Entry Level DSLR - $400-$600

[F15pilotX]

Hey y'all, how's everyone?

I'm looking to get an entry-level DSLR with a price range of $400-600. I'd be using it for sports shots as well as stills.

So far I've looked at the D40 and D3000 mainly, not much at the other brands. I don't have any previous cameras/lenses aside from using my family's point & shoot, so I suppose I don't have any monetary reason to stick to a particular brand.

I have no qualms buying used, but I don't know if this is a good/bad thing as far as cameras go.

I'd appreciate any help you might give

[shoturtle]

wait a bit, the new nikon d3100 looks very promising.

[TCav]

What types of sports? ... and what level of play?

[F15pilotX]

I suppose "sports" was rather inaccurate - I might do some ultimate frisbee, but more of just action shots, people running/moving around in general. Boating, etc.

I was looking on Adorama (found the link in another topic), and I saw I could get the D40 + a VR lens for ~500. Good idea/bad idea..?

[shoturtle]

If that is your budget, you may want to serious look at the pentax k-x over the d40 and d3000. The k-x is a better camera then both of the. It is very good for shooting normal action and sports. And it is a much better low light camera then either nikon. And it is about 520 dollar.

[F15pilotX]

Wouldn't it be harder/more expensive to find lenses for a smaller brand like pentax? Also, I'd be doing a lot of still shots too (love nature shots), so how is it for that?

I did a bit of research after posting, and I came up with the following as a possible purchase; comments?

Camera Equipment:

UP-Strap ($27)
Hoya UV Filter ($20)
D40 Body ($349)
Nikon 18-55mm II Lens ($100)

[shoturtle]

it is not really a big difference between the pentax k-x and the d40 or d3000 with lenses. As the d40 and d3000 do not have a AF motor in the body. So it is limited to AF-s and AF-i lenses to work fully. So you can not use all the nikon lens, you have about 125-130 lens. While the pentax has about 90-100 lenses it can use.

If you were considering the d90, what would be a different story. Then that moves the nikon to over 200 lenses.

For what you are considering for the d40 and lens, I honestly would consider spending the extra 80 dollars for the k-x, and drop the UV filter. It is pretty useless to be honest. All it does is protect the lens at a cost of degrading image quality.

With the K-x you get a better AF system, and the camera shoots well upto 3200iso and shoot decent at 6400iso, and in a pinch you can use 12800iso, while the d40 and d3000, you really do not want to go past 1600. And they really do not have the Auto Focus system to keep up with action and way behind the k-x in this area.

[John.Pattullo]

i'd say pentax k-x or wait and see how the nikon d3100 looks when it arrives though not sure on how its going to be priced

[TCav]

For that sports/action shooting, you might want to consider a factory refurbished Canon XSi. It's not as good in low light as the Pentax K-x that shoturtle mentioned, but it's better at action photography. Or, for a little more, there's a factory refurbished Canon T1i that's as good as the Pentax in low light.

[JimC]

Originally Posted by F15pilotX

I'm looking to get an entry-level DSLR with a price range of $400-600.

You may also want to look at the Sony A500. It's available with a Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens for under $550 now at some vendors. Here's one example (add it to your cart to see it's price).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...0_12_3_MP.html

Then, buy additional lenses to use with it later if you need them (and it can also use Minolta Autofocus lenses, so you can often find some bargains on used lenses for Sony dSLR models).

It does not have the ability to record video if that's something you're interested in. Chances are, that's one reason the A500 is available at it's current price point after recent price cuts at many vendors (since Sony has already announced it will be releasing more dSLR models this year, and they should have video ability). The Sony A500 also has *much* faster Autofocus using Live View compared to other dSLR models if Live View is a consideration, and it also has a tilting LCD.

The A500 is using a Sony 12MP CMOS Sensor with higher available ISO speeds compared to models using a Sony 10MP CCD Sensor (like the D3000 you're looking at). The A500 also has a faster frame rate using continuous drive mode compared to Nikon or Canon models in that price range.