DSLR Analysis Paralysis

I've lurked on this forum for MONTHS . . . I've searched . . . I've read . . .

I've gone to my local camera store and held the cameras . . I've made pro/con lists . . .

But I've yet to buy my first DSLR.

I'm a mom who wants to take pictures of her 2 young daughters. I also am very excited to learn more about photography, hence my desire to get a DSLR instead of an updated P&S. Although, technically speaking, money is not a limiting factor, I am very value conscience and don't want to buy a camera w/ features that I don't need or won't use.

Because I've lurked and read this forum for so long, I feel as though many of you are my trusted friends. Heck, I've spent more time with you than some of my own family members, so to you I pose a few questions:

It seems that, with the recent price drops, the Nikon D50 is a good value and would be a good DSLR to learn on, and if I max out its capabilities within the next few years, I can always upgrade to whatever the latest and greatest is at that time . . . knowing that I got my $'s worth out of the D50. Reasonable analysis so far???? Any reason to consider another camera? The guys at Wolf keep trying to sell me on the Sony Alpha.

Option #1: BH Photo has the D50, body only for $450. I've thought about then adding the $100 Nikon 50MM lens to start with. Ritz is a little cheaper (-$20 for using Google checkout and free shipping), but their on-line reviews are very poor. Comments?

Option #2: For $100 more at BH, I could get a D50 kit w/ the 28-80 lens and a 2Gig SanDisk Ultra II memory card. I've read lukewarm reviews on both the 28-80 lens and the memory card. Are they worth the extra $100? Or would my $ be better spent on a better lens?

Through buy.com I can get a Kingston 2GB SD card for $10 after rebates, but will it work on the D50?

I apologize if this is the longest, most confusing post in the history of this forum, but I look forward to your advice.

I was pretty much in the same boat. Researched, read, and could not really make any headway. Started talking myself into something a bit more costly and capable than I probably would need. Finally decided to take the plunge and went with the D50 with the 28-80mm lens.

So far I've been very happy with it and figured I'll really be able to learn wiith this camera. One of the reasons, and it sounds similar to you, is that as the parent of 2 relatively active kids, I needed something that would start-up fast and fire fast (as opposed to the much slower point-and-shoot cameras). My recommendation is to go with the D50 and enjoy yourself....

Pete

I agree with your choice. It sounds like you want a capable camera to give you good pictures without hassle. D50 will deliver. Any SD card will work, I had the Sandisk ultra II and was very happy with it. I would avoid ANY seller with poor reviews. If the difference in price is small, go wholeheartedly with tried and proven sellers. The 28-80 lens on the D50 will probably give you decent pictures, but I would save and go with something better. The 50mm prime is AWESOME, if you can live with fixed focal length for now.
hope it helps

Hi,

I apologize that I can not comment the reputation of the stores you mentioned (I am from good old Europe and buy my stuff at technikdirekt or foto-koch). But I could give you my opinion on the lense question.

A 50mm on a DSLR is a short telephoto with 75mm equiv - meaning that you can produce some great portraits, but it might the be wrong lense for shooting birthday parties etc with many people on the picture or showing some action. I started with a 50mm lense 20 years ago, but with a film camera - to do the same with a DSLR, you'll need to buy a 28mm or 35mm lense.

On the other hand, the 50mm lense offers you the possibility to take pics in low-light-situations without a flash, giving you very appealing results.

Another aspect is that using a single prime can be a creative challenge or a heavy restriction. Some people (including me) like to use prime lenses like the 50 because it boosts their creativity. It's a similar effect like using a pen to write a letter instead of a word-processing software. Other find out that zooms are just the right tool for capturing fast changing scenes.

So my solution is: if you are experienced with a p/s camera and if you know about the limitiations of a single prime, go for the 50. You will love it. If you want to have similar capabilities as with the p/s but on a higher quality level go for the zoom.

Just my 2 cents!
Markus

The best way to get out of your analysis paralysis is to think of how many great shots of your children you've already missed, but that's another story.

You've probably noticed (this is coming from a D70 user) that every D50 user on here loves their camera, and the D50 seems to take awesome shots, so get one.

I'd get the kit lens (not the 28-80 the 18-55).

here's why. Reviews say its great. Consistently sharp, low distortion, light...and its cheap.

The 28-80, whiich i own from my film days, and which i like, is not wide enough for lots of interior shots, and unless you live in Windsor Castle, you'll frustrate yourself backing up into walls. Again, takes great pictures, not wide enough for the D50. The 18-55 is the same thing, scaled for digital. Even though I have a bunch of lenses, I have asked my kids to get me that lens for Christmas, because its a great, light, all purpose lens that may not FEEL great, but takes killer shots.

by all means get the 50 1.8, you will use it in low light and fixed portrait situations, and optically, it is stunning.

if you have the 50 and the 18-55, you can interchange filters, such as a polarizer (you might need an 8 dollar step ring, i'm too lazy to go check if they are both 52 mm, but i'm pretty sure they are)

buy from b&h if you're buying on line. they have a no nonsense policy on returns and they ship stuff right away. It would suck to not have your camera for Christmas.

Get the camera, post some pics on here, and let us know what you think.

Or you could get the Sony, which would be good too...or the Pentax...

Just get the D50, the only mistake you can make is not taking photos of your kids.

How's that for a long response.

Cheers,

David

I just bought the 50mm and while the images are great, I find the lens is just too narrow. I am going to sell it and get the 35mm. Remember that due to the 1.5 crop factor, the 50mm is really a 75mm on your DSLR. I know an earlier poster also pointed that out but I want to be sure you understand that.

As for which camera, I have always been a firm believer in "buy the best you can afford."

Since you are such an avid reader of these forums, you don't want to find yourself in a few months reading about something someone is doing with a D80 that you can't do with your D50. I don't know if such a thing even exists as I am not an expert on the differences between the two cameras but...

I think focus speed and number of focus points may be one difference. Of course megapixels is another. As a new SLR shooter, the ability to radically crop an image is a nice option to have as you learn composition. 10 megapixels gives you lots of latitude.

I also would keep future resale value in mind.

Good luck.
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'You are only coming through in waves... Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.'

Your reasoning is fine. The D50 is a great starter, a great bargain.

If your intent is to learn photography, then I believe the best way is to buy a fixed lens. Zooms are distracting for beginners, who spend most of their time zooming in and out and not concentrating on aperture and shutter, ISO, composing the photo in alternative ways, etc. I think for an all-around starter lens, 50mm with a dSLR might not be the best ... I'd likely choose something in the 35mm range, which yields a comparable field of view approximating 50mm in the film (35mm) world.

I used a 50mm lens with my first film SLR for more than 5 years before acquiring a zoom telephoto lens. I got a lot of great photos. And I learned a lot about basic photography in the process.

Eschew cheap kit lenses. The MOST important thing involved in making the photo, next to you, is the lens. Buy the best you can.

For SD cards, stick with name brands from major retailers (NOT Ebay). Counterfeiting of flash memory is rampant on Ebay.

That's what I think a lot of people do is try to get the best they can afford. Being afraid that they might later find something that was better and regret their purchase. As the title states, paralysis sets in and then no pictures/photos are captured - moment has passed. Of course people on this forum who purchased a D50 are going to say the like it - otherwise why would they stick around?

Just get the D50 with the 18-55 kit lens and start enjoying the time with your kids - and less time here - they are only young once - you can never get that time back.
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Mike

The D50 is a great camera. Go for it!
The Nikon 50mm f1.8 is a good and cheap lens. Get it!
I would try to buy a D50 with a two lens kit 18-50+55-200 and the 50mm f.18.

Make sure the memory card is FAST (122-150x), they are a little more $, but worth it!
Good luck!
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Good shooting!

My advice to you is to start with the 50mm lens and the 18-70mm kit lens, bought used.

If you check over at Nikonians.org, there are any number of such kit lenses for sale at around $200. This is a much better lens than the 28-80 because it offers a much more useful zoom range and is more contrasty and sharper.

The 50mm f1.8 can be found around $90 new and is a great lens for portraits as well as some low light shots - but you will not use it every day like the 18-70 kit lens. Still, I cannot see my bag without a 50mm, it's that good for portraits.

As far as the camera goes, I think too the D50 is a great place to start because of it's excellent high ISO performance in JPEG. If you have a mind to shoot RAW, I'd buy a D70 or D70s instead, they have more functionality and are sharper. Even for the camera I'd buy a used one that has less than 5,000 actuations - it slashes a great deal off the purchase price, you can get literally as-new items with ease, and you won't feel sorry 2-3 years down the road when you outgrow it.

I had the paralysis for a while too but the current drop in prices pushed me over the edge and I ordered my D50 from BH on Sunday. It has been shipped and should be here in a day or two.

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Stujoe -
http://www.digitalphotopeople.com

Panasonic FZ7
and soon...
Nikon D50 w/ 18-55mm and 50mm f1.8

As a D50 owner, I'd recommend it. It is a great value. BUT, (there is always a but), if you want that one get the body only and spend a little extra on a Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.0 Macro lens. Great reviews, very fast lens ,meaning the wider aperature allows more light and thus faster shutter speeds. It runs about $380usd at Ritz. I'm sure you could get it cheaper elsewhere. Or if that's too much, by all means, get the 18-55 kit lens. As someone else mentioned, doesn't feel great but produces great results.
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shinndigg

Get the D50 but if you only want to have 1 lens the 50mm is the wrong choice, go for the 18-55
The 50mm is an excellent lens but not as the only lens.

I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful, timely feedback people are giving in response to my first post on this forum.

One follow-up question--someone mentioned that I'd be better off w/ a D70 if I'm going to shoot in RAW. Why is that? I am planning on getting Photoshop CS2 and was going to learn to work w/ RAW. Is this a deal breaker for the D50 decision?

I recently bought a New D50, 18-55 kit and the 50mm 1.8..AND I shoot RAW all the time .....not an issue at all and the pics are sharp and clear. Many users on here shoot RAW on thier D50 with great results.

There is no issue that I know of or have heard about when it comes to D50 and shooting RAW.

Buy it, shoot pictures and enjoy it with your kids....you will never look back.

I bought the D50 with the 28-80 from B&H and I love it. They shipped it in 2 days and I even got a 60$ price break to boot after I bought it.

I also purchased the Kingston 2G SD card from Buy.com for $19.00.

Despite the poor reviews the card seems to be fine. I certainly dont notice any lag at all but I don't really have anything to compare it to.

The 28-80 kit lens seems ok to me. Granted a low end lens but I'm reasonably happy with it. I considered Body only but the price difference was not that much. I consider it a bang around lens.

I did decide to invest in the Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5 wide angle macro zoom lens. I wanted wide angle and I also like to do at least some closeup shots. I can take a decent picture from 8-9 inches away.

I paid 330.00 for it at 47st Photo. Not sure if I'll get the value from it in the long run but it seems very well made and yields good results as far as my newbie eyes can attest.

For the use you described (and beyond), you can't go wrong with the D50. I own the D50 and it is a great DSLR for the money. I am upgrading to a D200 soon, but no way am I getting rid of the great little D50.

best regards.
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[insert someone's witty quote here and hit enter key]

1. 1 and stay away from the cracker company.

Morris
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http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~morris/POD

Thank you to everyone who has chimed in. VERY helpful input!

Several people indicated that the better lens choice would be the 18-55 kit. The best price I can find on that combo is $600--$150 more than body only. Would my $150 be better spent on a different zoom or wider angle prime? Or . . . on the D70S w/ the 18-70 lens kit for $799? I know that the 18-70 is a good lens and when purchased alone is$300.

Aagh! Stop the madness!

My D50 with the 18-55mm lens was knocked off a table. A few months later it didn't work very well so I replaced it with the 18-70mm. It is more expensive, but much sharper and a much stronger build. The 18mm is very nice to have when indoors and you can't go back further to get a group photo.

The D70s is slightly larger than the D50 - check this site for the specs on other features.

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Mike