new camera help

[motoman]

Paul, here's my take on DSLR's as I've shot with my fair share of makes and models.

A couple quick things to keep in mind...
* Mega pixels: bigger doesn't always mean better and if you're just printing 8x10's or smaller then you won't need more than 8-10 mega pixels.

* If you're serious about taking quality photos then you need to invest in good glass. You can have a $5,000 camera body but your pictures are going to look crappy if you throw a $200 lens on there compared to a $1200 lens.


Camera Brands:

Sony (yes I said Sony, their Alpha series DLSR's are pretty damn nice). -- Sony cameras have Image Stabilization (IS) or Vibration Reduction (VR) built into their bodies, so no matter what lens you put on it from Sony, you'll have some stabilization that helps to reduce blurriness.

Canon - Great cameras specs but their sensors tend to fall behind Nikon in that area but, Canon has a much better selection of lenses IMO. Not saying one has better glass over the other, just Canon has more lenses to offer in price and variety.

Nikon - Another great camera, they have very good sensors and specs but I feel they fall when it comes to their line of lenses they offer, they just don't seem to have as many as Canon, and they have fewer "in between" lens sizes.


I've shot with all of those and they all have strengths and weaknesses. I've been in the market for a new camera and I can't decide if I want to pick up another Canon or make a move to Nikon. You really can't go wrong with either. Shoot me a PM with any questions.


How much do you want to spend?

[STANGGT40]

I'll bet that card you bought had a faster write speed, when you get into the high dollar cards, it's not necessarily the size that makes them more expensive, it's how fast data can be written to them that increases the price.

is kingston a decent brand? i really don't know...a friend said to get it, and fry's had it on sale. they had to get it from behind the cashier area, but that's probably just because the packaging was fairly small and easy to steal. i've bought kingston memory, but it's been years since i've kept up with which brand is better than which, when it comes to computer stuff.

[motoman]

when i bought the t2i, i got a kingston (iirc) class 10 sdhc card...i think it was in the $60 range, but it's been about a year, so i don't remember for sure. i know it works great, though. a class 10 may not be needed, but a few folks with more knowledge about camera stuff than me, told me to go with a class 10. the price difference wasn't enough to justify cheaping out on, so i just went with it.

I'll bet that card you bought had a faster write speed, when you get into the high dollar cards, it's not necessarily the size that makes them more expensive, it's how fast data can be written to them that increases the price.

[STANGGT40]

The class of the SD card is telling you the cards capable write/transfer speed. 10 = 10mb per second minimum. Without getting into a bunch of detail that no one probably cares about just know that the higher the class the more expensive the SD card is going to be, but for the average user something like a class 6 4gb or 8gb SD card will be more than sufficient and will only be around $10-15. You can get the class 10, but unless you really know what you're looking at you may wind up spending more for a SD card labelled as class 10 that has class 6 speed.

when i bought the t2i, i got a kingston (iirc) class 10 sdhc card...i think it was in the $60 range, but it's been about a year, so i don't remember for sure. i know it works great, though. a class 10 may not be needed, but a few folks with more knowledge about camera stuff than me, told me to go with a class 10. the price difference wasn't enough to justify cheaping out on, so i just went with it.

[Lone Sailor]

nikon d3100 14.2mp for 599

or

cannon t2i 18mp for 579?? with coupon

thanks gents

god bless.

I have a D3100 and I think it's a great camera. That said, there is nothing wrong with the T2i, it is a really good entry level camera as well.

Here are a couple of things that might may a difference for you from both sides.

The D3100 has continuous auto focus when recording. I know you said you were wanting to take some pictures of your son and if you're like me you'll want to use the video recording as well. Not too worry with the D3100, it will auto focus continuously while your son is running around playing, etc. The one thing I didn't like about the D3100 was with the 18-55mm lens that it comes with, it doesn't have an auto focus motor. That said, that lens is basically only good if your target is 10' or less from you anyway, so I had every intention of spending the extra $100 on the 55-200m lens, which I did get. The 55-200mm lens has the auto focus motor on it so now unless I want to use manual mode I don't have to worry about focusing, ever. Plus I have the capability to reach out and touch someone and actually see detail in the image and not just grainy noise bullshit.

The T2i has a little higher resolution display screen, but honestly I didn't see a big advantage there as I'm using the camera to save the images/video recordings, not to look through the pictures on the camera display. The T2i does have a built in auto focus motor lens on it right out of the box, which is a plus. It also has more mexapixels which will provide slightly higher image resolution, which is also a plus.

That's really the biggest pro's and con's that I think really will make the difference for you from what you described as far as what you're going to be using the camera for. You can't make a wrong decision between the 2 of those, IMHO. Good luck.

[03trubluGT]

Another Nikon:

[03trubluGT]

Damn I need to read all of this thread, but Elvis i'm selling my Nikon gear to make the move to canon for video.

D90, 18-55, 35mm, 55-200, sb600 for 950.

WHY?

Have you seen Nikon's HD video?



What kind of glass are you getting rid of?

[Lone Sailor]

So the higher the class, the faster the data trasfers to the computer?

i'm sure there's more to it, but class 10 = 10 mb/s, from what i remember.

The class of the SD card is telling you the cards capable write/transfer speed. 10 = 10mb per second minimum. Without getting into a bunch of detail that no one probably cares about just know that the higher the class the more expensive the SD card is going to be, but for the average user something like a class 6 4gb or 8gb SD card will be more than sufficient and will only be around $10-15. You can get the class 10, but unless you really know what you're looking at you may wind up spending more for a SD card labelled as class 10 that has class 6 speed.

[Tyrone Biggums]

D3100 = Buffalo Stance
Other = Gas Face.

Go get the kit from Costco.

[Super Coupe]

Paul. I have a nikon d40 I used back in college. Great camera. I can bring it to mikes next Thursday if you want to mess with it some. IMO though, unless you use the manual functions, you aren't even using the camera to it's full potential and would be better off with a point and shoot. It's not hard to learn. Just gives you different options on how you won't your photos to turn out.

I could give you some tips but the best way to learn is to get out there and shoot a ton of pictures and play around with it.

[STANGGT40]

So the higher the class, the faster the data trasfers to the computer?

i'm sure there's more to it, but class 10 = 10 mb/s, from what i remember.

[kanetrain]

So the higher the class, the faster the data trasfers to the computer?

[STANGGT40]

might want to explain that to Paul, he just switched from a flip phone to an iphone last year

paul, it transfers faster...make sure and get lots of gee bees!!! lol

[Silverback]

i don't have any knowledge of the nikon, but i can tell you that the t2i is a great camera that you'll be very happy with. make sure and get a good class 10 sd card for it (along with a camera bag, if you don't already have one), and you're set.

might want to explain that to Paul, he just switched from a flip phone to an iphone last year

[STANGGT40]

nikon d3100 14.2mp for 599

or

cannon t2i 18mp for 579?? with coupon

thanks gents

god bless.

i don't have any knowledge of the nikon, but i can tell you that the t2i is a great camera that you'll be very happy with. make sure and get a good class 10 sd card for it (along with a camera bag, if you don't already have one), and you're set.