Best SLR to Buy

I heed on your advice

Hmm do prospective clients insist on the use of particular cameras for a photo shoot?
Or a PC versus Mac..Nope thought not, tells you something doesn't it.

It all comes down to personal preference. Do you like Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Sony? But whatever you like, invest in your lens. I have a Nikon D300s and my lens of choice is the Nikon 24-70 mm f2.8. Last year when I travelled across India, I shot about 3,000 photographs in 3 weeks. About 95 per cent of those pics were with this lens. The best advice is go with a D7000 or D90 if you can still find one and put the bulk of your money into the lens. A halfway decent body will work with the best lenses.

+1.

e.g. for canon, 550D, 600D, 60D and 7D, all these bodies have the same image sensor inside. So practically, with the same lens picture quality won't differ noticeably. It is the features, viewfinder, metering and focusing system, body material and other related things that makes the difference in body price.

I too second the same. Investing on lenses will be a much wiser decision if you want to invest in photography.

Hi All,

I am planning to buy a DSLR camera soon. The usage would be be moderate -to capture outdoors/landscapes on my drives and some indoor moments of my child. I am looking for an entry to mid segment decvice (budget around 35k). Havent used the an SLR before though I would love to build up some skills here.

Some models I have shortlisted are -

Canon 1100D Rs 38.8k with two lenses (18-55mm + 55-250mm)
Canon 550D Rs 38.7k with 18-55mm lens
Canon 600D Rs 49.6k with 18-55mmlens
Nikon D3100 Rs 31.9k with 18-55mmlens
Nikon D5100 Rs 41.6k with 18-55mmlens


Can someone please suggest a good choice based on the above. My budget is around 35k,a bit flexible though.

Also I read that Nikon models above do not have built-in autofocus motor. Does that give an edge to Canon?
Thanks!

Also, since Nikon D3100/D5100 do not have in built focus motor, do the lenses for these cameras cost higher than those for say Canon D550?

Regards,
Ankit

In body AF motor was never the forte of any entry level DSLR. Only D90 sports it with pride.
Even 550D hasn't got in body motor, infact none of the entry level canon/nikon camera, nikon has started having inbuilt AF motor into lenses to tackle this dependency but this makes them costlier. Of course Canon lenses have been practicing this since long so their cost have come down quite a lot. Few time spent, Nikon too will smash the AF budgets of lenses.
Apart from that, MF of these lenses are matchless and offer you a huge control over AF which hunts for focus in low light scenarios and you can't click unless your camera has decided where to focus. It needs well lit or outdoor day environments to get the points right. manual focussing has its own joy, try it once, you'll forget AF.

In short, if going for canon, go for brilliant 550D else if going for Nikon, opt for D90 or in case lack AF motor doesn't bothers you much pick D3100.

i guess you dont need to worry too much about the zoom lenses for this, i rarely use my 70-300mm on trekking and makes it an unnecessary bulk to carry. anything between 20-105mm should suffice.

Is it? I thought both 550D/600D have in built focus motors.
Anyway will that matter much to a newbie like me?

Also I saw some comparisions where Canon jpeg's were brighter and had more colour punch than Nikon (5100), whats your take on that please?

Regards,
Ankit

Frankly speaking, it will confuse you and will render you zilch when it comes to focussing tactics. It is always recommended to start experimenting with manual focus then graduate to AF. Atleast I did it this way and till date apart from video, I hardly use AF. It hardly matters unless you happen to be a kick ass sports photographer who needs razor sharp and lightning fast AF to shoot pics without worrying about focus ring. For newbies like me and you, MF is fun to learn.

Pls post links to that site. Its a news to me D5100 understating the color and saturation compared to Canon, whose firmware has been known to over-saturate a bit colors. Even Nikon messes up in case of Auto white balance but then it depends on the settings and other manual controls used. First of all link please.
No camera, especially DSLR, can render flat images if usage is appropriate and controlled.

have a look at the images here - http://www.cnet.com.au/nikon-d5100-339312665.htm

I understand settings can be configured to achive the same results though

ankitsr i bought the Cannon 550D and it came with Kit Lens, its been almost like 6 months and i am using the same Kit lens to date. The pics are coming out fantastic, for me its about the creativity, what to capture at what time. You can capture fantastic images in your day to day views whether in city or in mountains. I am thinking of buying a 70-300 mm now but i am no hurry, i want to learn more before i buy any more lens .

I give full marks to Cannon 550D though.

I haven't read in detail all the posts, so kindly excuse me if I have missed the details posted already...but would you mind sharing the cost incurred, please?

@naveenamohanrao, Will you kindly share with us, which camera and lens you use for your photography!?