few camera Qs

Kigs! · Feb 10, 2008

Please excuse the newbie questions before I begin...I'm on the market for a new SLR camera, and few terms are confusing to me.

I'm looking at Nikon macro lenses, and the standard lens seems to be 18-55mm that comes with the body. What does it mean if the latter # is 200mm? i.e. 55-200mm. Also what is the difference between zoom wide angle telephoto and zoom super wide angle?

surfn · Feb 10, 2008

telephoto is a distinction for any lens greater than ~100-150mm, basically a 200mm telephoto lens lets you zoom into subjects that are very far away (i.e. enlarge them). but the min working distance is usually around 10ft away from a subject.....which doesn't make it practicle for a macro lens.

wide angle is usually a lens that is smaller than or equal to around 24mm. it allows you to zoom out, and thus getting a very wide picture angle (i.e. if you are trying to capture 3 walls of a room).

i'm not familiar with Nikon stuff or their macro capabilities, so i can only attest to how much better Canon stuff is.....lol

FateX8 · Feb 10, 2008

right now the best camera out there for the money i think is the canon 30d
i recommended my friend this camera and he picked it up for 899+shipping with 18-55mm lens
from bhphoto.com
thats almost half the cost of my nikon d200

surfn · Feb 10, 2008

FateX8 said:
right now the best camera out there for the money i think is the canon 30d
i recommended my friend this camera and he picked it up for 899+shipping with 18-55mm lens
from bhphoto.com
thats almost half the cost of my nikon d200

personally, i think the XTi has better options than the 30d....esspecially for someone new to dSLR...JMO.

besides......40D blows everything else away with live view....lol

FateX8 · Feb 10, 2008

yeah but how much is the 40d?
i personally like the d300 but apparently nikons dont go down in price when a new model comes in
d200 still the same cost as it was last year
but yeah the live view kicks butt

surfn · Feb 10, 2008

FateX8 said:
yeah but how much is the 40d?
i personally like the d300 but apparently nikons dont go down in price when a new model comes in
d200 still the same cost as it was last year
but yeah the live view kicks butt

the extra cost is soooooooooo ridiculously worth it.

IMO....the differences b/w the XTi and 30D are so miniscule. if getting the same 18-55mm lens on either body.....I'd still go with the XTi since its "newer" than the 30D. same sensor size (i think....and if not its barely noticable), and i imagine the ISO noise is probably better on the XTi than the 30D since its a newer build.

FateX8 · Feb 10, 2008

is it really?
i was actually thinking about selling my d200 and picking up just the d300 body since i already have the lens

Kigs! · Feb 10, 2008

Thank you for the help guys, I was actually thinking of purchasing the Nikon 40D. I'm starting to understand the lens differences now, but I still can't locate Nikon macro lenses on b & h photos. I'm most likely looking at the wrong links.

surfn · Feb 10, 2008

coralnutz said:
I would hold off and look at the Xsi when those come in stock. It's like a 40D lite version.

OH, i totally forgot about the announcement! got a link to the specs on it? man, i'm a slacker for not paying attention...lol

is that the one you are gonna go for?

revhtree · Feb 10, 2008

I agree Kigs hold off!

Kigs! · Feb 10, 2008

Xsi looks nice too, but wow the price difference is too significant. I'm getting a feeling that many of you are Canon fans?

surfn · Feb 11, 2008

just looked at the XSi specs.....nice. liveview is going to kill the entry level nikon cameras. everyone is going to want the liveview, especially with a 3" screen.

the lens is also an upgrade! the 18-55mm is an IS lens....cool! i see they also switched from CF to SD cards....not sure what to think about that.

the price is a bit steep for an upgrade from the XTi replacement at $900 w/lens. i wouldn't go as far as saying its a 40D-lite as far as technology.....its still vastly inferior....but its definiltely 40D-lite as far as the price goes. $500 difference.....i'd save and get the 40D.

but you can bet by thanksgiving/xmas 2008 that the XSi will come down about $200 for the holidays, making it an awesome buy.

thats what happened with the XT and XTi if i remember correctly.

kigs said:
Xsi looks nice too, but wow the price difference is too significant. I'm getting a feeling that many of you are Canon fans?

depends on what you are going to use it for. if you are going to use it 75% or more for aquarium stuff, then i wouldn't get a dSLR at all. i would instead get a really high end point and shoot for like $300-$400 that has built in macro capability, plus they make macro lenses for those also for under $100.

if you buy a $600 dSLR, you still wont be able to macro stuff. you have to buy that lens separately for around another $300-$400 min.

BeakerBob · Feb 11, 2008

Kigs,
I shoot with a Nikon D70 and was going to switch to Canon Xti due to the higher ISO and low grain (until the Nikon D300 came out). The ONLY reason why I went with Nikon at the time was that I had several Nikon lenses from the old film days.

My suggestion: If you do not have lenses that dictate the camera, go with Canon. Get the XTi or better yet, the 40D.

If you want to go Nikon, don't fool around with the D40. At a minimum go with the D300. This one beats all the other ones in the Nikon consumer line except the professional line. It is an amazing camera and I upgraded to it last month.

If I had to start all over, it would be with a Canon 40D or Nikon D300.

If you are looking for a true macro lens (either Canon or Nikon) look at this information here:
http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/non-nikon_articles/tamron/90_macro/index.html

http://photo.net/equipment/canon/can-tam-macro/

http://orchideen-kartierung.de/Macro100E.html