Type Of Camera.

[teskimo]

I'm farly new to doing Photograpy, But I've done work In the past.

and Just recently decided I'd like to get more Into it and are having a hard time deciding what type of Camera to buy, I know a Nikon but just which type.

I've heard the D3000 is good and the D80.

Could someone make some recommendations please?

PS: I am from United States, South Carolina to be exact.

Thank you.

[inkista]

What's your budget? [total, for camera and lenses]
What do you like to shoot?

Remember, that with SLR photography, the body is only half the camera. The other half are the lenses. You're going to be buying into a system. Nikon's great, but the entry-level cameras, like the D40, D60, D3000, or D5000 only autofocus with AF-S lenses. Once you go up to the D80/D90 tier, this limitation goes away, and both the AF and AF-S lenses will autofocus.

This isn't a big deal if you mostly like shooting macros, landscapes, or portraits where you have time to manually focus, and only if you plan on using an AF lens, rather than an AF-S. But if you like shooting sports or fast action (say, small running children), then your lens choices become more limited. Only Nikon has this kind of limitation in its entry level bodies.

So, if you're planning on being a sports/kid shooter on a low budget, you may also want to consider the other brands, or only the higher-tier Nikon bodies.

[RexK_Cozumel]

it really depends on how you plan on using it, what your budget is, environmental factors etc. Personally I could not get any camera under the DX00 series yes they are more expensive but the metal body holds up a lot better under daily usage and also the weather sealing is a must in high humidity environments.

Other things to consider are...

In-body focus motor
ISO performance
Dual or single command wheels
Dual or single memory card slots
shooting mode presets
customized menus
programable buttons
frame rate

lots of other factors as well..

[teskimo]

I would like my budget to be around 400-600.
and I will be shooting Landscapes, Portraits, Promo Pictures for like bands and stuff around that sort.

If that helps at all?

[Almond.Butterscotch]

400-600 beans isn't much to work with, but if you're going to be shooting promos, you'll definitely want something more than the D3000 anyways. The D80 is old technology now- the modern equivalent is the D90 which goes for a little bit under $1k (give or take), but you can also get the superior D300 (body only) used on eBay or Craigslist (or for the less daring, UsedCameras.com - The Biggest Selection of Used Cameras and Equipment Online) for about $1k too.

But as someone already mentioned, that's just half the system. Lenses will outlast your bodies. Portraits like the 60-85mm range (on a cropped sensor), landscapes are a lot wider, and band shots will be all over the place.

Just some more to think about.

[teskimo]

So the d300 would be good for me?

[jayspics]

The D300 would do the trick and like every one else is saying it's 2 parts spend more on good glass.. The D90 is more in your budget the D300 is abit more..

[outamyway]

For your budget, You will need to shop for a used D80/200.

The D300 is 2-3x your budget and that's just for the body. The D90 can be found on sale sometimes right at the upper limit or a little more than your budget, also body only.

D80 or D200 are both going to be plenty of camera for you.

[teskimo]

I've looked at reviews on the d80 and they seem alright, I get that the lens's are the most part, But I'd like to have a somewhat good body as well.

I was just hoping to maybe get maybe like a good simple list of a few good bodies.

[inkista]

Your budget is too low to get the mid-tier bodies, for the most part, unless you want to go used, but since you're worried about quality/lasting longer it sounds like you'd prefer newer features to older ones So I'd say go for either the current entry-level (D5000), or the lower mid-tier one generation back (D80--the current model is the D90). The D200/D300 and D700 are out of your price range.

The D5000 has better high iso performance, HD video, and a fip-out LCD. But it lacks a focus motor, so will only autofocus with AF-S lenses. The D80 will autofocus with any of the AF or AF-S lenses, and the pop-up flash can be used as a CLS commander unit.

It depends on what/how you want to shoot as to which features are more worth the price for you. All the dSLR bodies out there are good. This really isn't about finding the best camera evah. It's about finding what the best fit for you is going to be.

For most of what you want to do (landscapes, portraits, band shoots), every brand has the lens and body lineups that can get the job done. The only place where you may run into difficulties is if you plan on shooting bands in performance in low-light venues without a flash.

In that specific situation, you're likely to need what's called a "fast" lens--a lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.0-f/2.8. The wider the aperture can be opened, the more light you can gather more quickly, and the faster the shutter speed you can use. Typically, you have to be able to go to f/2.8 or wider to get the shutter speeds you need to either freeze the action or eliminate camera shake blur while handholding.

On the Nikon side, there are a ton of lenses that can do this, but only three of them are AF-S (and only two of them are $500 or under), so going with a D5000 may not be your best choice. On the Canon side, there is no autofocus issue, and USM (Canon-speak for AF-S) fast primes abound in a variety of focal lengths. With Pentax, there's an abundance of fast primes in the normal focal length, but fewer on the telephoto side. On Sony and Olympus fast prime selection is more limited and possibly more expensive. But probably the best current stage-shooting lens, is the $1500 Sony/Zeiss ZA 135/1.8.

You have to look at these cameras as systems. The body and its features alone are only half the story. And your camera body is easily going to be the most disposable portion of the system--people tend to upgrade them the way they do their computers and phones. The glass is by far the more permanent and expensive part of the equation. So what lenses are in the lineup are more of a determining factor.