I really want a digital slr camera, but I don't want to spend a fortune, I've been looking at used ones, and refurbished but they're all so expensive! I've been manly looking at getting a canon EOS rebel xs. Is that a decent camera? I currently have a canon regular digital camera and I love it.
screwdriver
Favorite Answer
With DSLR's your buying into a system and Canon is far and away the most expensive, closely followed by Nikon.
Pentax, Olympus and Sony have many more features. They may be more expensive initially, but a soon as you start adding lenses, flashguns etc. they work out much cheaper for the same or Higher quality. You finish with a much more useful system for less money.
Things to look for are a bright viewfinder, good build quality, adjustments of everyday things such as EV value, focus point, metering mode etc. without having to go into a menu. These are basic to using your camera for anything other than 'point and shoot'.
Pentax and Sony offer image stabilisation in camera, so every lens you fit is image stabilised without a price premium. Pentax in particular have a massive range of older high quality lenses available for very little, all will be image stabilised.
A second hand Pentax DS, which is now 5 years old, would be available at a lower price than a Nikon D40 or Canon Rebel, and is much more of a camera than either of them, it has a genuine pentaprism in the viewfinder which means a brighter image, much better build quality, the same Sony sensor that was used on the Nikon D80. The only downside is the lack of image stabilisation. Like all Pentax DSLR's it can operate as a 'focus trap' which no other make of DSLR can do.
Chris
Anonymous
Right depends on budget really, and whether you intend to stay amateurs in the forseeable future.
Sony a-200 is a good camera for amateurs as long as you're prepared to stay that way. Though Sony have broken into the prosumer market well with a good set of kit, its still not as easy to buy kit as it is for Canon/Nikon. But if you have not intention to move up to semi/pro levels then a-200 is the best entry level out there.
If you go down the Nikon route I wouldn't recommend either the D40/x or D60 since neither have AF motor and both have limited functions. I heard D70 is good, I've used the D90 and I found that smoother than my Canons.
Rebel XS (or 1000D here in Europe) is a decent camera, but once more is a bit lacking in some functions you might wish you had, also the smaller Rebels don't feel as comfortable in hand as the older ones, mind you neither do the Sony alphas in my opinion.
Best choice though (I never thought I've ever say this) is the Sony, with one proviso that you don't intend to go pro...and when you do you can afford to switch systems to Canon-Nikon.
G. Whilikers
Canon's Digital Rebel series are good cameras and keep getting better. Any of Nikon's cameras are also a good choice.
thephotographer
Yes it is a great camera. Remember to budget a few hundred dollars US if you plan on buying other lenses.
The Nikon D40 and D60 are also great choices for amateur use. The Nikon D50 is an another model, though old, still performs great under most circumstances, and is available for cheap.
Collin Dow
For an entry level DSLR the best camera on the market right now is the D40 from Nikon. It sports a 6-megapixel sensor, good noise levels, a professional flash sync-speed, .19 second, or 19 millisecond response time on the shutter, compatibility with 50 years of Nikon lens, ultra-fast AF with Nikon's newer AF-S lenses, 800 or more photos per charge of the battery, a built in flash, manual, aperture, shutter, program auto, sports, auto, portrait, night portrait, landscape, kids, night landscape (I'm pretty sure of this, but I'm going by memory here) and one more exposure mode, I think. It can shoot up to 2.5 frames per second, has a high-quality LCD and viewfinder, and it just looks good too.
And, the best part, for you: it comes in at about 500 bucks with lens.