wayoflife

I had an old point and shoot Cannon camera that finally called it quits and I am looking into purchasing an intry level dslr camera. I am looking for a camera that takes good quality of children, action, and night/fireworks/low lights.I am researching cameras but I would really love some input from others on what they think. Any inputs, opinions, or anything would be wonderful. Thanks.

Photo Coach

Quick answer,
Grab a Nikon D300 and give it a whirl. Model from 2009, should be had for a great price these days.

It's a rocket-ship of a camera. Love it.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

I own a Nikon D90 (workhorse) and a Nikon D5000 (innovative).

Now that newer models are on the market, you can find either of these at decent prices.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Ouch body only on Amazon for D300 is $1440
D 90 $800 Used and D 3000 $400 used 500 new
Sony 230 is ~$300 Refurbished from Sony

Is Nikon body a big advantage? I have good lenses for Both the Sony and Nikon. Please forget about the Name of the brand and consider the cameras in hand and shootability. What are your thoughts.

dasloaf

If you go with Canon or Nikon, there are numerous lens rental companies and makes taking better pictures, cheaper. They are the big 2 and I would go with either of them before Sony.

lindann

What are the details of renting a lens? How long do you keep it and how does it get to you and back. How much about does it cost. Can I go to a local camera shop? I know nothing about this.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

One other point on the Sony, their A700, A850 and A900 are the only cameras that are weather sealed. I have a friend that purchased the A55 for newspaper photography and it got wet during rain while on the job, the electronics on the camera got fried and Sony will not honor the warrantee as it states in the manual that you should not get the camera wet.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I am in the midst of a cost analysis. I have equal spread of Minolta Maxum lenses and an equal spread of Nikon & Nikon Sigma. Nikon 50mm, Sigma 28-70, Sigma 70-200 so very good spread. My Minolta are all Maximum 50, 28-85, 80-200mm. I think I can finance my whole venture with the sale of the Nikon stuff. An now retired dollars count. The Nikon camera new low end is about 150 more, the D-3000/Sony both at 10 Mpix. It is considered a equal points toss-up in the evaluation at
http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon_D3000-vs-Sony_Alpha_DSLR-A230

If Lindann goes with Sony, there are a lot of different lenses on E-Bay that fit the old Minolta AF cameras, thus the Sony alpha. A Minolta AF, Maxium 75-200 mm will be $100 or less in contrast the Nikon will run $minimum of 300 but can be $2000!! The big thing is the Minolta lenses can be 20 years old and millions are out there waiting to be sold.

The price of the Sony DSLR 230 is low. I think the 230 was introduced in 2009?. The 230 has short comings: no face recognition, no video. On the positive side is price, light weight, in body shake control and generally good controls system.

Renting lens sounds like a pain in the UPS store. I would rather be able to grab my own lenses when I want them. If I dropped one, I would apologize to my self. But the pros need very expensive Nikon lenses and it is better economics to rent them. Not so for Minolta/Sony alpha lenses buy used and use PayPal and if not what the ad read, get your money back.

Even used lenses on EBay for Nikon and Canon are big$$$.

But if you got the bucks go with the Big Name Boys and get as much body and glass as you can afford.

I am open to suggestion considering the cards I hold in my hand and the money for the pot. Thank you.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

BruceJ67: are Nikon and Canon weather sealed?

In Florida, well, rain is for sure. Of course, in Tampa, lightening is common and if the camera is zapped, well, humph, won't make no diff to the guy holding the camera!!!

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

I bieleve they are, atleast better than the low end Sony cameras. Here are some threads from comunications I recieved:
Hi guys just a word of caution here about camera, specifically, the Sony
A55v...I bought one an was really happy with it for four months until it got
wet in a rainstorm, it fried and then Sony refused to repair it (4 month old
camera....4!) because of corrosion. So now I am out not only $800.00 for the
camera, but $41.00 for a fedex charge....oh %$#&&*$#$%$^!!!!!
Warranty or not...they just refused. Oh well, Bruce, be careful with
your Sony gear!....! ;) And heal quickly, my friend!
Warren

Yowtch, Warren, sorry to hear about your misfortune, it's really difficult to understand that position. My Pentax K5 body is sealed, but most of my lenses are not, so I have to be careful to avoid water incursion into the lenses and through the mount camera mount itself.

Warren,
Sorry to hear about your Sony misfortunes. Never had a problem with my Nikon D100 body or lenses. Been to the rainforest with 100% humidity, countless rainy crew regattas, out in the snow, baked in my car on 100+ degree days. The thing is bullet proof. Even my cheesy Coolpix 5000 that is pushing 9 years old still works like a champ, aside from a few dead pixels and needing new batteries. Can't tell you how many times that thing has wound up in the snow. The D100 even got doused with 'monkey rain' in Panama one year. Other than needing a good cleaning and disinfecting, it was unharmed!

Yeah, I know....have a D2h, D90 and D300 and never a problem....guess I got spoiled by Nikon....and Sony just dosen't give a damn......

I had a lot of experience with the Sony broadcast line of TV production equipment. They used to be phenomenal with customer service. There used to be a repair facility in Teaneck, NJ and sometimes you'd walk in with a piece of gear and they'd fix it while you waited. Those days are long gone. Their customer service has tanked in recent years and to get anything fixed you need to ship it away for months.

Gregory Loc: Clinton, Iowa

Bull...Pentax has had full weather seals since they came out with their first DSLR the K10 a few years ago. I bought the petax because of that and never regreted it. I shoot sports (MMA), Concerts and motorcycle Rallys

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Sorry, I meant in the Sony line, not reffering to other cameras.

jplofvt Loc: Vermont

Hi, I use a Nikon D90 and love this camera, though you really can't go wrong with either Nikon or Canon, (I don't know much about Sony) and they have the largest selection of lenses available, though expensive. We share some of the same interests in photography, I love fireworks, night shots, sports action photos, pretty much anything that presents itself as a photo opportunity. That being said, when I was first looking for a dslr, I read and read review after review, I decided to step up from an entry level camera. I was looking at photography as being a hobby for me, I had an old Minolta film camera and a few lenses from 30+years ago, but stopped taking pictures years ago as the cost of hoping to have a couple of good pics from dozens of shots just made photography unappealing. You sound like someone who is looking at this as a long term hobby, so look down the road as far as a camera selection. I chose the D90 because I felt it would allow me to grow, I didn't want to spend 5, 6 or 700 on a camera I might outgrow in the near future. Over the past 18 months, Ive taken enough pics to realize some of the features I wish the D90 had, that it doesn't. One is weather sealing, so no picture taking in the rain and I didn't realize how important this other feature was till I took some pictures of a nite football game and that is ISO and noise. The D90 maxes out at 6400, yes I had usable pictures, but they had a fair degree of noise, and I don't have the resources to afford fast glass. I know that in the future should I be shopping for another camera, the ability too shoot at a high iso with reduced noise will be a determining factor in my selection. So if your looking at photography as I do, then you may want to go beyond an entry level camera. The D90 has been replaced by the D7000, the D400 will be out soon to replace the D300 as well as replacements for the higher end fx pro bodies. Of course cost is usually the determining factor in the end for many of us, so try to go as high up as you can afford if cost is an issue, you may find some bargains in the Nikon line as retailer may be cutting prices on cameras that are being replaced by new models. I don't know much about what Canon offers, so I'm sure you will research their line of cameras also. Take your time and spend hundreds of hours researching and reading reviews, thats half the fun of this, and wait till you want to get more lenses. Good luck with your selection.. John L

charles brown Loc: Tennesse

Have used Nikon for over 30 years. While I loved their film cameras I have not been so wild about their digital SLRs. I had a chance to use my nephews canon system while at the same time shoot with my nikons. When all is said and done, I say go with the Canon. I would stay away from the entry level Nikons (3100, 5100, 7000) except for the D90, it is a great camera. Have also been disappointed in the lower end Nikon lenses, especially those that come as kit lenses (the 18-105 might be an exception). Use to be you could get a decent Nikon lens at a reasonable price (notice I didn't say outstanding), but can't anymore. If I could affort it (retired, fixed income, wife watching) I would sell all my Nikon equipment and start over with the Canon D60 and go from there. Anyway, as others suggest, take your time, read as many reviews as possible, and be sure to try out each before buying. A good camera store will let you take some photos with each before buying. And be sure to get what you really want and not what some sales clerk says is the best to buy.

flashgordonbrown Loc: Silverdale, WA

I've been involved in photography for 50+years, and have come to be somewhat amused/bemused with the brand name issue. I currently own Sony A-850 bodies, and am completely satisfied with their performance. After all, the camera is really the 'brush' in the artist's(photographer's) hand. My reason for choosing Sony is the built-in stabilization(every lens that I own is stabilized!) and the features for the $. Also, many of the other brands use Sony imaging chips! When I was working as a retail camera salesperson, I would tell my customers that you could put all of the various brands of camera in a box, reach in without looking and you would pull out the best one. It is a matter of how a camera feels in your hand, and whether or not that brand has the accessories that you need to accomplish your goal.