Buying a new camera

[tmartin2347]

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?

I will be zooming in and out, what's telephoto shooting?

[DutchHerp]

Telephoto is zoom.

The D60 and D40 both look good.

I'll do a quick comparison right now

D40

Pros

- 18-135 lens: more zoom capability, more "versatility"
- Very easy to use

Cons

- 6.1MP
- Memory card not included

D60

Pros

- 10.2MP
- Memory card included
- Also easy to use

Cons

- 18-55 lens: not too much zoom, less "versatility"


Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of the lens. I think that I'd go with the D40 in this case, just because it has a far superior lens. Only downside is the 6.1MP, but much higher isn't necessary for a beginner like yourself

[tmartin2347]

Wow, you are like a professional at this.


now with the 6.1, what does that all mean. I know my gf has a cannon s900 or s9000 and has like 10 mega pixels.

help on this.

[patm1313]

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.

You can get D40's for much cheaper than that with the lens. Anyhow, the D40 is a great camera. I own one, and IMO, it's the best picture for you money. It's definitley a great camera for what you need.

[DutchHerp]

MP stands for megapixels. This refers to the amount of pixels the image is made up of.

The D40 has 6.1MP so the image is made up 6.1 MILLION pixels. The D60's image is made up of 10.2 million pixels.

This might seem like a big difference, but most people only need the many MP when shooting birds and the like, so they can zoom in on the image w/o losing quality. I take it you won't be photographing your boas from 10+ feet away? ;)

[wmanning]

canon rebel EOS XS i think is around $500-550 with a lense and is a digital slr. I have the step up canon rebel EOS Xsi which is about 12.2 megapixels and about 750

[DutchHerp]

Rebels are also an option but I personally like Nikon.

But we all know the HUGE debate going on about that...

[tmartin2347]

The d40 does sound like a good choice, but then again when I go up to the white moutains and whatnot to go hiking and biking zooming out for distance in the mountains I might want a cameera like the d60 lol.

[DutchHerp]

That's a good choice because you'll get the memory card.

[DutchHerp]

Now it's up to you to read reviews on these cameras, now you've narrowed your scope.