Where's the best place to buy a digital camera?

Rikko · #1 05-10-2005, 06:31 AM

It's really way past time for me to invest in a good digital camera, and now I'm looking again..
A good friend from school suggested last year that the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT or the Nikon D70 would be ideal for me.
I definitely don't want to spend a lot, so I think that's why he suggested those 2 for me - they seem to be entry level digital SLR which have a good range of features for me without the over-the-top insane perks that I could never even find, much less use. I expect it would be primarily for tank photos, though you can never have too much fun with a macro lens and a telephoto lens, can you?

To any who know: are those still the best choices for "budget" digital SLR? I read a few things about some great new Sony cameras but haven't found anything concrete online.
And either way, has anybody found a really good source for them? I'd like to buy it locally if possible to make warranty a little simpler, but I'm not totally opposed to ebay or some mail order house if I can save a hundred bucks either.

Thanks

gerrygab · #2 05-10-2005, 07:18 AM

The Canon Xt 350 is an excellent camera for about $1200. I was at LondonDrugs tonight and was looking at the Canon 20D, for just under $2000. Apparently Nikon has a new D70s model and London drugs says they will be selling the old D70 cameras cheap. I could have picked up a brand new Nikon D70 for $600 bucks!! Its worth asking around cause whenever the new models come out, the old ones go on sale. Good luck!!

Jason McK · #3 05-10-2005, 02:40 PM

The Nikon 70D (old) has a horrible problem with getting dust on the CCD. Meaning every picture would have a spot on it. It has to sent back to Nikon to be fixed. I heard one person only walked out of the store and returned 20 minutes. latter with dust.
The Digital Rebel is a good camera, I wonder if you could still find a Canon 10D out there. But if you can afford it I would go for the 20D for sure. Amazing camera.

Jason

Old Guy · #4 05-10-2005, 04:42 PM

I bought the Olympus E-300 a couple of weeks ago from Kerrisdale Cameras. I had waited for the Rebel Xt but found after holding the camera for a minute that my hands cramped from it's small size. I loved the Canon 20d but couldn't justify the cost's involved.

Both Canon and Nikon have dust problems. 100 bucks a pop to get factory cleaned.

What sold me on the Oly was the anti dust system and the price. 1300 including 2 quality lenses(14-45 & 40-150). I'm waiting to receive an 100 us rebate which brought the price to 1160 approx.

Doesn't matter what you buy, the body will be only good for a period of time. They all take great pics. The lenses will last through many body's so basically your buying into a system and all good glass is major cash. Oly's kit lens are as good as Nikkor and Canon's L lens's but Canons kit lens are garbage IMO. Canon does blow away the competition for high ISO-low noise pics but a 17-40 L lens cost a much as my whole system.

All the dslr's have up's and downs. You can find fault's with each and every one. I really wanted the XT to be "the one" but unfortunately it fell way short.

Gujustud · #5 05-10-2005, 05:02 PM

whatever you do, check dpreview.com, i find their reviews are really good, and it allows you to do a easy compare between whatever cameras you end up choosing between.

trilinearmipmap · #6 05-10-2005, 05:17 PM

www.cameracanada.com

Cheap prices, fast delivery, no PST.

Veng68 · #7 05-10-2005, 05:30 PM

Not really an SLR but a very impressive camera ........ the Konica/Minolta Z3, Z5 series of cameras. Very feature packed and the quickest uptime I've seen. 12X optica and anti-shake stablization lens.

For the best prices in town try Broadway Camera or let me know and I can get you in contact with one of my friends who is a London Drugs photo manager. He gives me and anyone I refer to him......... very good deals.

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

Rikko · #8 05-11-2005, 08:09 AM

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

Oldguy: What has your experience with the lenses on the Olympus been? I've just checked a little bit but it seems that the lenses are substantially more expensive for that camera than others. cameracanada.com showed a macro lens for just about 600 bucks - I'm sure I saw the macros for the Canon and Nikon cameras floating between 3-400. I'm sure I won't need very many lenses, but if any savings are swallowed up by higher lens costs then we end up back at features.. (Later, now that I read a couple reviews: several sites say the lenses are cheaper than the other brands, yet I find no such prices online :/)

Does the D70S have the same dust issues as the D70? Odd that all the D70 reviews I saw totally neglected to even mention that..

The dust factor does concern me, however.. I'm really leaning towards the Olympus now based on that factor alone plus the price point, but I hate to make a serious (for me) buying decision based on "one guy on a forum" (

).

Maybe a couple people can tear apart the "cons" from the review and explain what they might mean for me:

Quote:

* Recommended sensitivity ISO 100 - 400, images at ISO 800 usable, ISO 1600 not really
* Demosaic artifacts on JPEG and Olympus Master processed RAW
* Images not per-pixel as 'crisp' as from other D-SLR's (image processing / low pass?)
* Moire artifacts can be detected in fine repeating detail
* Noise tends have the appearance of color mottle not 'film like' grain
* Metering bug sometimes left under-exposed images (isolated issue?)
* Auto focus provides just three focus points, although AF performance good
* Viewfinder slightly darker than E-1, seems smaller than EOS 300D / 20D
* Over-saturated Adobe RGB images
* Poor continuous shooting capability, small buffer
* No focus distance indicator on kit lens
* Flash must be raised for AF assist
* Potential to lose images if CF door is opened during write
* Only USB 1.1 (no USB 2.0 Hi-Speed?)

The last 2 are trivial - I'd rather get a CF reader anyways than keep wiring my poor camera into the computer, so USB speeds are irrelevant. I don't know why I'd leave the CF door open during write either...

ISO 1600? Am I ever likely to have a use for that? Others?

Appreciate the help guys.. Last time I started getting interested in something I Googled and wound up on RC... I really hope this doesn't happen again.

Old Guy · #9 05-11-2005, 08:25 PM

I have no regrets buying into Olympus. Takes great pics even on all auto mode. Take those reviews with a grain of salt. Most are nit picked by professionals which I'm not. Like I said, all dslr's will take great pics. They are only limited by the photographer.

The D70s will have the same dust problems. It is basically the same camera as the D70 with a couple more goodies added.

When comparing len's you must compare apples with apples. The $400 Canon is their bottom end so to speak. The Canon len's that would be comparable to $600 Oly would be over $1000. There are only a couple of L class len's that are just under a grand. Remember that all Oly's are digital but not too many Canons or Nikkor's can say the same. The only thing about Oly's kit lens is they are slow. I would like F2 and faster but fast len's cost big doesn't matter who makes them.

Personally I think the best "hobby" Dslr is the Canon 20D, but I would have to spend 3 to 4 thousand to get what I want in len's etc. More for a Nikon system. According to the forums on DPreview and others, many people have jumped camp to Oly. Damn dust anyways

.

I have a couple of pics in the gallery taken with the Oly. All taken on auto as I'm still learning. The pics are unprocessed right from the camera. The color of the Crocea ultra are right on.