sdds Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Hi all, looking to get a good digital cam for textures, backgrounds, trees etc. Cant decide, I was thinking of going for an slr in the £350 price range. The prob is lenses are so expensive and for arc vis you really need a wide angle. I have some old lenses for a standard kicking about, can't remember the cam make at the mo. So was wondering if an slr was the best bet or is a fixed lens cam better for my needs? I guess 8 - 10 mega pix is the best for backgrounds, print graphics etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koper Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Digital slr, with a telephoto lens (28-300), then you can take pics from a distance which is much easier than actually going into somebodies garden and asking to take the pic, i.e. hit&run is easier!! you don't realy need a wide angle as you can stitch easily these days, but then again, I just aquired a wide angel and don't know how i coped before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afterglow Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 stitching might create a prob if u r going to be camera matching. digital slr is one of the best things i ever bought.. bought for the same reasons that you mentioned, but ended up being so much fun, i use it all the time for non-work stuff too. nikon d80 is a great mid range dslr which i highly recommend.. has the same 10mp sensor as the higher-end d200. .. u can get a sigma or tokina wide angle which is MUCH cheaper than the nikor 12-24mm DX, but are still great wide angle lenses. also, better to buy without the kit lense, as they aren't that good, spend the money on the lense(s) u really need. and... it's a good TD too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 One thing to bear in mind if you are going to buy an slr is that in that price range, you will not have a 'full-body' camera. This means that you will have a digital sensor which is 1.6x smaller than a 35mm film plate. In simpler terms, you will have to x1.6 on the mm of your old lenses. So: a 50mm lens becomes an 80mm lens. Now you said you wanted a wide angle lens. Im not sure you do, I bought a wide angle tokina and at $500 its the same price as the digital rebel I bought. Its the lens I use the least. My advice on a budget would be to buy 2 lenses: a 50mm 1.8 fixed (very cheap and very fast) mid-priced 28-80 (as fast as you can afford) if you need to zoom more JUST STAND CLOSER! any wider than the 28 seems kinda strretched, you wont have a shift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 for now, one of the best choise you can make is the nikon d40. Its a very good slr for the price. the standard version have 6Mp and the new D40X have 10 but less afordable for your budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdds Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 thanks for your help guys, the nikon d40x 10.2 mpix seems good, I am not clued up but isn't 6mga pix bit on the low side for digital stuff like backgrounds (the d40). the d40x goes for around £460 with a 18 -55mm lens.. Don't want to buy something I don't need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 The original d40 with 6Mpx was great. I use background from it once and it's very nice. The image quality is very impressive. It's not all a matter of Mpix! If the price don't throw you out od your chair then yes go for the d40X but the d40 is a good choice too, and i think its the most affordable slr in the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdds Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 thanks for that mate, the price is more pleasing at £335 thats for sure. As I say not clued up on the megapixal thing, what sort of size does that produce? I understand the quality of the image is the determining factor though. Thanks for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 megapixel is just one of the thousand features a camera have. Some compagnies boost it to look cool but the general camera present numbers of lack. The quality of the lense, chipset, construction of body, accuracy and noise, white balance and iso mode are exemples of feature you must look at when you choose your camera. If you want to produce extremily high quality image then, the first thing would be to have raw format (uncompressed) before choose mage pixel. All SLR have RAW but no compact camera offer it since the canon G6 don't exist anymore. I suggest you to read review about the d40, the d40X and these from the Canon Digital rebel, the direst concurent. Go on http://www.dpreview.com it's present very great tool to get an idea between 2 camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Since the release of the rebel xti, the rebel xt has dropped in price. Its 8megapixel (the only difference is the xti is 10mp) and has all the functions you will need for architectural photography and more. I own one and love it, but have never owned anything else so cant be objective. Go on some photography forums, theres plenty of them. Megapixels: is loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdds Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share Posted July 12, 2007 seams cool mate, thanks for the link. Good value. Pop back to the shop for another play I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Have you considered second hand? Digital slr's have been around long enough for good models to be available second hand now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Nelson Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 I've been looking for a used d40 or d80. Doesn't seem to be many of them out there. Must be a good product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 try a used rebel xt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 the d40 is release for 6 month now, too recent to have second hand on the market right now. The d40X just came out(2 month i think). There is plenty digital rebel second hand and also the D50, who is better than the d40. I owned canon and nikon...its war, very similar and both are fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Whatever Dslr you buy, you can be confident you'll love it, because everybody does! Everyone who owns a cannon or nikon says theyre the best. Ask anyone who owns both, they say theyer as good as each other. Kind of like mac/pc owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Nelson Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 ..Kind of like mac/pc owners. Ooh thats a bad analogy! I use only pc's but I think Macs are way cooler, less trouble, easier to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Ha! ok, theyre like those annoying mac/pc owners who wont admit the other system has advantages. Mac owner: "....but mac is far superior in every way..." PC owner: "...but pc is upgradable, cheaper, better performance...." Mac owner: "....but mac is far superior in every way..." PC owner: "...but pc is upgradable, cheaper, better performance...." repeat repeat....etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koper Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Mac is only good for one thing and thats a boat anker sorry, I just had to make that clear:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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