6 Responses to “what is a good starter digital SLR camera that is not too expensive?”

• frediwhite@verizon.net

  June 25, 2009 at 8:48 am

  A true SLR with a digital back is still pretty pricey. Good luck.
• Nunu -

  June 28, 2009 at 6:22 am

  yea photography’s awesome
  um.. try pentax, we use them at school =]
• Andre M

  June 30, 2009 at 3:52 pm

  Go for a Canon or a Nikon. Visit a camera store near you that sells both brands to try them out. They are both unique and you may like one over the other in terms of feel. For Canon try the: XS, XTi, XSi, or 30D. For Nikon: D40, D60, D70, D80. If you really do plan on getting into it, you may not want to buy the cheapest model you can get as it may not allow you to grow into it much. Next is a lens, and the most popular choice for starters these days seems to be the 18-200mm made by both Canon and Nikon, and you can often find it in a kit with lower end DSLR’s. If thats too expensive, the other kit option is usually the 18-55mm, but its obviously a lot more limiting. Hope this helps and good luck. As soon as you get it, read the manual. It provides many useful tips and answers to questions you may have. I see so many questions on these forums easily answered with a quick dive into the manual. Learn how to use the creative modes, they will serve you far better than the auto modes. Beyond that learn all you can and shoot shoot shoot.
• Mike D

  June 30, 2009 at 8:43 pm

  Buy the Nikon D40 as your first. It is built to professional standards but with the consumer in mind. What I mean by this is that you can have full control over what it does, and at the same time it still has programs for different shooting modes. It is easy to use, cheap, and is good for getting you into the market. Use it until you feel that you have out grown it (maybe around a year?) and upgrade to something a bit more professional…D80 or D90….or if you have the money buy the D300 (get one used, just make sure you do not buy it from a professional, they will have used it a lot more than a non-professional).

  Check amazon and ebay for a package deal, it will come with two lenses (18-55mm and 55-200mm), memory card, tripod, carry case and a few other things. I dont know exactly how much this would cost, but somewhere in the range of $550 to $700. D40 with a 18-55mm lens retails for $450 at JR.com, and the two lens deal (without memory card, etc) retails for $700 on JR.com
• Sam

  July 1, 2009 at 4:29 pm

  I’ll second Mike’s recommendation. The Nikon D40 with 18-55 lens (standard kit) is a real nice buy for under $500.

  If you need cheaper than that, you will need to start shopping for a used camera.
• Beverly D

  July 1, 2009 at 7:10 pm

  Hey, if you ask for advice from me for cameras, there would be only one answer and thats is ‘canon’. I am an ardent traveler and i travel a lot; I got myself a new camera the Canon HF11. I just love this camera. It’s a hundred times better than the one I had before. It’s got 32GB of inbuilt memory and an SD card slot if I need more. It’s like nothing I have ever seen before. Its trendy, it’s lightweight and it’s compact so I can easily take it anywhere without having to worry. The best part is, I can record in full HD, so I can even view my videos on my big screen TV. Oh boy!

  You can check it out at this site. There is a whole list of cameras

• Nikon D300s 12MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR II Telephoto Zoom Lens
• Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
• Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM 1-to-1 Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
• Canon LP-E5 Battery Pack for Canon Digital Rebel T1i, XS & XSi Digital SLR Camera
• Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD

• R. Perry: This is a great camera even if Ken Rockwell doesn't
• Bilal Mirza: I'll keep it short and sweet, and my review will
• Free Quent Shopper: This is my first digital SLR. I must admit
• MadShopper: This was my first DSLR. If you've never
• Paul Garland: This is really a very good lens. And