Buying a new camera

[tmartin2347]

I'm in the market to buy a new camera, anyone have any good reccomendations on cameras under $500.

[DutchHerp]

Specify what you're looking for.

(Digital) Point-and-Shoot, (D)SLR?

[tmartin2347]

Specify what you're looking for.

(Digital) Point-and-Shoot, (D)SLR?

to be honest I want the best quality image, and I'm not too sure the differences between the two.
But I am looking it up online right now, and maybe digital slr is the way to go. What do you think?

[tmartin2347]

I might be able to go up to $600 to spend.

[DutchHerp]

Here's the deal.

The bodies of DSLRs are quite expensive, but usually they don't come with lenses. The lens is arguably more important than the body.

Check out the Canon G9. It's a great (the best that I'm aware of) digital point and shoot on the market.

I'll do some research for you DSLRs with good lens(es) for you for under $600.

[tmartin2347]

do you know anything about the nikon d40 and d60, I've read in the past one people being pretty satisfied with those also.

[DutchHerp]

http://www.us1photo.com/catalog/prod...oducts_id=6961

The D40 is one of the most easy to use DSLRs, so it's probably great for a beginner.

This particular kit includes an 18-135mm lens (which is pretty good), but with the D40 3:2 format this translates into 27 - ~190mm.

It seems to me like this kit is all a beginner needs. What will you be using the camera for?

[JohnNJ]

I'm in the market to buy a new camera, anyone have any good reccomendations on cameras under $500.

Visit dpreview.com and read the reviews.

JohnNJ

[tmartin2347]

Well photography of all my snakes, but then in the summer I do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and whatnot so it will be used for a wide varity of things.

I really want to be able to take high quality pictures of my snakes though.

[DutchHerp]

The D60 is the upgrade from the D40. The big difference is that the D60 has 10.2 MP and the D40 has 6.1 MP. Most people are turned off my 6 MP, but many photographers take fantastic photos with 6 MP cameras.

http://www.us1photo.com/catalog/prod...oducts_id=6960

This D60 includes an 18-55mm lens with a 2GB memory card.

The D40 for the same price has an 18-135mm lens w/o the memory card.

Big question: will you be using your zoom a lot; i.e., will you shoot wide angle or telephoto?