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What camera for a beginning photographer?


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I have a point and shoot. Basic camera. I want something that is not the top of the line really expensive camera, but something I can take really great shots with. Something with a really fast shutter that takes beautiful pictures.

 

Photographers, what do I want?

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Go to a store and try out the Canons and Nikons and figure out which one feels more natural to you. You can check Amazon for reviews or B&H Photo, before buying. Buy a good body to start with, and just get a reasonably cheap 50mm 1.8 lens (around $100 I think) and use that to start. It's a fabulous lens and you can learn a lot by just using one prime lens to start. I would highly recommend buying "body only" and getting this lens. The lenses that usually come with the body are often not good.

 

Here is the Canon lens version of the 50mm 1.8. If you go with Nikon, you'd have to look at the body and see which lens would work with it. I shoot Canon, so I don't really know. Also, I can't really recommend a Canon body to you because mine is a pricey model, and unfortunately I no longer know which are the good starter models. But reviews should tell you.

Lens - http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307761055&sr=8-1

 

A decent Nikon (body only) but more than you want to spend:

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D7000-DX-Format-3-0-Inch-Body/dp/B0042X9LC4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1307761116&sr=1-1

cheaper model: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D90-12-3MP-Digital-Body/dp/B001ET5U92/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1307761164&sr=1-1

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Three of my friends and I use Nikon DSLRs... just looked at the current line up and it looks like the D90 would be your best fit. I used the D70 (which was upgraded to D80 then D90) for over 7 years before just recently upgrading to the D7000 which is slightly above your price range.

 

One tip - make sure you get a model that has slider wheels to change the aperture and shutter speed on the camera body. One of my friends went with a lower model and she has to go through the menu to change them which is really annoying.

 

Lens recommendations really depend on what you're looking to use it for... chasing down kids vs portraits, etc :)

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