photon56 Loc: North America

I had a Brand X in my sight for over 2 years. When I went to actually hold and touch, I ended up with something totally different.

Just to make sure this was something that would hold my interest, I purchased a refurbished DSLR for $230 including lens. Used it enough to know that I was hooked on this hobby. That's when I got serious and purchased a higher end version.

I strongly recommend to do the touchy, feely thing. You want your equipment to be second nature to you. For me, it was the positions of the buttons for easy access to the functions I used without going into the menu. And also the feel of the grip in my hand. My hands are large enough that I wanted something that felt solid and confident.

Most current models from any of the manufacturers have plenty of options. When you get to the higher end cameras that are considered Pro, you won't find special effects in the camera. I like having all those options. I've used them on various occasions when I didn't have the time to do the setup. At other times, I would spend the time to set up my shot to get the shot the way I want to see it. The point I'm making is that using the camera in the field is totally different that standing in a store.

Good Luck with your research!!

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

From a Canon user - the best entry level camera currently is the Nikon D3300 in my opinion. A good upgrade would be the D5300. Third choice would be the Canon t5i. The Pentax K5 ll /lls have sensors that rival the Nikons and surpass Canon. Suggest researching all on both DxOMark, and Snapsport first. Then go try a few. You will find one that chooses you.

hdg Loc: Boston

Ha! Nice try. That's a function of the high speed lens choices not the camera body quality. LOL. Doubt this guy is going to be shooting profootball on the sideline anytime soon.

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

Go read www.stevehuffphoto.com, www.sansmirror.com and there are others. You will really have to work at it to get a bad camera today, anyone of the name brands are excellent. My suggestion rent from http: www.lensrentals.com, an Olympus OM-D E-M10 with a Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 ED PRO, for approx $90.00 for 5 days will give you some idea of these type of camera can do......

mutrock

Where you focus your investment: Once you have decided on the Camera model and brand focus on the lens or lenses. The Canon and Nikon lenses have fairly good resale value for many years. The camera bodies are replaced on the market by newer and better every 2-3 years. They become fairly obsolete after 5 years and the resale prices fall quite a bit. The bodies are little portable computers and they have only a little more life span than a laptop these days. Good lenses can be used by you or other photographers for many years to come, as long as they are taken care of.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Really SharpShooter? Really????

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Go down to your local camera store and put them in your hand to see which fits you best. I have shot with both Canon, Pentax, Sony and now shoot with Nikon. No particular reason, as they are all great camera's!
Photographer's have brands just like Ford vs Chevy. Don't get caught up in that.
Good luck in your selection and welcome to the hog!

ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

It depends on what you want to do with the camera and how much money you want to spend. Canon, Nikon, and Sony all make very good cameras. I have Canons and Sonys and am well pleased with them all.

lbrandt79 Loc: League City, Tx.

Someone may have mentioned this too, if so am sorry to be redundant. More than likely whatever you choose will result in you investing in a lens system. You then, or most of us anyway, become locked into a system, as they last and are expensive. I could not tell you a lot about Nikon because I have a lot of bucks invested in Canon and even though I am on my 4th body, my lenses are the same. Always kills me when people, like one of the posters say "Nikon is the best" or Canon or whatever. I think the majority of those people haven't shot Canon or something else in years. I know nothing about Nikon, never even held one and I have been shooting for 40 years, kinda like the Mac PC debate, unless you have extensive background/use in both, you need to be quiet.

CO

If you want to compare the performance of different models check out the DxO Mark camera sensor comparison tool at this website:
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare
You can see the sensor performance of up to three cameras graphed on the same charts. There are charts for ISO sensitivity, Signal to noise ratio, Dynamic range, Tonal range, and Color sensitivity.

Swayne

Question, how do I publish a question I may have?

Madchemist Loc: Nesbit, MS

What's wrong with my Nikon????

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

While some may try to convince you that one brand (usually the brand they use) is superior to all others, all the the top brands provide exceptional equipment. If they didn't, they wouldn't be among the top brands.
One thing to keep in mind is that you are not just buying a camera, you are buying a system: camera body, lenses, external flashes, etc. and switching brands can become an expensive proposition.
I suggest you visit camera stores and hold different camera brands and models in your hand to see what feels the most comfortable to you. Do research into the different systems and make your choice that way.
Whichever you choose, good luck and have fun.

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Welcome to the Hog! I think you have found that asking a general question can result in all kinds of responses. In this case the Canon/Nikon war was rekindled. I have not read all four pages (so far) but my advice is to choose the equipment that you are most comfortable with in terms of the controls, how it fits in your hand etc... Also, if you have a mentor you can learn from, having the same camera type could accelerate the learning curve. In the end the images you come up with will be a result of you the photographer and how you use that tool they call Canon, Nikon, or whatever. Once you have picked your equipment, just start shooting. In manual so you make lots of mistakes but learn at the same time. ENJOY!

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

2014 was a year of many pro's and well photog's switching to Sony. The two cameras most use are the A6000 and the A7. The A77M2 is also worthy of consideration.