I went cheap and got a e-330 from olympus..now they are even cheaper from 300-400 with a lens (on ebay).


http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E330/E330A.HTM
http://flickr.com/search/?q=e-330&w=all


it takes amazing photos for the price.

if I was going higher end I'd get a Nikon

Here is my take on this and most people have already hit it. I am a Nikon guy for many reasons one of them being thats what I learned on (the Marine Corps uses mostly Nikon) but there are many others reasons. Canon is not my first choice for DSLR'* one they are not as user friendly as the Nikon. My friend lately has been using Canon and he has used Nikon also (he has to because where he is now in the Marine Corps they use them there.) he says the same thing but he also says the RAW image features are not as good as Nikon, and its ackward to hold and adjust settings he even told me that he has to do one thing with one hand use his other hand and his nose all at the same time to adjust ISO settings and such, but he said the pictures are great in saturation color, tonal ranges ect maybe even better than the Nikon. He would still prefer a Nikon any day though.

The other cameras such as sony and pentax tell you the truth I dont know of anyone that uses them professionally.

Lenses are a big deal When you get good enough to KNOW how to use them. A lens isnt just for zooming, you have to understnad that and with you just starting out the Kit lens will be fine until you learn the camera and desire different lens with faster "glass". I still to this day use my 17-70mm kit lens for weddings but I love my 80-200mm 2.8f and I am ordering a 50mm 1.4f lens which I cant wait to use. Keep it simple right now because you may not like it as much as you think you do now. D80 or D40x is my recommendations D300 if you want to get crazy .

By the way I love these quotes

Someone said the key to his success was: (this is in like 1940'*)
F8 and be there.

Meaning you dont have to do crazy stuff or have the best equipment to get award winning photos just plain old F8 and be there.

But recently someone said that his success was from: (playing on what the guy from 1940'* said)
f2.8 and be there

Meaning times have changed but the basic princple is true.

Which I think is pretty true with me anyways because my favorite lens is the f2.8 80-200

You do now - semi professionally, anyway.

40D < A700 < D300

Concert photography for me is more like ISO 3200+, f/2.8, AND be there

haha you need night vision for concerts? . I shot a few pics at concerts (at the church anyways kutless and Jeff Deyo,) I will post a few and let me know what you think. Tell you the truth never shot higher than 1600 ISO ever.

got another n00b question for you all - Im leaning towards the Nikon D40/D40x, mostly because of the price-point and the negative opinion of Canon interfaces

i have read that the D40/D40x does not use AF? Do i even really want AF or not?

can someone explain this further?

Here'* a pic i took with my Canon 50mm 1.4 and the 10D. Just got me a new 40D last week and will probably sell my Canon 10D.

Also don't forget that lenses will cost nearly as much as the camera.

My dad has the D80 and he'* taken some nice pictures. Unfortunately he doesn't like to read, and is basically just using it on simple mode. He told me he wasn't real impressed when he had it for a few weeks, and that'* exactly why. I've found that using simple mode just doesn't cut it for a lot of shots.

Really I think it comes down to knowing how serious you are about it since it'* such a big $$ jump. Me, for now I'm happy with my Panny FZ7 which takes very good pictures. Really the only place I wish I had a dslr is for indoor low light pictures.

You want AF. No question.

Basically, there are two methods when it comes to autofocus: The focusing motor can be situated in the camera body or in the lens. For older or different Nikon DSLRs (D50, D70, D80, etc), there was a focus motor situated within the camera body. This is not the case with the D40 and D40x. I really hope Nikon will bring back in-body focus drive for the replacement model. My brother works at a local photo retailer and there are hints that both 40'* are being discontinued... no new stock is coming in, so a new model may be coming soon. Might be a good time for you to start looking for some blowout deals.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40x/
You can see the difference between the D40/D40x and the D80 lens mount with that little screw drive.

What does this mean? For the 40, ALL lenses that you purchase must have a focus motor built into the lens in order for AF to be operable. Any other lens you get will become manual focus only. That said, if you wish to never upgrade lenses beyond the standard kit, this isn't a particularly big issue. But if you want to expand in lenses down the road or are even thinking about it, D40 and D40x may limit your options somewhat to AF-* or AF-I type lenses (or third party lenses which specifically have a motor built into them). With cameras that DO have the in-body focus motor, any Nikon autofocus lens will work regardless.


edit: Speculation says that Nikon will add AF-* and AF-I support to lenses that currently do not have it, so all this lens incompatibility may become a moot point in the future... unless you're buying used.

ok, now i understand that a bit more.. and with some further research im certainly learning alot.

two more questions for tonight:

How does a motor in-lense operate? I understand how an in-body AF motor works, but how do the in-lense

is there any real advantage of either style?