How To Wednesday: Getting Started Part II | Athens Texas Photography

Getting Started Part I is here — discussing point and shoot cameras.

Today we’re going to discuss the basics in purchasing a good starter DSLR camera.

In case you’re curious, DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex. I’ll let you read here for the history on the SLR if you’re interested …

Before we get started, you need to know the major difference between the Point and Shoot Camera (aka P&S) and the DSLR: P&S’s have a built-in lens, DSLR’s do not.

Once you feel you’re ready to advance upward from the P&S to the DSLR, there’s four important things to take into consideration:
(1) They cost more than the P&S. You won’t find a DSLR for under $250 — if you do, beware! 
(2) Skip the kit lens if you can afford to; buy the camera body-only option. Invest in a good lens (or two) instead of the not so great kit lenses that’ll leave you in ‘lens lust’
(3) Once you upgrade to the DSLR, buying new lenses becomes a bit of an addiction (aka ‘lens lust’). Its like Lays potato chips, you can’t own just one (and yes, I’m speaking from experience!)
(4) There are more ‘accessories’ for DSLRs beyond lenses — the obvious (memory cards, batteries) and the not so obvious (flashes, tripods/monopods … and so on). I’ll cover just the camera bodies and lenses today, everything else I’ll cover in Part III.

Most folks think they need the best DSLR on the market — that’s not so! Just like I recommended on Part I with the P&S: know your budget, know what you plan to use the camera for, and buy what will meet your needs. Don’t spend $2000 or more on the camera body if you’re only taking snapshots of your family at home and traveling and sports games. Buy the consumer level DSLR instead, invest the difference in a quality lens or two instead — I constantly hear fellow photographers recommending this time and again.

When I bought my first DSLR in December 2005, I researched and took into consideration what I could afford at the time. I bought the Canon Digital Rebel XT (the newest Digital Rebel model out at the time) and the kit lens. Like I mentioned above, lens lust started quickly since my kit lens left me wanting to more than it was capable of (longer zoom, bokeh). In May 2006, I purchased two Tamron lenses next — not the greatest lenses, but they fit my budget at the time and served their purpose as well as they could. Fall of 2006, I wised up after I was talked into shooting Robby’s senior portraits and purchased a lens I saw recommended as a good starter lens for portraits. Since then, I’ve purchased … seven other lenses. Of the total 11 lens I’ve bought to date, I’ve sold off three of them online, my parents possess two of the first three that I started out with, Robby now possesses a third, and the remaining five are in my ‘arsenal.’  I’ve also since upgraded cameras three more times and passed on the XT to the parents so they would have a good starter camera. 

For starting out, however, the consumer models offered by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm FinePix Pro, Pentax, and Panasonic – Lumix are all great cameras. While I’m personally only familiar with Canon, I do have several photographer friends who use Nikon and have previously shared pros/cons regarding particular models. The other brands, I don’t personally know anyone who uses them, but I will go into something really interesting about Sony’s DSLR’s after I discuss my Canon and Nikon recommendations.

If you’re loyal to Canon, I highly recommend the Canon Digital Rebel XSi. It’s a newer model of my first DSLR and quite honestly, several features on it give my current camera lineup a bit of a run for their money. It currently (body only, no lens) retails for $579.95 at Amazon.com (plus free shipping!). The Canon Digital Rebel XS — which was actually released after the XSi — retails (body only, no lens) for $479 via Amazon’s Marketplace. Both of these cameras are great starter cameras — in fact, I seriously considered buying one to have as a backup last year (I upgraded instead to the one pictured, which is now my backup).

On the Nikon side of the universe, there are two models I would recommend based on photographer friends’ recommendations. For basic shooting, the Nikon D40 is a great camera to start out with (Amazon has the camera with the kit lens for $449). However, if you have the extra funds and want the ability to use the DSLR to video as well as shoot (goodbye to hauling the photo camera and video camera to all those sporting events!), go for the Nikon D90. Amanda — who assisted me with Tracy and Lexi’s sessions and photographed the profile image here on the site, uses this camera and absolutely loves it. The video quality is fantastic too. The body only, no lens currently retails at $949 at Amazon.

I also mentioned I’d briefly go into the Sony DSLR line. In May, Me Ra Koh — a spectacular photographer — mentioned on her blog about the new line of Sony cameras designed for women! Oh my goodness — all I can say is after reading that post, if I wasn’t hardcore Canon when it comes to DSLRs, I’d jump ship to the Sony line ASAP! Why? Simple — they’re user friendly, so if you don’t get the technical mumbo jumbo/jargon about ISO, apeture, and shutterspeed, there are ’sliding scales’ that help you set it the way you want. Want a sharp focus on the subject and a fuzzy background (aka bokeh)? Just adjust the scale to the left. Want everything in focus and sharp? Adjust it to the right. Add in the option I personally like that is geared to females/moms — the camera body is offered in black, brown, or pink No more boring black camera! The Sony line is extremely affordable as well — for the rest of the details, here’s Me Ra Koh’s post about them.

As for lenses, the best basic lens, regardless of brand, is the 50mm. Its a fixed lens, meaning, you can’t zoom with it unless you walk closer to the subject you’re shooting. However, it is a spectacular lens, I’ve used it for portraits as well as for flowers, buildings, and animals. For a quite a while after I bought it, it rarely came off my camera! There are three versions of the 50mm lens out, but for everyday shooting, start with the 50 mm f/1.8 lens. It retails for $75-125 depending on brand (Canon or Nikkor (for Nikon).  If you’re wanting a bit sturdier lens and have the extra cash, upgrade to the 50 mm f/1.4 (the Canon version retails at Amazon for around $380 at present; the Nikkor version — there’s two f/1.4’s — ranges from $330 to $445).

The ‘best’ zoom lens in terms of basic needs + price I’ve found is actually the ‘kit lens’ on one of the professional level Canon DSLRs: the Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM (for the curious, IS stands for Image Stabilization, USM is Ultrasonic Motor). It retails for $400 on Amazon. I actually bought this as a ‘backup’ lens — while I rarely use it unless I need a longer zoom, Robby constantly has it on the camera when he’s photographing just about any subject. As for the Nikon equivalent, I asked Amanda for her suggestion and she recommended the Nikon 18-200 mm VR f/3.5-5.6 . While its a longer zoom than the Canon and quite a bit more expensive ($699 at Amazon), I’ve seen the images Amanda has captured with it — for your money’s worth, its definitely a great value.

There are plenty of other lenses on the market, but if you’re looking for something to cover your basic needs — one of these cameras and these two lenses (depending on brand), will just about cover what you’ll need starting out. In a future edition of How To Wednesday, I’ll go into specialty lenses.

While I cited Amazon’s prices in this entry due to time constraints in wrapping this post up on time, I always shop around for the best deal between three retailers: Amazon, B&H, and Adorama. For the second and third retailers, I use the former Live.com Cashback feature (now Bing.com) to not only find the best price, but to get a little extra cash back! I’ve also occasionally purchased camera related items from JR Computer World.

Additionally, there’s one other tip I now use before I purchase any lens I’m considering — I rent it first! My favorite lens rental companies are Zip Lens, Lens Pro to Go, and Borrow Lenses. In fact, I have a fisheye lens in my possession I’ve rented for Lens Pro to Go right now.  While I’m not seriously considering adding a fisheye lens to the ‘arsenal,’ I have the perfect opportunity to use it this weekend that I felt would make for a good trial run.

In two weeks, I’ll wrap up the Getting Started series with part III, where we’ll discuss memory cards, batteries, flashes, tripods/monopods, and camera cases/bags — aka all the stuff you don’t think about when you buy the camera!