DSLR?

I can’t find my Nikon Coolpix 8800. I’ve looked all over the house and the garage for it, and I can only assume that the underwear gnomes took it.

So, assuming I was to buy a replacement, what should I get? Things I liked about the Coolpix 8800:

  • SLR form factor
  • 10x optical zoom, from 35mm equivalent 33 to 330mm
  • 8 megapixel

Things I hate, hate, hate about this camera:

  • Fake SLR – when you look through the eyepiece, you’re not looking through the glass, you’re looking at a tiny low resolution LCD.
  • When you depress the shutter half way, it will lock in the focus or the exposure but not both
  • It utterly failed horribly to focus up close. You’d frame the picture, make sure everything you wanted to be in focus was in focus, click the shutter, and then it would whirr as tried both extremes of the focus, and finally take the picture when absolutely nothing in frame was in focus.

So, is there any point at looking at anything other than the Digital Rebel XTi?

11 thoughts on “DSLR?”

  1. I really, really like my Canon S1 IS – it’s ages old now (well, for a digital camera, anyway), but so far I’ve only good things about its descendants. You might want to give it a try.

  4. I’ll throw in another vote for the entry-level Nikon DSLRs, but there is nothing wrong with Canon. I’d recommend going to a store and hold the cameras in your hand to determine which one feels best to you.

  5. I know a lot of people think i’m weird about this, but if I go to a camera store to fondle their equipment and pick their brains, I feel morally obligated to buy from them. I don’t think it’s right to use their services and then turn around and order from B&H or Amazon.

  6. I know a lot of people think i’m weird about this, but if I go to a camera store to fondle their equipment and pick their brains, I feel morally obligated to buy from them. I don’t think it’s right to use their services and then turn around and order from B&H or Amazon.

    What he said.

    I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC fZ50. It was the closest I could get to SLR without a bag of lenses. I would never take pictures if I had to carry around all the DSLR accessories, and what’s the point of having a camera you don’t use?

    Mine has:

    SLR form factor
    12x optical zoom
    8 megapixel
    It does have the fake SLR, but I rarely use it.
    When you depress the shutter half way, it will lock in either the focus or the exposure or both, depending on the settings.
    Mine never has problems focusing on close items if it can. So if it was in focus in the viewfinder, the picture will come out in focus, but I can’t always get as close as I want to be. There’s a macro adapter that fixes that, but that takes me back to “not carrying a bag of lenses”.
    And it has good image stabilization.
    And my #1 reason for buying it: incredible colors. Better then anything I’ve ever owned before.

    Almost everything on my flickr page was taken with this camera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywhisperer/

    My biggest issue with it is how long it takes for the shutter to actually open once you push the button. I’ve missed a lot of good shots because it just took too long.

    But I can’t find anything better that without going to full SLR, and I just don’t want that much hassle.

  8. Funny, my Canon G7 has gone missing too. What the hell?! As far as DSLRs, I fell in love with the Nikon D80 when I got to play with my Sister’s last fall. The image quality (and the desire for instant shutter response to capture doggie action) led me to buy a DSLR of my own. I read a lot of reviews and a lot of people said they would put the D40/D40x up against the D80 any day. I got a D40, but I’m not totally happy with it and plan to get a D80 when I can scape a few dollars together for one.

    We had a rebel at my old firm, and I liked it, but I really like the Nikon D80 a lot more. Good luck!

  9. I just got the Canon XSi (450D). I like it a lot, and eventually made the decision to get that after looking at the lenses offered by Canon for macro photography. I would take a look at dpreview.com, they do a great job breaking down everything about a camera, so you can get a good feel for the ins and outs. I have heard good things about the new Nikon D60, and I know a lot of people here at FujiFilm that are very happy with the Nikon D80.

    Nikons tend to have a bigger camera body than the Canon Rebels, so that may be something to consider. I have relatively big hands and can manage the Canon XSi pretty well without any discomfort, but I did think the Nikon D80 was a little more comfortable in my hand.

  10. For me, it came down to Canon because that’s what my friends and my employer had. No, that’s not just a matter of wanting to be one of the cool kids — it meant that I had a far better array of lenses I could beg or borrow. Or even rent.

    I second the recommendation of dpreview.com. When I was camera shopping, they had what I thought was a great insight: you’re not just buying a camera, but buying into a camera system. How many lenses are available, at what ease and price, including availability of used gear, is as important a consideration as the specifics of the camera body itself. On that basis, for both digital and 35mm, the SLR market is Canon and Nikon and everyone else.

    My general impression — no opinion polling to back it up — is that Canon is far more popular with folks starting from scratch, and Nikon more popular with old pros moving from film to digital. Nikon has been the dominant player for field photography for a long time, and a lot of folks have thousands or tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of lenses. I’ve been thrilled with my Canon, but in my limited experience with Nikon, it’s not even a little bit shabby.

  11. Canon and Nikon are fine, but they’re not the only ducks in the pond. I’m awfully fond of my Pentax, and the newer Pentax bodies (the K20 in particular) are supposed to be really good, if awfully big compared to the *istDS I carry around everywhere. Olympus has some nice teeny SLRs (but the 50% crop factor sensor plays merry hell with wide-angle lenses) which are thin enough so you can buy lens adaptors and fit quite a few old film lenses onto them.

    And if you’ve got Minolta lenses, Sony bought Minolta’s digital SLR line when Minolta bailed, so that mount isn’t going to be going anywhere fast.

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