DSLRs under $1500 - comparison

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:36 pm

Which DLSR should I buy?

In the under $1500 category, the options are numerous. This poll provides a guide for newcomers to the field of digital SLR photography by sharing the reviews of our experienced members. Newcomers, please read the thread thoroughly and feel free to post your questions.

Note: this post is not instantly updated- it may not yet include products that have reached the market in the very recent past. Prices are approximate and intended only to serve as a rough guide.

Reviewers:

(1) Please state your level of experience with the product(s) that you review;

(2) Please address the issues of performance, value, reliability and durability, and ease of use, in addition to any other criteria that you deem relevant.

(3) Feel free to cross-compare products if you have the expertise to do so, but please refrain from internet hearsay and uninformed generalization!

Any corrections / additions / amendments may be addressed to me, I will update the poll periodically. As new products appear on the market, they will be included.

Alright then let's see how this goes!

:) keithwms

This post represents the volunteered opinions of our members; all information included in this post is nonbinding and subject to change.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:23 pm

Hey keithwms you forgot about the Nikon D200 ;-)
*edit* my bad didn't see it around $1500 only sorry

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:34 pm

adorski wrote:

Hey keithwms you forgot about the Nikon D200 ;-)
*edit* my bad didn't see it around $1500 only sorry

Alright, now you have to give us a D70 review!

:) keithwms

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:34 am

Alright I'll go first then!

I can offer a few comments about the Nikon D70, which is quite similar to the D70s listed above. The D70s has a larger LCD, that's about it. With the latest firmware upgrade, which is free on the net, the D70 can be made almost equivalent to the D70s with exception of the LCD.

My experience with D70: about 0.5-1 year.

All 'round, the D70 is an amazing value, especially when bundled with the 18-70 kit lens which is widely praised.

I found the D70 to be of very sturdy construct, with no flimsy parts at all. It is very reliable and very unlikely to fail. Ther has been only one issue with the camera of which I am aware, namely Nikon did a recall on some of the batteries, but replaced them very quickly and at no cost. By the way, the batteries are amazing, it seems that you can take hundreds and hundreds of shots without recharging. If you turn off the auto image review, you can really go for weeks without recharging. Wish my cell phone did that!

Compared to the XT, the D70 fit better in my medium sized hands; the D70 is a slightly larger beast and this is a factor for some people.

I found the ~6mp quality to be totally adequate for almost all situations, it certainly compares very well to ~8 mp competitors. Colour 8x10 and perhaps slightly larger prints will be almost indistinguishable from 35mm film. Colour rendition is superb, and though I did sometimes feel the need to sharpen images, one could actually shoot jpeg with auto everything and be quite happy- I suspect that this is how most newcomers to DSLRs begin.

I like the layout of the buttons, I found that within days I could shoot blind, just moving my fingers slightly and getting the shot without needing to take my eye off the ball. Yes there are some menus to navigate on the LCD, but once a few settings were made, I almost never had the need to enter the menus.

Besides the camera itself, I am a big fan of the associated Nikon software, it is quite intuitive and I don't recall ever even opening the manual for the camera. Most users will eventually want to get photoshop and the associated camera raw plugin so that you can open raw images directly in photoshop.

I did finally sell my D70, simply because I am enjoying dabbling in medium format film and strategically planning my next purchase, which will probably be quite similar to the D70/s with perhaps a few more pro features.

Now a quick wrap up:

Pros:

-solid construction, good size/weight, very good kit lens, very good associated software.

-Fps rate is very adequate for most sport shooting and wildlife.

- crop factor is a bit better than on the comparable Canons, though probably it makes no effective difference.

-the cameras responds almost instantly, startup is very fast and there is no feeling of sluggishness at all. It was not uncommon for me to have the camera around my neck, see a shot I wanted, and have that shot within a second or so.

- I used mostly film (full frame) lenses with the D70/s and saw no problems doing so. By habit I tend to do everything manually, though I will admit that the D70's features made me a bit lazy.

- one big pro for any of the nikons is the legenadary F mount. This a very robust mount and what's better, it goes way back, so you can pick up excellent old lenses from KEH and be happy. Not all lens features are available on the D70/s though; be sure to check whether you will be able to meter through an older lens without having a "chip" added to the lens. I sometimes used an old 400mm f/3.5 with the D70 and that was a deadly combo- a very nice, solid package.

Cons:

I would really like to have ISO 100 in the D70 or D70s, this is an issue for some. This is one of very few complaints I have.

This may be a minor gripe considering the price range, but D70/s has no mirror lock up. This is rarely an issue, but if one wants to, for example, do a moon shot, it can be a show stopper. I did succeed in getting a decent moon shot or two (an example is posted somewhere here), but to do a professional job one really needs mirror lock up, a remote alone will not suffice. Simply adding a timed mirror lock up would make a big difference. I am suprised that no one has figured out a way to hack the firmware and allow this.

Most other complaints I have really have to do with the class of the camera, there are a small number of pro features that you miss withthe D70/s, such as interchangeable viewfinders and such. If someone is looking for those, I would recommend looking in the $1500 and up category.

:) keithwms

[edit:spelling]

Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 339

The Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D) does not have a lens difference of 1.6. It's 1.3. The old Digital Rebel had the 1.6.

Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 152

Not a review but more of a suggestion. Would an update of this poll be done routinely, like every 6-12 months as prices fall and new competitors enter the ring ?

Premium Member Joined: 29 Oct 2004 Posts: 5758

Frost wrote:

The Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D) does not have a lens difference of 1.6. It's 1.3. The old Digital Rebel had the 1.6.

That's incorrect. The Canon 350D and 20D are also 1.6.

The only Canon cameras that are 1.3 are the older ones in the 1D series.

Premium Member Joined: 29 Oct 2004 Posts: 5758

Hate to be a party pooper, but despite being a big Canon supporter, I feel like it's not my place to write a comprehensive review. There are lots of reviews and opinions out there, and frankly if you're an unindoctrinated photographer you can live with the bodies and glass from most manufacturers.

Regarding the Canon versus Nikon question, I'd make only three statements with respect to my own needs. I like the glass options from Canon better. That's not a knock on Nikon, but I prefer the Canon options. The difference between 6 and 8 megapixels doesn't matter until you want to crop your image and still enlarge it -- and you can sizeably crop an 8 MP image and still have a 6 MP image to enlarge. If you make the same percent crop on a 6 MP image you're left with a 4.5 megapixel image. That makes a difference. Finally, having ISO 100 on the Canon is something that I regard as absolutely essential, and I'm actually upset that I don't have ISO 20 or 50 on my camera. I can't imagine having to live at ISO 200 as is the case on the Nikon cameras. For my long low light exposures I've personally seen a difference between 100 and 200, and having ISO 100 has saved me from an ND filter in many situations.

I didn't vote, by the way, because this will be a vote of ownership, not of merit.

Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 21 Location: South of Boston, MA

I'd wait & buy the Nikon D200 :)

Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 339

drpablo74 wrote:

Frost wrote:

The Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D) does not have a lens difference of 1.6. It's 1.3. The old Digital Rebel had the 1.6.

That's incorrect. The Canon 350D and 20D are also 1.6.

The only Canon cameras that are 1.3 are the older ones in the 1D series.

Aha, I stand corrected. Not sure where 1.3 on Rebel came from, but I swear I thought that's what it was. Oh well.

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:19 pm

There is objection to the inclusion of a poll in this thread, so I have moved all the info (plus some new info) to a new post. Please post your comments/reviews/questions in the new thread, not here!

:) keithwms