Best Digital SLR Camera for Intermediate User!

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gocall01

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Story so far...
My wife is a clicking maniac!
She currently uses (purchased in 2003) a Digital Canon Power Shot G5, the spec is 5 Mega Pixel with 4x Optical Zoom.
She bought a lens to increase the optical zoom to 8x (I think) in the interim.
Recently he had expressed on interest in buying a Digital SLR.

Question is, what is the best value out there (doesn't necessarily have to be a Canon even though it would be my personal preference)?
Minimum spec required, say 10 Mega Pixel and as she takes some wide life shots I suspect she would require a 10x optical zoom.
(However with a Digital SLR is it the actual lens that dictates the zoom?)

Sorry I know very little about cameras it's her thing but I am thinking of surprising her, in a good way I hope!

Anyway, all feedback and advice appreciated.

Cheers!
 
There are lots of posts on AAM which may be of assistance. You could just do a search for Digital SLR Camera and read the posts.

My search results at
 
Hi gocall,
I'm sure your wife would be delighted to upgrade her camera if she's really involved in photography.
In my opinion, a good buy for the intermediate would be the Canon 400D, a sweet little camera indeed which has 10 million+ megapixels. The body and a 18-55 kit lens is somewhere in the region of €650 - 700. The serious person would buy the body and a seperate lens which is often better quality than the kit lens.
I've used other, "better" and more expensive cameras, e.g. the Canon 20D, 30D & 40D but for user-friendliness, I find it hard to fault the Canon 400D. As they say, "Welcome to the playground."
Happy shooting!
 
I think you should read owners opinions on dpreview.com

suggest you start with Panasonic FZ50 12 x zoom superb Leica lens reasonable price too some pics of nighttime photography on my dublinnights.com site
 
I would stick with the same brand if your using canon stuff too, but saying that I went from a canon compact to nikon slr and think i'll stay with nikon.
check out dpmag.co.uk and they have good reviews and tech stuff there for your woman to learn etc
and it's a good place to get your fix cause once that needle's in it ain't comin out, she's a junkie now so might as well accept it and start throwing your salary at the canon gods...
 
I have also switched brands from an Olympus compact to a Nikon DSLR. I couldn't be happier! I am also happy that I spent the money on a higher end camera - IMO, once you have outgrown compacts, it doesn't matter what bells and whistles they have, you want to be able to things that they just don't do (e.g. fisheye lenses, long telephoto, manual exposure, manual aperture, bulb exposure etc.). So I would bite the bullet and get a DSLR, just be thankful you're not paying development costs for all those random experimental snaps!
 
dble8 said:
I would stick with the same brand if your using canon stuff too., but saying that I went from a canon compact to nikon slr and think i'll stay with nikon
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Stick with Canon if you already have the SLR lenses. At the lower end of the Canon DSLR range (400d, 40d) you will get much better value for money from the equivalent Nikon in my opinion.
 
bankrupt said:
Stick with Canon if you already have the SLR lenses. At the lower end of the Canon DSLR range (400d, 40d) you will get much better value for money from the equivalent Nikon in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I'd second that - I have always used a nikon digital since thay first came on the market and when I wanted to step up to the SLR the decision was between the Canon or Nikon and I choose the Nikon in my case because I was comfortable with the common controls.

Go for a canon but after that I'm too much of an novice to recommend further.
 
OK guys & girls
I have a load of information to go through in the next while.
It really looks like either Canon or Nikon.
I'll let you know how it goes.

My plan is to check things out here in Ireland and I am travelling to the US in the near future and check the price difference with the favourable exchange rate.
Has anyone on here ever bought a camera from an on-line source (Irish or other)?

Cheer for all the info...
 
Planning on buying a digital SLR in near future too. The one I'm veering towards is the nikon D40x, cheapest I've seen it in Dubin is €699 including lens. However on Jessops.com it's listed as £399 which seems a good saving, their nearest branch is in the Buttercrane Centre in Newry so think I'll be taking a drive up there.
 
I suggest you buy from here: [broken link removed] A Hong Kong outfit, I have bought several lenses and cameras from them over the years (also highly recommended on the boards.ie photogaphy forum).
 
I bought a Nikon D200 and lenses from Harbour48 on ebay (based in the UK) and had excellent service from them.
 
Bought Nikon from ebay and was scammed, camera itself was fine but additional lens was dodgy and wouldn't work after a few days; quite disappointing as I was in South Africa at the time and missed out on a lot of wildlife shots I would have liked.

Am pretty sure now the lens was counterfeit. Ebay 'store' has now closed and no replies to mails. Have to write that one off to experience; but be careful.

Purchased replacement lens in US recently; prices (roughly) in US$ as they would be in € (if you see what I mean) so worth doing if you happen to be there.

Other than my purchasing experience - am very happy with the Nikon (D40x), easy to use, light weight - loads of features etc.,
 
The 400D and the D40X are very similar, its down to a matter of picking them up and seeing which one feels better for you. You'll have a better selection of lenses with the Canon though. If you know someone in the UK that'll take a delivery for you, check out the Canon outlet store on ebay, Canon_UK1. You'll get a 'refurbished' 400D with a 1 year warranty for about €400. Refurbished can mean anything from put in a new box to a damaged part being replaced.
 
Niallman said:
The 400D and the D40X are very similar, its down to a matter of picking them up and seeing which one feels better for you. You'll have a better selection of lenses with the Canon though. If you know someone in the UK that'll take a delivery for you, check out the Canon outlet store on ebay, Canon_UK1. You'll get a 'refurbished' 400D with a 1 year warranty for about €400. Refurbished can mean anything from put in a new box to a damaged part being replaced.
Click to expand...

Except...

Auto Focus only for AF-S or AF-I lenses

As with the D40 the D40X doesn't have an built-in focus drive motor which means it can auto focus only with lenses which have their own drive motor (AF-S and AF-I lenses). The lack of a drive motor can be seen by the missing mechanical focus drive pin on the lens mount .
Click to expand...



http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40x/
 
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