest in Nikon lenses now they will probably continue to function on future camera bodies for some time into the future.
Nikon's Creative Lighting System is really really slick - it is very very nice. Canon has a similar system I gather. At the time I bought my D200 Nikon's system was better, but Canon might have caught up by now. Certainly something to look into.
The two companies sort of have a tennis match going on over the years, with the status of best, most innovative camera body sort of bouncing back and forth between them. For a while, Canon was in the lead in terms of low light/high ISO/low noise capabilities but then Nikon caught up and exceeded Canon for a while. I don't know who is in the lead at the moment.
The bottom line is that you are not going to go wrong going with one of the better quality camera bodies from either company. When you make this choice you are making a long term commitment to a brand though since the lenses have longer useful lives than the camera bodies (and you can easily end up spending much more on lenses over the years than on bodies), and it would be quite expensive to switch brands once you have a stable full of lenses.
Once you get yourself up to a certain level of quality in terms of your camera body, the most important things affecting the quality of your photos are going to be your lenses (actually, even more important is going to be your own photographic skills and artistic sense).
I'm sure there are some great Canon lenses, though I have no experience with them. I do know that there are some simply fabulous Nikon lenses, some of which are very expensive, and others are not.
Do realize though that the kit lenses that often come with cameras (lower priced zooms typically) are sometimes quite mediocre lenses - adequate for casual photography, but they can give disappointing results when you really want to take top quality photos (you can still get much better results though with one of these kit lenses on a decent DSLR than what you might get with some of the point and shoots, though the better point and shoots can give fantastic results too). Research your lenses before you buy.
By the way, I really like National Camera. One of the things I love about National Camera is their great return policy - as I recall it is 30 days (assuming the equipment is still in new condition), no questions asked, which allows you to be certain that you made the right choice before you are fully committed. And their prices really are pretty good for camera bodies and lenses - similar to other sources and often not that much different from online. Some of the folks who work there are also very knowledgeable and helpful (but as is the case anywhere, this varies).
Personally I really like the ergonomics and some of the features of the the semi-pro type Nikons (I have a D200, but have also used a D700 quite extensively which was very very similar in terms of controls and overall feel). The setup of the control wheels and buttons and the menus can make a world of difference under challenging or fast-moving shooting conditions (e.g. bird photography, stage/theatrical photography, weddings), and it is under these circumstances when I particularly love my Nikon. It sounds like Canon is getting some of the good features that Nikon previously had but Canon did not have in the past, and of course many professionals also use Canons so the Canon bodies must work well under such situations too.
Nikon, as I understand it, has had a better track record in terms of long-term backward compatibility with old lenses (that is not the case with the newer lower-end Nikons any more, but pretty much any Nikon lens dating back quite a few decades works fine on any of the higher end Nikon bodies). This might not matter much if you have no lenses to start with, but it bodes well for the future - if you invest in Nikon lenses now they will probably continue to function on future camera bodies for some time into the future.
Nikon's Creative Lighting System is really really slick - it is very very nice. Canon has a similar system I gather. At the time I bought my D200 Nikon's system was better, but Canon might have caught up by now. Certainly something to look into.
The two companies sort of have a tennis match going on over the years, with the status of best, most innovative camera body sort of bouncing back and forth between them. For a while, Canon was in the lead in terms of low light/high ISO/low noise capabilities but then Nikon caught up and exceeded Canon for a while. I don't know who is in the lead at the moment.
The bottom line is that you are not going to go wrong going with one of the better quality camera bodies from either company. When you make this choice you are making a long term commitment to a brand though since the lenses have longer useful lives than the camera bodies (and you can easily end up spending much more on lenses over the years than on bodies), and it would be quite expensive to switch brands once you have a stable full of lenses.
Once you get yourself up to a certain level of quality in terms of your camera body, the most important things affecting the quality of your photos are going to be your lenses (actually, even more important is going to be your own photographic skills and artistic sense).
I'm sure there are some great Canon lenses, though I have no experience with them. I do know that there are some simply fabulous Nikon lenses, some of which are very expensive, and others are not.
Do realize though that the kit lenses that often come with cameras (lower priced zooms typically) are sometimes quite mediocre lenses - adequate for casual photography, but they can give disappointing results when you really want to take top quality photos (you can still get much better results though with one of these kit lenses on a decent DSLR than what you might get with some of the point and shoots, though the better point and shoots can give fantastic results too). Research your lenses before you buy.
By the way, I really like National Camera. One of the things I love about National Camera is their great return policy - as I recall it is 30 days (assuming the equipment is still in new condition), no questions asked, which allows you to be certain that you made the right choice before you are fully committed. And their prices really are pretty good for camera bodies and lenses - similar to other sources and often not that much different from online. Some of the folks who work there are also very knowledgeable and helpful (but as is the case anywhere, this varies).
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So, it think we are between the NIKON D7000 and the NIKON D5100. I read a bunch of reviews and well, they are reviews. What do you think about these cameras?
Or am I better off getting a D300s?
I wish there was a D7100....
Or am I better off getting a D300s?
I wish there was a D7100....
with a difference of $300 for the D7000, I'd spend the $$$ for it.
Stoneyj33
Senior Member
The only advantage to the 300s will be the autofocus system compared to the d7000.
If this is your first dslr I'd get the d5100 body only and spend the difference on lenses. The bodies will always change (every year!) No matter what camera you get you'll want to upgrade if you get into photography. Great lenses don't change to frequently. When they do it's adding new vr or focusing motors.
(I'd even consider the 3100 and stocking up on more lenses)
If this is your first dslr I'd get the d5100 body only and spend the difference on lenses. The bodies will always change (every year!) No matter what camera you get you'll want to upgrade if you get into photography. Great lenses don't change to frequently. When they do it's adding new vr or focusing motors.
(I'd even consider the 3100 and stocking up on more lenses)
reef junkie
Senior Member
i recently bought the d3100 and love it.
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