Home Forums Gear Photography what to buy as a beginner digital slr

I am looking to buy a digital slr type camera, I had a great slr but it and all my accessories, lenses, etc. were stolen from me. I am looking at a low end Nikon or Canon, something in the 4-600.00 range, any recomendations? I will be using it as an all purpose camera, but will also be doing some wildlife photography on the side. I know I should be buying a better camera, but my budget at this time will not allow it.

Thanks in advance.

I'm quite happy with my Rebel XT. I recommend going to a camera store and playing with them to see which one works best with you and which one has the most natural feeling menu for you. I find the canon menu is very user friendly for my mind. Don't know about the others.

M

a Rebel XTii would be high on the list.

I would take a minute to think about what you will do in the future. I know you don't have the funding to expand now, but you'll want to later.

really you're buying a (disposable) body for your lens collection.

look at the types of lenses Canon & Nikon market and what you might do. it's easy (but not entirely painless) to upgrade bodies, but you pretty quickly get locked into lens mounts....

UtahLefty nailed it.

My Xti is the cheapest piece of camera equipment I own, and the only one I expect to wear out.

Pick your lenses, and then decide on a body.

You might see if Braindead still has this one for sale?

Well, I'm sure no expert, but I've been having a LOT of fun with my Nikon D60. It is very fast if I use it as a simple "point & shoot", I can take close up photos with ease, and it fits my hand a lot better than the Canon XTi.

I found a heck of a deal, and bought a boxed D60 with the kit lens, camera case, and all kit acc., (2) 2 gig SD chips, and a 4 year extended warranty from Best Buy. It came with the Best Buy receipt (bought June 16th, 2008), + a unfilled factory warranty card. It had very little use, with only 136 shutter release's when I picked it up.

My total cost was $400.00.

Although the camera is considered a beginners DSLR, I have a lot of learning to do, to master all it can do.

You might want to go to a camera store, and handle both the XTi, and the D60 just to see which feels right to you.

Richard