Camera bodies

[Tommyh]

I love taking pictures and am wanting to find which SLR and DSLR I should look at. I want to compare the two just so that I can see what my best option would be so thats why both styles. What do you look for? And yes, i did search for previous threads

[Wildman]

What do you look for?

Most of the time my balance on my credit card......

[rberg]

If you are looking for a film SLR, I have a Nikon N60 that I will let go cheap (Body only, I'm keeping the lenses). How about $40?

If you are looking for a DSLR, look at the most recently discontinued models, such as a Nikon D50 (replaced by the D40X) You will save $$$.

Go to this site. He has write-ups on most of the cameras on the market.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm

[AtTheWall]

You can go both ways. A good, high quality 35mm camera will be cheap to find used. But with film, it's a royal pain and expensive to support over the long haul much less the complexities involved with converting to digital medium. If you really aren't interested in the work involved, it's not worth it anymore unless you really want to study that medium for it's unique effect that world can provide the photog.

From a Digital SLR front, Canon or Nikon are the best in the business from an equipment vs cost front. The majority use these two brands and it opens up an entire world of used or new lenses to support your new bad habit.

I shoot Canon, no complaints here. Cost in high end glass is hard to justify unless I lean hard on additional income to justify to cover from this hobby.

10mp seems to be the running standard on the newer Digital SLRs on the market now. Once you lock in on a body, you are locking in on lenses. There are plenty of aftermarket companies out there than make some decent lenses for Nikon or Canon, some better than others.

It's very rewarding and the world is at your fingertips.....hunt everyday

[Rat]

I agree with ATW. Also, I look for easier to use buttons. I hate having to screw down three levels of menus just to change the metering mode, it sucks. My Canon has a custom function settingso I can set several buttons on the body to do what I want, like flash compensation, setting the focus parameters or using another button (besides the shutter release) to auto focus.

Megapixel really makes a difference if you are going to produce huge prints like 20x14 or bigger, otherwise a 5mp camera will make nice 5x7 prints, the pixel resolution makes a bigger difference to my eye; I always process my prints to 350 dpp, the default setting on many is 72.

Higher end (full frame) DSLR are still pretty price heavy, but they are easier to operate and take faster FPS (frames per second). Smaller frames like the XT (350D) and XTi (400D) are very good entry level DSLRs that have MANY lens options, all EF (film body) and EFs (digital body)lenses fit with full function (auto focus, IS etc).

Also, if the full frame bodies are a better fit to your hand (larger) you can always get a battery pack grip or off camera flash to make up the difference for about $100, instead of $1200 extra for the full frame.

So, ease of use and fit is what I look for

[Tommyh]

I was going to ask about the lenses after a little exploration from the previous posts . thanks Rat!