Buying new SLR digital camara

[MSALLA]

I am looking to buy my wife a new Nikon D80 digital SLR camara and found a great price at best price camaras.com. I seem to remember not to long ago someone on here finding a deal on line and I think it was the same site. Other members had some bad things to say about the company. If anyone has an opinion on best price camaras .com please let me know. Bern's older Nikon 35mm camara is no longer working and she wants to get something good for shooting pics of our daughter Natalie swimming. If anyone has opinions for other camaras, please don't hold back.

Thanks guys.

[brettw22]

Scam........bait and switch..........look elsewhere

[Strong Bad]

Go to either B&H Photo or Adorama. Both are highly regarded in the photography world. May not be the absolute lowest price you can find online (although they are quite low), but without a doubt the best customer service.

The D80 is a nice camera. I just picked up the new D300. Freakin unbelievable camera! There are few digital SLR's that can touch it.

John

[zingo]

Nikons are great DSLRs. You would be very happy with any model, especially the D80. I know it may be a little more expensie, but I would suggest buying from a local camera shop. You can't beat the service, and it's nice to know that you always have somewhere to go. Plus, it's Christmas and a lot of them are having sales anyway.

[MKZ]

I bought D40 (http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40.htm) from Amazon and love it. It has lighter weight compare to other models. I think you should get D200 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond200/) or D300 (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082313nikond300.asp) for professional shooting and D40 for casual IMO. Check here for D80 vs D200 (http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/vs-d200.htm). I like Nikon over Canon because of the build quality. I found some scam sites selling those cameras really cheap too. Be careful before you buy.

[shack]

Go to either B&H Photo or Adorama. Both are highly regarded in the photography world. May not be the absolute lowest price you can find online (although they are quite low), but without a doubt the best customer service.

The D80 is a nice camera. I just picked up the new D300. Freakin unbelievable camera! There are few digital SLR's that can touch it.

John

I second B&H. I get most of my Canon EOS stuff there. Never had any issues.

[Strong Bad]

Yep, the build and feel of Nikon is great. Nikon's achilles heal was always high ISO noise performance. Canon users always had this to use as ammo.

Enter the new D300 and D3. Nikon has now eliminated it's only weak point. For those that know what I'm talking about with regards to high ISO noise issues, the D300 and more so, the D3, are simply stunning in literally every way. The D40x has very good high ISO noise performance. I still have the D200, but past ISO 800, noise levels start climbing.

The D300 still uses a DX sized sensor whereas the D3 uses Nikon's first full 35mm digital sensor.

Come January when I kick up my sports photography, I'll be blasting away at 8 frames per second on my D300!

John

[appadv]

Scam........bait and switch..........look elsewhere

Yup, being from NYC I've actually been to a few of these places and they are a scam. Sales guy once claimed "I'm an authorized dealer of Nikon" but I knew he was lying.

[Strong Bad]

I did get my D300 from a local dealer. Very reputable place. They had the same price as B&H, so I wanted to support the local shop. I like taking it to a local place anyway if something should happen to it. Much better in my eyes than shipping.

Some local shops will match B&H's price.


John

[strider]

B&H is definitely good. I'll add beachcamera.com to the list as well. I got my Canon from them, many moons ago, and they had very competitive prices and were very quick responding to questions and shipping.

FWIW, I've had my Rebel DSLR for over 3 years and have never had more then a minor inconvenience while using it.

[jcaut]

Yep, stay away from bestpricecameras.com. The two that I've been the happiest with are B&H and Canoga. Adorama and Calumet, I don't have personal experience with, but they have good reputations. Often some of the lowest non-gray-market, authorized dealer prices can be found at buydig.com --actually the same company as beachcamera, I believe. I have purchased several lenses and at least one camera body from them and I haven't had any problems. I suspect if you have an issue and have to deal with customer service that they may be less helpful than the first two I listed. Visit those sites and look at prices on the items you're interested in. If you find substantially lower advertised prices on the same new items elsewhere, be very suspicious because there's probably a catch.

[MKZ]

B&H will not give your money back if you don't like it. They will only refunded back to you as a store credit. They do have good service and price. Make sure what you want before you buy if you choose to buy from there.

[disneyjoe7]

Why Nikon and why not the SLRD Canon lines?

[MKZ]

Please google "canon vs nikon". There's a lot for canon nikon war. You won't finish reading.

[haimoc]

I don't want to involve in Canon or Nikon argument competitive, but if you decide to go with Canon, I would recommend 30D or 5D (Full frame).

[disneyjoe7]

I wanted to know why a shitty company price for a Nikon nice SLR camera is always post. Is it because it was Nikon or because of price, I'm thinking price.

[Strong Bad]

The "Canon vs Nikon" war has been raging on like the "Ford vs Chevy" war.

I will agree though, if you go Canon, go 40D or 5D. As a new Nikon D300 owner, I will tell you that this camera is simply amazing in every apsect. With extended battery grip, this camera will ring in at $2100. To me, it's worth every single penny and then some. Yeah, it's that good!

Personally, this whole issue with Full Frame Sensor vs DX Cropped Sensor is not that big a deal. If you're just getting into photography or don't have plans on getting real serious, don't bother with spending alot of $$$ for a full 35mm frame DSLR.

Whatever brand you go with, realize you're buying into an entire system (lenses, flashes, accessories, etc..) that will only work with that brand.

One last thing, you'll get great photos with Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Fuji and some the other major DSLR's....IF....you learn how to use it. Spending 2-3 grand on a camera and not understanding the basics of photography will probably yield photos you could get with a $500 point and shoot.

Good luck!

John

[SLOCOOKN]

The "Canon vs Nikon" war has been raging on like the "Ford vs Chevy" war.

I will agree though, if you go Canon, go 40D or 5D. As a new Nikon D300 owner, I will tell you that this camera is simply amazing in every apsect. With extended battery grip, this camera will ring in at $2100. To me, it's worth every single penny and then some. Yeah, it's that good!

Personally, this whole issue with Full Frame Sensor vs DX Cropped Sensor is not that big a deal. If you're just getting into photography or don't have plans on getting real serious, don't bother with spending alot of $$$ for a full 35mm frame DSLR.

Whatever brand you go with, realize you're buying into an entire system (lenses, flashes, accessories, etc..) that will only work with that brand.

One last thing, you'll get great photos with Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Fuji and some the other major DSLR's....IF....you learn how to use it. Spending 2-3 grand on a camera and not understanding the basics of photography will probably yield photos you could get with a $500 point and shoot.

Good luck!

John

+1...Great advise.

There is a lot of technical information you should understand before you spend this kind of money on a camera.

If you are just beginning you should consider a less expensive camera body and purchase the best lenses you can afford. Most of the people who are buying the upper body cameras already have a nice collection of lenses.
You will also need photo software if you wish to make any changes.

As strong bad pointed out basic photography skills are essential! Learning how each function of a camera will change your photograph will be mandatory.

A few more suggestion if I may.

You could join a local photo club. In the photo club you will get hands on advise and constructive criticism.

You should spend time in a local camera shop so you can feel how the camera fits in your hands. This will give you the opportunity to ask specific questions before you buy.

Good Luck,

Steve

[shack]

B&H will not give your money back if you don't like it. They will only refunded back to you as a store credit. They do have good service and price. Make sure what you want before you buy if you choose to buy from there.

I don't know about the refund policy as I've never had to return anything to them, except that the web site says:

At B&H our goal is to ensure you are completely satisfied with your purchase. If for whatever reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, you can return it to B&H within 15 days of receiving the item(s) (Subject to the rules and policies set forth below), at which time we'll gladly exchange it for another item or give you a refund for the full amount of the original purchase price (excluding shipping charges), whichever you prefer. All returned or exchanged items must be in new condition, unregistered, in their original box, and include all packing material, blank warranty cards, manuals, and all accessories.

I do know that I ordered a flash, diffuser and instructional DVD online on the afternoon of Wed. Dec 12th and the merchandise was delivered to my office today Friday the 14th via UPS ground. It got here before the debit (using a debit card) hit my account. This may be the fastest internet transaction (excluding paying for overnight delivery) I've ever encountered.

[olilugo]

I have seen many reviews and most of them have the same conclusion, within Nikon the D40x or the D200 are the way to go. D80 is too old.

[disneyjoe7]

I don't want to involve in Canon or Nikon argument competitive, but if you decide to go with Canon, I would recommend 30D or 5D (Full frame).


I don't wish to start a war of camera brands, my point was like myself who owns a high end flash some fairly nice lenses for canon why would someone jump ship if it wasn't for good reason. John I know has at least a small fortune in Nikon gear so he not switching brands any time soon or never. Same here with myself and canon. So why just Nikon being posted when I feel it's for someone getting started in DSLR's and doesn't really have any $$ tired up on one brand or the other.