DSLR Camera

Mixtilplix_sl said:

Swiftest? I dunno about that, fifteen years is quite a while. Fuji's still around and kodak will continue to be around and there are quite a few other film manufacturers out there. There are plenty of people rediscovering film cameras all the time. Just take a look at some of the flickr groups dedicated to film cameras.

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Don't act as if film didn't die off a decade ago when the 3.0 megapixel digital cameras came out.

picked up a Canon 700D with twin lens kit the other day and finding it quite nice. Big adjustment coming from an old Pentax 35mm background when I used to study photography but the hardware is just so nice. Friend at work recommends using Lightroom (even over PS CSS6 that we have access to) and shooting in RAW so I'm liking that I can shoot RAW + JPEG with the same shoot, use the JPEG for quick viewing or putting up on low DPI devices (such as the web) and then adjusting the RAW as I feel the need to if it's a good shot to start with that I'm going to want to keep a hi-res version.

Resurrecting this thread since black friday/cyber monday is coming up soon. I have never bothered looking during the sales but do DSLR's ever get discounted? I have my eye on a panasonic G6.

Costco seems to constantly have DSLRs on sale. Check slickdeals too if you don't have a Costco membership... I feel like there is a DSLR on sale at least weekly.

I pulled the trigger and got the camera. I am so excited lol.

Meh, Black Friday isn't really what it used to be anyways. Now it is just a bunch of cheap, low quality, disposable electronics with shock-value headlines in order to attract publicity and white trash shoppers.

I'm really considering getting a Canon 6D for the holidays. My T2i has been pretty awesome and I've learned a lot by having it. But it's starting to show its limitations. I really want a full-frame sensor to start investing in serious glass and the Wifi and GPS capabilities are icing on the cake.

opiate82_sl said:

Meh, Black Friday isn't really what it used to be anyways. Now it is just a bunch of cheap, low quality, disposable electronics with shock-value headlines in order to attract publicity and white trash shoppers.

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There are still plenty of quality deals to be had. The problem is that everyone is in on Black Friday now so you have to wade through a lot more shit to find the good stuff.

Neph_sl said:

I'm really considering getting a Canon 6D for the holidays. My T2i has been pretty awesome and I've learned a lot by having it. But it's starting to show its limitations. I really want a full-frame sensor to start investing in serious glass and the Wifi and GPS capabilities are icing on the cake.

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I have a 50D and thought about saving up for a full-frame of some sort. But I decided I'm just going to invest in lenses and wait for the mirror-less revolution to take over. At that point hopefully I can get something way more light weight or get amazing deals from people dumping their DSLR bodies for new mirror-less options.

My wife wants to start learning more about photography. She will be mostly taking picture of our kids and wants a camera that can keep up with them being active. Any suggestions under $400 that will be easy to learn?

In the DSLR range you could get a Canon Rebel T3 w/ lens. That is a body she can learn on and if she gets more into photography can get a few lenses then upgrade down the road.

Understand with any DSLR purchase that there is a steeper learning curve to working the camera. She will need to take some time and learn about aperture, shutter speed, ISO and exposure at a bare minimum and how to adjust them on the camera and how they all relate to photography. Also learning how to post-process pictures is important.

So many people get their nice new DSLR's then run to the photography forums bitching that their old point-and-shoot took better pictures than their new DSLR. It is really because they didn't bother to learn how to use the camera. DSLR's don't (necessarily) take nicer pictures than a point-and-shoot out of the box. That is because you have a plethora of settings on a DSLR you can play with and they take in so much more data you can get a photograph to look just the way you want it. But you do need to learn the camera and about photography to get the most out of the camera.

So if when you say "she wants to learn more about photography" she is interested in taking on those things, then the camera I mentioned above is a great introductory DSLR that falls into your price range. If by "easy to use" you mean that she wants the camera to do most of the leg-work for her, then I would look at a point-and-shoot and I like the Canon PowerShot line (yes I'm a Canon guy) but haven't really kept up on the technology so can't give you a specific recommendation.

Like Opiate said, T3i is the best bet for DSLR. For a $400 budget, you can't really beat the Canon T3i. The quality that camera takes is pretty much on par with T4i and T5i, which is why it is one of the most popular/common entry level camera. Tons of used lenses for cheap too. The only thing missing is video mode.

For a good point and shoot, the Sony RX100 MKII is great but its like $600.

opiate82_sl said:

I have a 50D and thought about saving up for a full-frame of some sort. But I decided I'm just going to invest in lenses and wait for the mirror-less revolution to take over. At that point hopefully I can get something way more light weight or get amazing deals from people dumping their DSLR bodies for new mirror-less options.

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Sony just released the FF mirrorless recently and it's been getting some great reviews. Maybe Sony found their comeback product.

Ao-_sl said:

unless something changed, t3 was just over $400 and the t3i is $600 (maybe that's the "+ lens" price).

I'd really recommend the t3i though...

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I saw the T3i going on sale for $450 on dell.ca back during summer.

Talked to my Dad, who keeps up on camera stuff, and if you are looking for a point-and-shoot that does more DSLR type things he recommends something like the Canon PowerShot SD100. It shoots in RAW, has an adjustable aperture and shutter speeds, a lot of the features of a DSLR in a compact form. He also said he found a deal for a referb one for around $200 dollars but can't remember where. But if you do manage to find it, camera enthusiasts agree that buying referbs from Canon can be even better than buying new because not only does a Canon tech fix the problem, but they go over the entire camera with a fine-toothed comb before sending back out again.

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