Choosing your first dSLR
It’s nearly December again, which means that the retailers are rubbing their money-grabbing little paws in glee, in anticipation of making a killing over the holiday season. Be that as it may, fact remains that there’s a lot of choice out there, and whether you’re buying your first camera, or whether you’re out shopping for a friend of family member, you might need a hand.
Welcome to the Photocritic guide to entry-level dSLR cameras: What should you be looking for, what should you be buying, and why? It’s all in our handy shopping guide, right here…
Once you’ve decided to start looking for a dSLR, you might have some reason in mind already. Perhaps you feel as if you’re outgrowing your compact camera, whether that’s creatively or technically. Maybe you’re not really feeling as if you’re challenging yourself enough as a photographer. Either way, you’ve decided to go play with the big boys – welcome aboard!
There's a lot of cameras to choose from out there - In this article, I've done my best to help you make a sensible choice!
The first and most important thing you need to know is that there aren’t any really bad digital SLR cameras out there.
In fact I would argue that there aren’t actually any bad digital cameras on the market anymore in general – stick to a respected camera brand, and you’re home free. If we’re looking at compact cameras, you can buy a respectible camera for under $100 – the Nikon Coolpix L20 wil set you back $99 or thereabouts, and is a lot of camera for your hard-earned dollars.
Anyway, we were talking about dSLR cameras. Here are a few things you should be looking at..
Things to think about
Do you already own a SLR camera? If you have already bought into a particular brand of camera, take a good, hard look at your lenses. If you’ve bought a lot of high-end lenses and flashguns etc, swapping from one brand to another might have a lot of hidden costs in them. On the other hand, if you have a lot of old, tattered equipment with scratched lenses, see it as an opportunity: eBay off the lot, and start afresh.
Canon or Nikon? This is a perennial question which I’m not going to go anywhere near. I defy anybody to be able to tell the difference between a camera taken with a Canon or with a Nikon camera. Or a Sony. Or a Panasonic. Or a Sigma. Things have moved on hugely since the raging Canon-Nikon debates of the early 1980s (and they scarcely made all that much sense then). Whichever camera system you buy into, you’re going to live with for a while (probably), so do think about it. You – not your camera equipment – is going to be the bottleneck, so don’t worry too much about what you might have heard form the old graybeards…
Buying into a system? You know best what kind of a photographer you are. If you’re likely to start buying high-end lenses (or ‘fast glass’, as it’s frequently called among seasoned photographers), then you have two choices: Canon or Nikon. There are a lot of other people out there building great DSLR cameras, but once you start talking seriously high-end equipment, it’s one of the two big ones, I’m afraid. On the other hand, if you are a semi-serious hobbyist, don’t discard other camera brands out of hand: Sony, Olympus and Panasonic are building some very capable cameras indeed – with some serious money-saving opportunities, too!
Body or glass? If you have to choose between buying an expensive body and cheap glass or a cheap body and expensive glass, then go for the posh lenses. Every time. Personally, I am still using lenses that I bought nearly 10 years ago, even though I’ve changed my camera bodies half a dozen times since: You can take fantastic photos with an entry-level body and expensive lenses. Putting bargain lenses on a top-level body is, frankly, a complete waste of money. Even better: Buy yourself a nice prime lens, and be amazed at what your camera body can do.
If you still think that Megapixels are important, consider this shot: It was taken on my iPhone, which has 2mpx and a rubbish lens. (clicky for bigger)
Megapixels? In general, don’t worry about megapixels – most dSLR cameras come with 10 megapixels or more, and that’s enough. Hell, there’s even a prominent group arguing that more pixels aren’t necessarily better, and that 6mpx is all you need, really. I’m inclined to agree – you very rarely use them at full resolution anyway. What I’m trying to say is that Megapixels should be the last thing you look for in a digital camera in general – and a dSLR especially.
So, to summarise:
- Don’t worry too much about the brand of your camera body
- Buy Canon or Nikon if you anticipate dropping a lot of money on lenses in the long run
- Spend your money on lenses, not camera bodies
3 great bargains
So, you’ve decided to leap into the pool of DSLRs, but you want to spend as little money as possible? These three cameras are your best options:
Sony Alpha 230
The Sony Alpha 230 is an oft-overlooked bargain entry into the dSLR world
The Sony Alpha 230 is an absolute bargain, and a great entry into the world of SLR. You get 10 mpx (more than enough), RAW image format (which is a must), and an incredibly nifty little feature: In-camera optical ‘SteadyShot’ image stabilisation! This means that any lens you connect to the Sony Alpha camera will be image stabilised – this is a feature you pay tons of money for in the lenses of other camera manufacturers!
The Sony Alpha lenses are compatible with Minolta AF and Konica lenses, so you get a reasonably good choice of glass, and the camera has a pretty wide shutter speed range of 30 seconds to 1/4000th of a second.
On top of all this, the Sony can be picked up with a fabulous kit lens – sure, it’s not the best glass you can buy, but who cares when you’re eager to get started. You can always chuck away (or eBay) the kit lens later, and upgrade to something better, once you know what kind of photos you’re likely to be taking!
You can get the Sony Alpha 230 with a kit lens from Amazon.com for about $500 and Amazon.co.uk for about £350.
Canon EOS 1000D / Canon Rebel XS
The Canon 1000D is the first step on the ladder for ambitious photographers
The world of digital cameras has come a very long way indeed. I remember buying my first DSLR in the mid-to-late 1990s, and, well, you’d pay a small fortune for something that wasn’t all that amazing.
These days, though, you’re not needing to spend that much money to pick up a big-brand SLR camera. Obviously, Canon felt Sony and the other budget-DSLR manufacturers breathe down their neck, and they had to respond. And boy, did they respond: The 1000D is one heck of a camera. Sure, so they’ve cut a few corners here and there, but, frankly, I don’t give a damn.
Personally, if I were to buy a SLR today, I’d buy one of two cameras: A Canon EOS 5D (which costs a small fortune), or a 1000D. Why? Because the imaging sensor is brilliant, and you can start saving up to buy lenses that will be with you and your camera system for a decade or more. When you finally out-grow the D1000, eBay it and buy a mid-range camera (like the Canon 500D), or start looking at spending serious money for a serious camera (Canon 5D if you want full-frame coverage, 7D if you don’t) – but none of the money you spent on lenses was a waste: It’ll all still be there, ready for you to snap away.
Of the bargain-snappers, only the 1000D has a CMOS sensor – which makes a surprising difference in image quality: Not necessarily better, but for some reason the grain on a CMOS sensor at higher ISO is a lot more similar to film than CCD sensors pushed to the limit… All of which means that the 1000D photos ‘feel’ more natural when you look at them.
You can get the Canon XS from Amazon.com for about $490 or the Canon 1000D from Amazon.co.uk for about £370 – both with a Canon EF-S 18-55 kit lens.
Nikon D3000
With a slightly better screen than the others, the Nikon is an attractive choice in the bargain-SLR category
Nikon’s baby camera is the D3000 – and it’s another bloody strong contender to the bargain crown. It comes with a super-advanced light meter – the 3D Matrix metering system borrowed from far more expensive Nikon cameras, which means that the Nikon is definitely the most capable in terms of getting the light measurements right.
The other thing the D3000 gets right is that it has a fabulous 3-inch LCD screen on the back of the camera (the Sony and Canon have 2.7 and 2.5 inch screens respectively), which makes a huge difference when you’re checking your photos in the field, to ensure you get it all right.
Just like the Canon camera, the Nikon is an opportunity to start climbing the ladder – Buy the most expensive lenses you can afford, get some tasty flashguns, and they’ll be with you for a long time indeed.
I have to admit that I’m a Canon man at heart (I’ve used Canon cameras since I stole my dad’s Canon A1 out of the cupboard when I could barely walk. I didn’t break it, luckily), but it’s starting to seem as if Nikon currently have a nicer progression through the cameras – the D3000 is a peach, and the D5000 – which is the next step up without being that much more expensive – is a deceptively simple, yet very serious, camera, for serious photographers.
You can pick up a D3000 (body only) from Amazon.com for about $430 and from Amazon.co.uk for £390 or so.
So… What should I choose?
If you want to take the step from compact cameras to SLRs, but foresee that you’ll continue being a casual amateur, go for the Sony. It’s a great little camera, a fantastic bargain, and the lenses available are not bad at all.
If you are ambitious in your photography, grab a dice. Throw it. Even numbers are Canon. Odd numbers are Nikon. They’re both absolutely brilliant cameras, and – considering what you get for your money – bargains. The Canon has a slightly better imaging sensor (but you wouldn’t be able to tell until you’re at higher ISO speeds) and the Nikon has a marginally better light meter (which doesn’t make that much difference in real life) and a better screen (which does). Seriously, if you’re having trouble making up your mind, throw the dice. It’ll save you a lot of headache.
What if I want to spend a bit more?
Spend more. Simple.
For the Nikon, going from D3000 to D5000 gets you a ton of extra goodies: higher resolution (12mpx instead of 10), a more powerful internal flash (although if that’s a dealbreaker for you, spend the extra cash on an external flashgun instead), and a funky (but smaller) tilt-and-swivel LCD screen which helps if you take photos while holding the camera high above your head or low to the ground. The D5000 also enables you to shoot high-def movie clips. The D5000 costs $600 from Amazon.com and £470 or so from Amazon.co.uk.
Canon: Upgrade from the 1000D to the 500D (T1i in the US) to get higher resolution (15mpx instead of 10mpx), better ISO speed (up to 12800 instead of up to 1600), slightly faster continuous drive (3.4fps vs 3.0fps), and a much, much better LCD screen (3 inch with far superior resolution to the 2.5-inch LCD screen on the 1000D). The 500D also has a sexy little movie mode which’ll shoot true 1080P high-definition video! The T1i will set you back $650 from Amazon.com and the 500D is about £520 from Amazon.co.uk
Any final tips?
Buy a cheap camera body, then invest in some lovely lenses. You know it makes sense...
I know I’ve repeated this several times in this article, but if you’re new to SLRs, I would advise to buy the entry-level model from a manufacturer. Start taking photos – you won’t out-grow your camera body for a while, trust me on that, but you might out-grow your lenses. Start by buying a ‘Nifty Fifty‘ (a 50mm prime lens). Most manufacturers have a f/1.8 which is good and a f/1.4 which is great…
Once you have one of those, start thinking about the type of photography you do. If you want to start shooting macro, you’ll need to start looking into a macro lens. If you want to photograph gigs or wildlife, you’ll want a fast tele-zoom (I can’t recommend Sigma’s 70-200mm f/2.8 DSM lens highly enough – it’s a bargain for what you’re getting). If you’re more into in-door or landscape photography, you want to go wider – but only you know exactly what you want.
To get good concert photos, you need a long, fast tele-zoom. This was taken at the long end of a 70-200mm lens - a lens which easily costs twice what my camera body did. (clicky for bigger)
Buying cheap lenses is false economy – unless you don’t really know what you want to take photos of. If you’re just experimenting, flailing around a little (as we all are, at first), stick with your prime and your kit lens for a while. If you find yourself at the wide end of your kit lens most of the time, perhaps it’s a sign you need to spend a bit of cash on a wider lens. If you’re constantly at full zoom… well, you figure it out.
If you’re worried about spending hundreds – if not thousands – of dollars (or pounds, should you be on my side of the pond) on glass, go ahead and rent the lens you’re considering for a few weeks. Does it do everything you want it to? Is it too heavy? Does it feel right? Is it fast enough? If you’re not happy, rent a different lens, and keep searching. When you find the right lens(es) for you, you’ll know it – and that’s the right time to start shelling out the big bucks.
Seriously: Buy glass first. Worry about camera bodies later. By the time you have bought some serious lenses, you’ll know what you need from a camera (wide angle? Full-frame sensor. Sports? Fast, high-frames-per-second camera. Walking a lot? Buy a capable, but light-weight camera body… Etc)… But it’s a supremely silly thing to do to spend a lot of money on a camera body until you know what you really want/need.
So, Haje, what do you use?
I love my Canon 450D. It's cheap as chips, but does the trick!
I’ve had a lot of cool cameras in my time – I worked as a freelance photographer for a while, and bought all the cool gear. At one point, I drove around in a £1,300 car with £49,000 worth of camera equipment in the boot. I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’m a gadget nut, and a camera aficionado to boot.
… Which is why it might surprise you that my main camera is a Canon EOS 450D. It’s not the newest camera on the market anymore. It never was the best. But it does everything I need from a camera: It’s plastic, so it’s reasonably light weight. It’s relatively sturdy. It uses SD cards (which plug straight into my MacBook Pro – it’s a small thing, but I like it).
The four-fifty takes all my lenses (I have loads, but the ones I’ve used in the past 6 months are a Sigma 17-35mm f/2.8-4.0, a Canon 50mm f/1.4, a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8, and my Lensbaby G3 lens), and it doesn’t look too conspicuous. It’s also cheap enough that I’m not too crazy worried about it getting stolen or dropping it. All in all: Perfect for my uses. And (when I bought it), the cheapest camera you could buy with a Canon badge on it.
My day job, if it can be called that, is being a writer. I've got one book out there so far and it's awesome, so go ahead and buy a copy! It's available from 
In front of you, five hyperactive men with guitars, drums, and microphones. Behind you, five thousand fans. In your hands, a camera... You're going to need more than just a little bit of good luck to pull this one off. That's where this book comes in.
Take a Canon EOS 450D. Attach a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens. Hit the streets of London. See what happens.
Insights, suggestions and comments
Hello!
I´ve just started with a Nikon D90 and I´m pretty happy, I have a wonderfull Nikkor 60mm micro lens!
Hello, Pentax? Aside from the fact they’re producing some excellent glass (the limited primes are top notch), the Pentax line is able to mount some pretty spectacular lenses going back a lot of decades including screw mount and medium format. Many of these lenses can be found for very little cost on sites like Craig’s List. Add the price to performance ratio on the camera bodies, and Pentax has a heck of compelling argument as well. People look entry dSLR might do well to check the reviews on the Pentax K-x. The world isn’t just Canon and Nikon.
Hello, Olympus? – Only for the hobbyist?
Olympus is known for it’s excellent glass technology.
Totally agree with John Caven – the photography world goes way beyond Canon and Nikon. The Olympus E-3 is an excellent camera for the professional photographer.
I’ve got Sony A300 as my first DSLR for 3 reasons (2 of them you mention in your excellent article):
1. In-camera optical ‘SteadyShot’ image stabilization
2. Ability to use old Minolta glass
3. Quick-view – when transitioning from a point-and-shot camera where you mainly use the screen for photo composition.
What’s neat about the way Sony implemented this feature is that using the screen does not slow auto-focus since it continues to use the fast phase detection auto focus mechanism.
An important thing to mention regarding Sony DSLRs is that Sony bought Minolta’s whole DSLR operation so actually much of the technology in their cameras are Minolta’s technology.
To add to the olympus fanboyism:
You can get the Olympus E520 with 2 kit lenses (14-42, 40-150) for 521$ from amazon. What’s so special?
The camera gets “Highly recommended” from dpreview (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse520/page32.asp).
The 14-42 gets “Recommended” and the 40-150 hasn’t been reviewed yet (though I have no complaints about it, in fact, I love the way it produces bokeh).
Add to this that your average Olympus camera & lens is half as big and half as heavy, compared to the traditional dslrs and my choice was made.
And just look at this lens http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_25_2p8_o20/ . How awesome is that?
Hello, mobile phone cameras? I’ve got an old Nokia 6070 with a shit camera that only takes blurry photos in a maximum resolution of 640×480. But don’t I deserve love, too?!
Just kidding. I’m all about the Canon 450D. I wouldn’t know the first thing about buying lenses for it — but I did manage to flush the lens cap down the loo one time in a drunken accident. Still takes nice photos, though.
Hearty agreement with:
Shop for a lens first!
Then buy the most basic body you can live with to fit the lens.
And the best advise I’ve ever been given about photography equipment: Pay cash! Even if you have to pay cash for an inexpensive point-and-shoot until you can save up enough to pay cash for higher-end gear, don’t go into debt for it.
Hey, I bought my 40D with credit card. There’s no problem at all. But..there’s a but. I earn some money every month from my 40D. One third of the money I use to pay my camera instalments, one third goes to my pocket another one third I would save it for new glasses in future. I survive though it is only a part time job. Make sure every click you make worth some dollars..or worth keeping.
hey! i bought myself a Nikon D60 a month or two ago and I love it, except they’ve discontinued the model now..
i did however think about body rather than lense while buying it and now that i actually think about it, i could have gotten a way better lense >.<
i feel smart :)
My vote gores for the Nikon D3000. We have used Nikons for many years strating with the D70 and moving on thru D200, D300, D700 and D3. This small Nikon is way better than the D70 and D200 of just 3 years ago!
I have a question.
I am using Nikon FM10 film slr.
Can I use my film slr lens on Nikon Dslr (D3000 or D5000)?
Girish.
“On the other hand, if you are a semi-serious hobbyist, don’t discard other camera brands out of hand: Sony, Olympus and Panasonic are building some very capable cameras indeed” Kudos deserved for recognising there are brands other than the big two but Sony have a pro spec camera the A900, plenty of pros swear by Olympus, oh and there is the brand with years of backwards compatible lenses, Pentax too.
Otherwise good advice
i’m using a camera that older than yours..canon 400D… :) with middle range line-up lenses like 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 usm, 28-135 f3.5-5.6 is usm and 70-200mm f4 L usm…and the famous “cheap as chip” lense, 50mm f.18II… :D
I find info about slr camera and your blog have very good content and infomation about that Thank you.
Wow! What an insightful and informative article. Huge thanks, this is really helpful!
Hiya,
Superb article thank-you so much. I’m just about to leap into the world of SLR primarily as I want to start producing some pieces of photo-realism. Any further tips on what I should look for in a camera with this in mind? I have a hunch megapixels might come into it a little more in light of all the zooming and resizing I might be doing as well as maybe the light meter for combining images from different photos effectively..? I’ve seen the Sony A230 and DCR HX1 as well as the Canon Powershot SX20 IS and SX1 IS all priced at £299 in my local shop. Which of these do you think might suit my purposes?
Thanks again
Kind regards,
Jim
“I have a question.
I am using Nikon FM10 film slr.
Can I use my film slr lens on Nikon Dslr (D3000 or D5000)?
Girish.”
I can’t say this with 100% certainty, but I’m fairly sure you can.
Thank you for posting.. Your blogs are very helpful!
How come the site has not even considered Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax at all?
Are they not cameras?
For your information, among all the kit lenses that come with the DSLR, the Zuiko Digital are the best. Olympus is known for their expertise in glass.
Whats more? Olympus and Pentax comes with in body IS (Image Stabilisation) which the Canon and Nikon are not even considering. If you need a steady shot with Nikon or Canon, you will have to buy lens that supports them – that also means burning your pocket.
This is not the case with Olympus. They have started giving inbody IS 2 years back with the E510 which is a still a hot selling entry level DSLR!
Proven dust reduction System – Another trait of Olympus. They have the best reduction system in the market, which can know from the review from any site!
There are more points to it.
I agree with others that the DSLR market today, goes beyond the Canons and Nikons!
Really appreciate this article…I couldn’t decide on whether to go for the D3000 with the VR Kit or 1000D.
After reading this article, it seems like both will serve my purpose of upgrading to a Digital SLR Camera.
Cheers!
Hey Guys. Live in the Middle East and looked high and low for a new Nikon D40 but they had discontinued it before I entered the world of photography. Got a helluva deal on the Sony Alpha 200. It’s a brilliant entry level camera. Quiet performer but now I’m looking to advance to the next level with new glass. I primarily like to shoot landscapes and portraits. Occasional travel as well. Would appreciate recommendations for lenses that are great and value for money.
@ girish
yes you can, nikon uses the f-mount which would mount most, if not all, it’s lenses since 1959.
hello,
it is said that most of the people just ignore Sigma cameras. And IMHO they deliver the best image quality with foveon sensors… the cameras are not for amateurs though as in most cases have to be used in manual mode but the quality of the picture! so far the only dSLR that can compete is canon 5D…
Nobody is saying that you can’t get pro results with cameras that aren’t Nikons or Canons. Some of the other brands have really good cameras and it’s still the photographer that’s the most important. But as far as the amount of lenses and accessories go the other brands are way behind. If you just want to take great pictures a lot of cameras will do. If you already know you’ll be upgrading and spending more money on photography equipment I’d stick with Canon or Nikon.
The Canon VS Nikon
My advise is that if you are going to buy high end pro camera then either Canon or Nikon both have great cameras but if you are going to buy a an amateur camera less than 1000 euro then my advise is to go for the Canon brand. Canon gives equal attention to Pros and enthusiast and comes out with great point and shot cameras when Nikon bring out to the market a lot of point and shot rubbish.
The choice is yours.
I have tried both brands different models and even though I started with Nikon and became a fanatic Nikon brand supported after I finish Film Academy and I new what I should expect from a good camera then was Nikon who disappointed me in several occasions. Instead Canon make me change my mind because even the point and shot digital Canon I bought for my nephew was taking astonishing pictures.
George
Hello!
im decided to buy a canon 1000d, ive done a lot of research and i am still wondering if i should buy the kit lens or just the body and buy right now some better ones like EF 28-135 IS or the EF-S 17-85/4-5.6.
what do you think?
go for the kit or start right know doing some real damage? :D
thanks A LOT
I need help! I don’t know what camera I should get! Friends tell me to get Nikon D40. Some tell me to get a Canon. But then I saw the Pentax K-X. My first choice was the Nikon D3000. But someone told me to get Pentax K-X since it has a in-body autofocus motor. I don’t want to spend a lot of money for lenses like up there. (Nikon) Pentax can do video, and looks pretty good. Can someone please give me some kind of feedback? My email is dhpinoy@gmail.com thanks for the help!
I’ve been wanting to get a DSLR, but I couldn’t find someone to talk to who didn’t have any biases or who didn’t talk down to me. I can’t thank you enough for this article!
Great post! I’m an amateur photographer with a Canon Powershot and want to upgrade soon to a dslr. I’ve done a lot of research and have asked so many people on what camera I should get. I’m going to stick with Canon and this post has definitely been helpful. Has anyone heard of the site Fotobabble.com? It’s a site where you can create “Talking Photos” in three steps: upload your photo, record your voice and share with friends on Twitter or Facebook. I’ve been using the site for my photography and recording a description about my photo. It’s fun, free, and easy to create these fotobabbles and share them with your friends and family. Here is a fotobabble I created with a photo I took when I was in Florida a few months ago. http://www.fotobabble.com/m/Sk5JU05EMTJZSFU9
Excellent guide!! Thank you very much for posting. It is going to be very helpful.
Great read.
Well, now it is indeed over a month ago that you posted this, so, I read the follow up article about Pentax and Olympus cameras – nice oversight ;)
I purchased a D60 a bit over one year ago. I am quite happy with it. I collected my thoughts about this specific model here:
http://www.photonopticum.com/Photography_matters/files/bd97ed671ec359658901f7877f992d6f-40.html
I think, Nikon migrated totally to the D5000 now?
M.
I am looking for an entry level dslr, ungrading from my Canon SD750 point-and-shoot. I don’t want to spend more than $500 total for body and lens. Any good leads? E.g. buy a used body and a new lens… can that happen for $500? Thanks!
Sam, that should be entirely possible – try eBay!
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