Upgrading from a Point and Shoot

[carrolldan]

I need advise about upgrading to a DSLR. I currently use a Canon Power Shot A590IS. It features 8 mega pixels and a lot of settings when in manual mode.
My primary use at this time is taking pictures of small items for my wife's website. They are about the size of a 1/2 dollar. I need something that will take good close up photos with good clarity.
I am on a budget and at this time cannot afford a new Rebel.
I found a place where I can purchase a used canon 10D Body for about $225.
Since I will still need to purchase a lens what I need to know is this worth the investment or should I just wait and save some more money to buy a newer model?
Since my primary interest is very closeup shots I am thinking a Macro lens is required. At this time I won't be taking pictures of objects like butterflies or bugs so I won't need to zoom into the item.
What would be a good lens for this situation. I look at what I want to do and similar to photographing jewelry or other small stationery objects.
By the way the 10D above is a used camera. Should I even consider a used camera?
Thanks
Dan

[blsweeney]

Hi Dan. I also had a Canon A590 IS, 8. megapixel and it can take very nice close ups. I won photo of the month for a butterfly shot at my camera club. I had it on Hi ISO, and on macro. (Hit the disp button and click on ISO, move to Hi. Then turn to macro, the flower.)
I just upgraded to a Nikon D3000 and I just love it. Got it new for $499.00. I don't have a macro lens, just the 18-55 that came with it but it takes macro shots. It is a beginners DSLR and it amazes me. I am just a beginner with a DSLR so I still have a lot to learn. But I,m lovin learning.

[pgt123]

You can get the D3000 at Adorama Camera for about $375 right now (its on sale). The problem with getting the canon 10D is that it does not accept the newer EF-S lenses that are designed specially for crop bodies. This means that instead of the cheap 18-55 kit lens you would have to get a more expensive option, or a lens from a third party company like sigma or tamron that doesn't have the IS/VR that the 18-55 kit lenses have. The D3000 would come with 18-55, which you could sell for about $100 or keep, beucase they usually do have decent macro. This would also be a good all around lens to start with if you don't want to spend that much money.
If you are looking for macro, you could also get a sigma or tamron 70-300 with a macro function. These lenses both cost about $150 and would give you good macro performance (better than a kit lens).
As to the used cameras, they can be good, but it is a good idea to ask the owner how many pictures that the camera has taken. Each camera has a specific lifespan for the shutter, after which the camera is much more likely to just wear out and break (It think that it is about 100,000 for the 10D). With a camera such as the 10D, which is from around 2000, it could be a problem if the camera was heavily used. However, most of time, unless you are buying it from a professional photographer, cameras do not have this much wear on them. The other problem with buying older cameras is that they will not give you as good performance as the newer ones will. The D3000 will probably have better image quality than the 10D, even though the 10D was a higher level body when it was released. The newer the body is, the image quality is usually better.
If you don't mind the lower megapixls, you could get a nikon D40 or a canon XT. The D40 is older, but I have heard good things about its sensor and it is also very cheap used. The XT is also older, but is newer than the 10D.