Yet Another Digital Camera Thread

At this rate, Gamingforce is going to drown under the sheer quantity of camera threads. Oh well.

Anyways, I'm looking to buy a digital SLR. I don't have any real investment in lenses (aside from some decent FD mount ones, and a horrible 28-80 EOS lens that I'm selling along with my nice Rebel G), so I'm pretty much free to buy a body based off of its merits. Yay.

I'm waffling between the following four cameras, and I'd appreciate any suggestions or experiences with any of them, or alternatives that I may have missed. I didn't mention Olympus cameras because they don't seem to rate as highly as the competition (maybe I'm missing something), and I skipped the Sony Alpha because it's not out yet and costs a lot...too bad, since some of its features seem like they'd actually be nice.

1. Canon EOS Rebel XT. The best image quality of any entry-level digital SLR, with almost no noise at ISO800 speed, and EOS lenses are widely avaliable (well, except for the 50/1.8), but it's quite a bit more expensive than most other bodies in its class, and the basic kit lens is supposed to be trash, no surprise there. Of course, Canon makes nice USM lenses...do the other manufacturers have anything equivalent out yet?

2. Nikon D50. Quite a bit cheaper than the Rebel XT even before you account for the fact that its kit lens is actually quite decent. Plus, the Nikon 50mm lens is better made and easier to find than the Canon equivalent. It loses a bit on sensor quality compared to the Rebel XT, though.

3. Pentax *ist DS. Nicely compact and well-made, cheap, and can run off of AA batteries in a pinch, but isn't as detailed as most other SLRs unless it's used in RAW mode, and lenses are rarer than Nikon or Canon ones.

4. Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-R1. I realize that it's not a true SLR, but it offers up full manual controls and focus, so I'll toss it in here. The sensor seems to be quite good, though a bit noiser than the one in the Rebel XT, and it comes with a Zeiss lens that's way ahead of any of the SLR kit lenses. It also shares memory sticks with my point-and-shoot camera, which would save me a bit on storage. That lens isn't switchable, though, and, while it does have live preview on the LCD, it doesn't have an actual optical viewfinder.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

An LCD can never replace a Viewfinder. You can't tell crap in it, especially things like focus. That instantly rules out the Sony in my mind.

Pentax - If you get an SLR/DSLR, get a Canon or Nikon. They have lenses available pretty much everywhere. You can rent them at your local camera shop. You can borrow them from friends. Whatever you want. Pentax, you won't be able to find what you want nearly so easily.

Rebel XT vs. D50: First, I'll openly state that I'm a loving user of the D50 and that I'm probably a bit biased towards it. It's less expensive, as you pointed out. The battery lasts about twice as long (most people get about 600 shots/charge on the Rebel XT, most get 1100-1200 per charge on the D50). I prefer the feel - the Rebel XT is notably smaller and never felt right in my hands, although you should find a way to hold both and figure out which you like better. And, while the quantity of megapixels is slightly smaller (but really not that major - 2008x3000 vs. 2304x3456 - 8 vs 6.1 sounds big but in terms of print quality there's no real difference on shots 11x14 or smaller), the quality of the D50 sensor is slightly higher. Oh, and the fact that the kit lens is quite good as opposed to sucking helps too. But try both and see what feels good.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

My biggest concern with the D50 is that it's kind of uncomfortable...my hands are very small (as is my preferred case, though that's a secondary issue, and both cameras would fit in it anyways), and the Nikon hand grip is big and chunky. Other than that, it seems to be a fine camera, and that stock lens is, at the very least, a lot better made than the Rebel XT's. Focusing on the Canon 18-55mm lens feels like rubbing two pieces of sandpaper together, and yes, I did set it to manual focus mode.

To be fair to both cameras, the Rebel XT was a Best Buy floor model, so it's not hard to imagine that the thing's been trashed quite thoroughly (standard EOS lenses do not like to be focused manually when they're set for autofocus) by the clueless yuppies who buy SLRs at Best Buy. And, on the other hand, I'm very familiar with the Rebel G's form factor, so it's not hard to imagine that I'd find the Rebel XT to be a bit more comfortable than an unfamiliar Nikon design.

and no, I wasn't going to buy an SLR from Best Buy. I'm hoping to try them a bit more thoroughly at the local camera store tomorrow.

BTW, the Sony DSC-R1 camera does have a viewfinder. The catch is that it uses an LCD element instead of a pentaprism and mirror...sort of like a camcorder viewfinder.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

If you find the Rebel XT more comfortable, then be all means go for it. It's still a fantastic camera. The main reason I went for the D50 was because it was so comfortable in my hands. You're going to spend a lot of time with the camera, so you might as well get one that feels good.

How ya doing, buddy?

Hmm...how limited do you think the Pentax system is?

I don't mean to sound like I'm ignoring your advice, but there's a pretty big sale on the *ist DS at the local camera shop right now. After the usual set of rebates and package deals, the Pentax kit with a 1GB flash card and a good 18-55 lens is the same price as just the D50 body is...presumably they want to clear out stock before the new cameras come out.

More importantly, it has depth of field preview, which is one of those little features that I really really want in a new camera body. Do any of the other cheaper bodies have that?

I was speaking idiomatically.

For a price that low, it's tough to beat it. The Pentax isn't a bad camera at all. You'll have to work a bit harder to track down lenses and there's almost no used lens market that I've found, but other than that the equipment is solid. For that kind of a deal I'd be tempted to go for it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I guess that the Pentax was the *ist DL, not the DS. Apparently it's the same camera, except that is uses the same type of viewfinder as the Nikon and Canon bodies. That aside, it seems to work well, and the autofocus on it is a lot more reliable than the system on my old Rebel G, though that camera's autofocus problems were probably caused by the terrible lens that I was using at the time.

On the other hand, I can't speak for where you are, but the local camera stores (Camera Corner in Davenport and University Camera in Iowa City) both have tons of used Pentax lenses. Big fisheyes, macros, screw mount lenses that are about 3 times older than I am...if I wasn't saving for a decent tripod (any suggestions?), I probably would've bought one of the really good 50mm 1.4 lenses that they had.

Anyways, the camera seems to work pretty well. ^^

FELIPE NO