so after seeing a lot of threads like this "im looking to get into photography, i have 1000 dollars to spend whats a good d-slr?"
or one like this
"whats a good lens for the xti?"
well all your questions well be answered here
well start from the bottom
beginners
your going to have to make the most important decision of your life, Nikon or Canon (or possibly olympus, or pentax, maybe sony)? so head on over to your camera store and play around with all the diffrent cameras, and which ever one feels better in your hands
.
so lets
say you go with
Canon, there are a couple routes you can go from here, you can go to the reble series, thus saving you some money for lenses, which is what effects image quality the most. Or you can go with the x0D series (10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D) these cameras have a higher fps (frames per sec.) are heavier (which when using a camera is a nice thing to have because it makes you hands more steady) and they usually have a screen at the top.
now lets say you go with the reble series, you would go this way 1. becasue your broke 2. you want something smaller. so now you need lenses, the 50mm f1.8 (f=f-stop, the lower the number the larger the iris in the lens, thus allowing you to use faster shutter speeds for less camera shake, and allowing you to have a small depth of feild) this lens is fast (good), cheap ($100), and decently sharp (good).
now because these cameras have a crop factor
(the sensor is smaller then a film frame) the 35mm f2
which is cheap ($200) is a good choice. for the telephoto end the 70-200mm f4 is a good lens, but it is expensive ($700), you can have 70-300mm's for cheap but you well regret your decision to buy this, so dont bother. if you want a wide angle, the sigma 10-20 is a good moderlatly priced option (500-ish), you dont want a fish, those can come latter.
now your wondering, what about all around lenses? the because of the crop body, the 17-85 is the best as far as afortable lenses go. however the 18-55 is good if your just starting.
now lets say you bought a x0D series camera, i would recomend spending a little bit more on lenses, because of the increased image qualitly due to the higher quality sensor, so a less sharp lens would be more apperent.
but if you went with
nikon your wondering "what camera would be better for me" well i my self would avoid the d40/d40x/d60 becasue they dont have any auto focus motor in them, and with nikons better lenses having no motor in them, your going to have to manual focus. so your wondering "but those are there cheaper bodys" well fear not, the d70/d70s, are great cameras, well built, good image quality etc... and as a bomus, if you ever get into off camera flash's the 1/500 flash synch speed is great (fastest shutter speed the camera can use with off camera flash's). now your wondering "i cant find that on the nikon site, are you shure its not a typo?", no its not, it was the camera they made before the d80. so now your saying "but i am a superficial d-bag who has to buy every thing new" well then get a d80, or a d90 if you can afford it.
the lenses are basically the same as canon, the 18-55 isint to bad, but the 50mm f1.8 is still the best option because once again, its cheap, fast, and sharp. the 35 f2 is also a very good choice.
pentax- the major reason that one would go with pentax is if you dont treat your gear with care, the k100d/k200d, both are built like other companys prosumer cameras, however they cost much less. but they dont have as many features as the comparable cameras from canon or nikon, however the are unneeded features such as live view. the k20d is a soild camera, but i dont know much about it.
olympus- i dont care very much for olympus cameras because they use the four thirds lens mount, which uses a smaller sensor and due to that there cameras have worst high iso performance (the pictures start to get grainy at about 800 iso) however they are small, which could be a plus if you want a d-slr that you can throw in your pocket, so i foyu need that then grab a e-420 with a 25mm pancake lens.
sony- i honestly have never even touched one, but as far as i know they have a very inginious live view system. but unless you buy the expensive carl zeiss lenses, they fall short on sharpness.
so there you go.
heres some links to help you buy your stuff
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?KW=BANNER2&img=bh_broad_scope_170x142.jpg
only trust this site or amazon if your ordering online (for new gear)
http://www.keh.com
this is the best site for used gear.
heres some sites that well help point you in the right direction as far as what camera you want specifficly
http://www.cameralabs.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/
now your wondering "but i suck at taking pictures"
heres a simple intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pUXUkaFRP8
this guy does alot of good tutorials
http://www.youtube.com/user/Lilkiwiguy87
so there you have it, and if you make another thread about d-slrs i will e-punch you
