Ideal beginner's DSLR set up?

[JensR]

I'm just stuck between the DL and the K100D.

Well, as you can see, there are arguments for both...

And I guess there's a K10D soon after the K100D.

Yes, but it will be quite a bit more expensive than the K100D and the K10D might not be on sale until christmas.

Cheers
Jens

--
'LBA knows no bounds, and seeks no justification...' (Jim King, 2005)
http://www.jr-worldwi.de/photo/index.html - Photography, Tech and Geek stuff :}
'Why is everyone answering rhetorical questions?' (Me, 2005)

 

[Franka T.L.]

That suppose to be SRP at 799.

--
Franka

 

[K1000Photographer]

I would be leaning toward the K100. The AS and faster AF would be my preferences. The 10MP K10 would be nice but the high ISO abilites would most likely not be as good as the K100.

If your area has a fair amount of photo classes and places to buy used equipment, check them out. I found my F50/1.7 for $60. Fast 50's are popular with film photography students. There may be lots on the market a month before classes start and a couple weeks after when they get returned. Mine was a return. I tried to buy it but a student beat me to it. I got it when he returned it.

Your lens purchases will be based on what you like to shoot. After you get the camera, use it and see what ranges you prefer. Go from there and have fun.

 

[D TONG]

I am new to this board and new to photography. I know very little,
but I am very interested in photography.

I plan to take a photography course at our local Junior College.
I own a Pentax ZX-L (35mm) with (2) lenses. One lens is a Pentax
28-80 and the other is a Tamron 70-300 both are AF.

What would you recommend I buy with a $800.00 budget?

The dslr DL (body only) and FA50 1.4 at around $399+160 after rebate (for U S )

The combination gives you a package surpassing anything Canon or Nikon or anyone can offer in terms of pict quality, low light capability and convenience. Its proven (in this forum) quality exceeds that of your zooms both of which you can use it with your DL.
Good luck

Daniel, Toronto
http://www.pbase.com/danieltong

 

[NewLeaf]

I predict that I'm going to catch a lot of flak for this suggestion, but here goes anyway.

You say that you're a beginner. And, you already have a very good camera and two perfectly fine lenses.

My suggestion is to buy a lot of film, and start taking lots of pictures. Put your efforts into learning composition. And, secondarily, gain an understanding of things like depth of field, and the interrelationship between time exposure and f-stops. This knowledge will serve you very, very well in the future, no matter what kind of camera you eventually own.

Getting a DSLR would be great, and you've already received a lot of good suggestions if that's the direction you really want to go. But if your goal is to learn photography, and not just find a way to unload 800 bucks on new equipment, my advice would be to get out there and start shooting.

 

[K1000Photographer]

I went from a film SLR to a DSLR. It is so nice to have that immediate feedback that the DSLR provides. In the past year, I have taken 12,000 photos and learned about as much as the previous 10 years.

 

[JensR]

Hi New Leaf,

I predict that I'm going to catch a lot of flak for this
suggestion, but here goes anyway.

Not flak, but raised eyebrows =,

Why do you think that learning with film is an alternative to learning with digital? Are you reporting from your own experience?

Film costs heaps, and there's no instant feedback which is really bad for learning and having motivating successes. Exploring the real possibilities of each product requires a darkroom. For film, this is expensive and toxic and/or an expensive scanner, for digital it's 100 bucks for PSP X.

This
knowledge will serve you very, very well in the future, no matter
what kind of camera you eventually own.

That's right. But equally right is that it does not matter what camera he learns this stuff on - the camera has to offer the choice and he has to choose it. One can learn composition on the cell phone camera one already has...

But if your goal is to learn photography, and not just find a way
to unload 800 bucks on new equipment, my advice
would be to get out there and start shooting.

Well, the initial financial obstacle is higher, but after that, digital is fairly predictable. Unless of course you catch LBA - which will not happen with film, because you'll never have as much fun going out and shooting stuff and you'll never have stunning A3 prints from your "learning shootings" hanging on your wall that would motivate you to go further. Oh, bugger, I wanted to stay without polemic

I'd say: Learn with digital and once you've learned that, get yourself some low ISO slide film or some B&W and try that once in a while if you feel the urge.

Cheers
Jens

--
'LBA knows no bounds, and seeks no justification...' (Jim King, 2005)
http://www.jr-worldwi.de/photo/index.html - Photography, Tech and Geek stuff :}
'Why is everyone answering rhetorical questions?' (Me, 2005)

 

[fideltagamma]

Hi,

I am a beginner as well, but if I had the amount of money you intend to spend and I had the experience I gathered in the past 1 year owning a DSLR and on this forum I would:

Buy the DL with the kit lens spare $ 400

Shoot 500 pictures to get a bit more familier with the equipment
Shoot 500 other pictures concentrating on photography and composition

After that you would know much more about your needs considering other lenses, and spend the other 400 bucks then specifically for those things you prefer in you photography.

I would search mainly ebay for some used equipment to optimise the gain/cost ratio.

- - - - - -
Daniel

 

[Cainster]

The Tamron lens is a AF 75-300mm, 1:4-5.6 LD
Tele-Macro (1:3.9)

and my other lens ia a Pentax 28-80, and that's all that is written on the lens.

 

[Smo]

What 's the average time (weeks, months, years) to become a good
photographer?

To master the technical aspects? If you're motivated and shoot a lot, you can get pretty good in a month or so.

As for the rest (composition, artistic vision, etc.), it's too dependent on the person. For some people, art comes naturally. For others (like me) it takes a lot of time to learn things like good composition.

Anyway, as for equipment, I would recommend the *ist DL, as it's cheap and you probably won't miss SR that much; I know I don't. I'd sure like it, but I'm not sure it's worth the money, especially for someone who's just getting into photography.

Get it with the kit lens, but don't use that for a while. Get a nice normal prime, maybe a 28mm, and use that until you're very comfortable with it. Using primes is the best way to learn; I know because I used zooms exclusively for the first couple years of my photography and had a big jump in my learning when I started using primes.