i can give u my equipment as reference. -speed(如风) @SF湾区华人论坛:SF湾区枫下论坛 The Rolia Forum of San Francisco

枫下拾英 / 摄影艺术 / budget for D-SLR after Tax $2,000 ~ $3,000 . what kind of equipment is better ? give some suggestions please. -gemlan(Gem); 2006-7-27 {1173} (#3107012@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛include camera,2 lens,one widescreen, one telephoto, 1 extra battery, one extra memory card 1G. bag (I already have one but it is only $20, and I don't think it have the space to hold one camera and two lens), 1 tripod. something else? flash? we will use it as a family camera, not specifically for photographic use, we only want to take some pictures when we travel around. we might try to grasp some beautiful scenes or subject if our eyes can find out , we love take pictures on some kinds of subject, but we will not attend special photographic club , tour or activity, for example, I don't think I will wait several hours to take the shot or get up early to catch the special moment of light.
even I use "we" in this message, but my wife does not know how to operate a complex machine, even a compact camera. but, the budget plan request that I must use "we" to post the request. I believe lots of photographic fans can understand it. thank you.
everybody with some research or have the experience is welcome to give me your equipment plan, and I believe once my plan comes ture, this post will also help more people on their purchase of a D-SLR.
Thank you.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

Nikon D200. -tornet(国移男); 2006-7-27 (#3107019@0)

if you can give more detail , that will be great. I mean the lens, and some other things, please. we don't have the idea. Thank you ! -gemlan(Gem); 2006-7-27 (#3107031@0)

just get the kit lens included. -tornet(国移男); 2006-7-27 (#3107045@0)

i can give u my equipment as reference. -speed(如风); 2006-7-27 {1034} (#3107159@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Canon Rebel XT/350D
Tamron 28-75 F/2.8 (Standard zoom lens)
Canon 70-200 F/2.8 IS (telephoto)..future lens...
Canon 10-22 EFS f/3.5-4.5 (ultra-wide)..future lens.
Sandisk 2GB Ultra II CF
Canon 420EX flash (430EX is out and better)
Stofen for 420EX (to make flash light soft)
Sandisk 18-in-1 reader
Portable photo storage to copy CF card photos to HD, good for travel

Lens is the most important thing, the range you usually need to cover is about 10-200. however, if you want 2 lens configration, u might want to give up one end..for ur case, i think 70-200 may not be that useful. unless u do portrait, sports, etc. i think for travel, ultra wide and std zoom is quite useful. for now, i only use my tamron 28-75 and very happy with it. the price is very good too, about 350 USD, (might be higher in canada).

Nikon has D80 coming in aug. might be very attractive too. However, after all, body is less important compare to lens, it could get obsolete in 2-3 years, but a good lens could last 5 years, maybe even 10 years.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

thank you very much, actually, what I really want is a good standard zoomlens, and a just so so telephoto. I seldom do portrait, -gemlan(Gem); 2006-7-28 {169} (#3107254@0)
maybe just do it to please my wife and I might give up the widescreen lens to get a better standard lens.how about a even better lens? over $1000 or more? have no idea.

The prices of lenses could be wildly different. For example, Tamron 28-75 F/2.8 costs $300, if you go with Canon 24-70 f/2.8L, it costs more than $1000. Canon 70-200 F/2.8 IS is more expensive(around $1500). -coolmint(coolmint); 2006-7-28 (#3107282@0)

I can definately say that even a $100K lens will result the same picture from my hand, I am totally beginner on this. good lens might be a kind of waste, maybe later I can feel the differences. -gemlan(Gem); 2006-7-28 (#3107953@0)

If so, I totally agree with Pasu. -coolmint(coolmint); 2006-7-28 (#3108028@0)

tamron 28-75 is very good..according to some review, it could deliver at 80% performance compare to canon 24-70. as a beginner, i think sharpen skills is more important. play it around, get used to it. -speed(如风); 2006-7-28 {52} (#3107356@0)
plus, canon 24-70 is much heavier than tamron 28-75.

My equipment list: -quattro(人活天地间); 2006-7-27 {289} (#3107188@0)
Canon 350D with kit lens EFS 18-55/3.5-5.6
BG-E3 grip
50/1.8 II
24-105 /4L IS
70-200/4L
430 EX
Diffuser for 430
Sandisk Ultra II 1G CF
Low Pro Micro Trekker 200

Satisfied and no plan to upgrade now. mainly used for taking photos of my lovely boy.

The lens is the key factor
tell u the truth....highend machine needs higher skill to deliver good output...if u r not going to take it serious, don't invest on DSLR...unless $2k or 3k is just candy money to you...that's another story... -pasu(InTheSky); 2006-7-27 (#3107212@0)

sorry, I totally disagree with you, compact cameras have so many disadvantages that I can barely take, in my mind, cheapest d-slr is better than compact, also, depending on who's hands it being used. sorry, I can not agree with you. -gemlan(Gem); 2006-7-28 (#3107239@0)

no sorry...ur money...ur choice :-) -pasu(InTheSky); 2006-7-28 (#3107241@0)

speed, pasu and quattro说的都不错。Rebel XT + 17-40/4L + 70-200/4L 也不错。 -canon350d(350D); 2006-7-28 (#3107237@0)
FYI, it's not "widescreen lens" but "wide angle lens". widescreen lens is for vedio camera. Agreed with pusu and speed. according your low budget, suggest you to get a cheap DSLR body first and a few good lenses step by step. -coolmint(coolmint); 2006-7-28 (#3107265@0)
Rebel XT + 17-40/4L + 70-200/4L -flying_snow(飞雪浮冰); 2006-7-28 {2041} (#3107503@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛This is a good combination for you and it's fits your budget.

Nikon - sharp,
Canon - detail,
Minolta(now it's belong to Sony) - oil painting like, europian style,
Pentax - water color like, europian style.

Personally I'd like Minolta DSLR, it's solid and has more feature then other brand. Such as Body based Anti-Shock, it turns all your AF lenses to AS lenses. And it has spot meter - I don't think Canon's XT has it. With lens adapters, you can use other lens such as M42, and it can still give you correct exposure - I don't think Nikon has this feature either....But the only problem is it's too hard to find lenses for Minolta, it quit from Canadian market. Since sony take over this brand, the new camera is called Alpha-100, also Carl Ziess is making lens for it. You can do some research on www.dpreview.com. I DON'T recomand you to buy Sony or Minolta although I personally use these equipments - unless you are really enthusiastic for photography.

Canon has full range of photography system, from beginer to experts. If you look at the WHITE LENSES surrounding the sport squre or the news publish room, you will know how strong the Canon's Marketing. You can easyly burn out your money :-)

Forget about Nikon, it's like the great Kingdon, going down and down......

Finally...my few tips:
1. Even a poor tripod is always better than Anti-Shock system, and AS system is better than nothing.
2. Fixed focal lens is better than zoom lens.
3. Extra bettery is always useful, so does the big giga memory card
4. Flash is most useless, unless you always shot at night or do stage shotting
5. If you want sharp image, use tripod, lower your ISO setting, manual focus....Don't believe Nikon lens is sharpest...it's bullshit.......The lab testing result shows Carl Zeiss, Canon, Pentax, Minolta has sharpest lenses. Nikon...only old manual lens is a bit sharp.
6. Even a dummy can operate DSLR, just turn it to P mode, it works just like a P&S camera.
7. What else? - A big hard disk and have fun!更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
family camera? why spend so much money on that, buy a send hand Digital Rebel with kit lens will be good enough. Only about $500 -ding_ding(丁_丁); 2006-7-28 {167} (#3107741@0)
You don't need spend so much money on zoom lens, if you really need quality lens later on, try 50mm/1.4, 85mm/1.8, 135mm/1.8, much better than zoom lens, and cheaper.

sorry, second hand. And more second hand choice -> -ding_ding(丁_丁); 2006-7-28 {143} (#3107762@0)
EOS 10D about $500-600, EOS 20D about $800-900, EOS D60 about $450-500, EOS 1D, 4.1M, about $1000they feel much better than Rebel and Rebel XT.

is it trustable to buy second hand equipment? if that can save some money and also have the same result , I 'd willing to try, on Ebay? have no idea. -gemlan(Gem); 2006-7-28 (#3107968@0)

Yes, Ebay is a good place to go. Try avoid buying used equipment from professional photograhers and store sellers... -ding_ding(丁_丁); 2006-7-28 {65} (#3108135@0)
They usually been abused by those professionals. Use paypal only.

actually used one is a good option especially for the lens -eagle_no1(瞎起哄); 2006-7-28 (#3109017@0)

写的满流淌嘛： -notreal(别当真); 2006-7-28 {161} (#3108085@0)
这侠的洋文功底不浅，中文逻辑也地道。

我推荐Olympus-E1：锰钢机身，金属镜头接口，防水防尘，做工精细。比“刀乐”店做工级别的多功能，高性能，塑料玩具D-SLR好许多。

Not all DSLR are 刀乐”店做工. It depends on what are you looking for. If you like feel, try 30D, D200, or even the older DCS760. Not mention 1DS Mark II. -ding_ding(丁_丁); 2006-7-28 (#3108152@0)
hey, man, you didn't get the point. The point is, he got 2k-3k to blow; unfortunately (maybe fortunately) he only got 2k-3k to blow. -coolmint(coolmint); 2006-7-28 (#3108535@0)

haha, thank you for your humorous comments. to Tiger woods, sport check is selling garbage sticks instead of golf clubs, -gemlan(Gem); 2006-7-28 {2599} (#3108995@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛but did he start his first 100 drive with expensive clubs he is using now? I double it. I trust a rule: step by step, you can built something. I don't think good tools can save too much time on great achivement. but, anyway, as I said, I am not a seriously phtotographic fan. I belive my attitude will lead me to a easy way . just hope I can enjoy it.
actually, I believe I will blow some money on my first step , that's the reason why I ask your guys for my frist hand tutor on equipment preparation. I belive with your expericen , I can blow few money and save more time and energy on the Right direction.
just by chance, I discussed something about digital photographic with a professional photographer recently, I don't know if he is a sucessful one or not, but, his career is photography and I belive he can make a decent living on it. we talked lots of things except equipment, because I have no idea about it , so I intendly avoided that topic, and also, I can feel that he's not interested on that topic too.
he gave me one idea about the digital photography, I just want to put it in this forum and let's discuss about it.
he thought digital photographic technique is very great, becasue it bring lots of people into the world of photography, start to learn photographic skills and start to shot their own project. but on the other hand, the big difference between digital and traditional photography is the expense of taking a project. traditional one is very expensive to shot a subject and digital is almost zero expense on it if you don't print it out. so, that's the big difference when you push the button to shot. you can shot 1000, even over 1000 on a single project with digital camera. because it cost nothing. but with film, you won't, you have to design first, consider the subject first and then, shot one piece, rethink about it, then, might shot another one. in this case, I'd like to put two different term to define the situation. one we might call it "intentional project photography" and the other one " random project photography" or maybe "unclare photography act". I think that make some sense, how do you guys think about it?
I hope I can get the fancy skills of Da vinci instead of his fancy brush. now, I am try to get my first brush and start to draw, so, don't tease me like this: save your pennie and just get a broom, and once you give up, you still can use it clean the mess you creat on the studio. haha. just a joke, don't take it serously, everyone's comments are welcome and definately will help me in some way. thank you.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

买器材就象抽大烟, 我还没见过一次花3000刀就能就此收手的. 希望你能为大家树立一个榜样. -wydmly(wydmly); 2006-7-28 {160} (#3108939@0)
1>不管是C家也好,N家也好, 上了贼船就得跟贼走.
2>70-200F4 买不得, 对象你我这样不serious的人来说.telephoto lens 一定要有IS/VR, 不然就是鸡肋, 切记, 切记, 切记.....
if you follow Canon family, here is my suggestion: -eagle_no1(瞎起哄); 2006-7-28 {281} (#3109011@0)
body 20D which is a pro-customer product.
you need a solid tripod which will cost you about CND300;
lens:
50 mm/1.8 , cheap but high performance ,why not?
16-35 mm/2.8L
....

now your CnD3000 have been alreadly burned. but you will never regret of what you bought

@San Francisco

i can give u my equipment as reference.

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