Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens [Outfit] + Nikon 70-300mm Lens + Transcend 8GB Memory Card w/ Reader + Willoughbys Bonus Kit Review

I am very pleased with the delivery of my camera set as it arrived in just about 3 days even with the free ground delivery option. I & my wife went through the details of the D90 package and compared with US1 PHOTO & other camera stores and we thought we will be able to save going through WILLOUGHBYS but instead we paid more than we actually are willing to pay. The product description of their Nikon 70-300 lens was misleading. I ended up returning the lens in exchange for the better lens for an additional $399. I shouldn't have opened the set if I wasn't told by returns dept of the 15% restocking fees when I called 3 times complaining about the lens. It was a day late when I received ana e-mail from Willoughbys about no charge for restocking fees. Get more detail about Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens [Outfit] + Nikon 70-300mm Lens + Transcend 8GB Memory Card w/ Reader + Willoughbys Bonus Kit.

Olympus E1 5.5MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) Top Quality

I'm shooting since 1985, when I bought my Yashica FXD. Eight months ago I donate it to my sister and I've bought a 137 MA Contax with a couple of Carl Zeiss + Yashica lenses. Two months later I bought an 159 MM Contax also. I love these cameras and the lenses. Thousands of shots most of them in diapositive film and some B/W. Then the digital age were dawn and everything start to look easy and cheap (except the hardware of course - in those days -). Three years ago I bought an Oly C5050Z bridge camera in which I found everything I wanted but for portraits and landscapes only, because as I've tried to capture a motorcycle racing (and Enduro) I've managed to take good shots, only when the racers stood still. Then came the E330 (which is the only new at all camera I have). Seven months ago I've bought a used E1 from E-bay. Good price and in good condition camera.

The E1 of course hmm....
Its lovely, its a tankmade and ...only 5mgpxls, someone would thought for today's standards. But who cares about the resolution. A4 prints from my Canon Pixma 4300 are excellent. Colors are vivid but not over saturated. Images are crisp and clear (specially in the eyes - portraits - and the water drops - landscapes and macros -).
But there is one complain: ...the AF capability. I find the AF speed quite good, but someone must beware the vertical level of the focus. The solution is not to trust the first result of the focusing and to refocus again. Of course you can do this in stand still images and for moving subjects I use the prefocus method. But this is not a real problem for someone who is used to with the old manual SLRs
Handling the camera is a pleasure, and I'm looking all around for an opportunity to aim through the bright viewfinder, to press the shutter, to hear the sound (like a gun's breechblock), to capture the moment, to steel a piece of time, to keep a person young for the next decades to come. I do love the feeling of this camera.
Buttons and switches are in the right place and when someone get used with the camera, can operate her even in the dark immediately. The size of the buttons is small and the sense of pressing them is not so accurate, that means handling the camera with gloves (in cold weather) is a little bit difficult thing.
The rear LCD is a little bit small (maybe tiny) for today's standards and also the shot takes a little time (I never counted it) to appear. At the first time it was annoying for me - getting used with the E 330 - but now I don't mind at all (I have my 19" LCD from my PC).
The 14-45mm kit lens is good (Value/Money), but I think that my 55-200mm SIGMA is far better in quality and sharpness.
Today I use the E1 with my old glass (Zeiss + Yashica) and I have no problem at all with the manual focus, because the viewfinder is bright and sharp focused images is a piece of cake - even in races - like the old days with my lovely Contaxes. I think that there is no need to extol the quality of the construction and the image clarity of Zeiss Lenses.
For software I use the CS2 with the Genuine Fractals plug in, but Olympus Studio 2 is working grate too.
Conclusion ?
Great camera to handle, to shoot, to hear the shutter. I do love my E1, giving me inspiration to see things beyond the eye.
Ohh!
I forgot the C5050Z. Urban landscapes, people, trains, beaches. The body is rugged and the lens is terrific.
The only thing I need is time to shoot. Get more detail about Olympus E1 5.5MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only).

Pentax K100D Super 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Shake Reduction (Body Only) Best Quality

Originally purchased this camera as lighter weight "carry-it-everywhere" kit, and I could NOT be happier with the camera. The functionality of this is almost as good as the 3x more expensive K10, with enough user settings to keep you busy getting accustomed to them. The manual is easy to read, and there are many cool things you can tweek. Lightweight, easy to hold, and it will accept ANY Pentax lens ever made if you don't mind manual focusing on some.
SUMMARY: If you are a pro, and NEED to sell 36"x60" enlargements of your Grand Canyon panoramic shots, then you aren't considering this camera anyway. If you are not that kind of pro, you can't go wrong with this kit. When you get the money together, get Pentax's excellent 55-300 zoom to compliment your kit. With these two lenses, you'll have everything you'll need until you are ready to start spending big bucks.
Get more detail about Pentax K100D Super 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Shake Reduction (Body Only).

Olympus Evolt E-520 Digital SLR Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens + 8GB CF Memory Card + BLM-1 Battery + Cameta Bonus Accessory Kit Get it now!

This is my first full SLR though i have been an avid photographer with various other cameras.

This takes excellent photographs.It takes a bit of learning to get used to all its functions.I'm still learning though.

The manual is quite good is getting to learn.

The camera handles very well and the lens which come with this package is quite good.Have bought additional lenses though.

Will update the review as i go along.

Definitely recommended as a first SLR
Get more detail about Olympus Evolt E-520 Digital SLR Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens + 8GB CF Memory Card + BLM-1 Battery + Cameta Bonus Accessory Kit.

Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-70mm AF-S DX f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED Nikkor Zoom Lens Buy Now

I finally made the transition from a Nikon N65 film SLR to the Nikon D200 DSLR 1 year ago before a trip to Hong Kong and China. Beautiful pictures! I still haven't figured out all of settings, but I have gone on many a trips with this beauty and amazed people with the composition and high quality of the pictures I bring back. I loved the fact that my existing Nikor lenses I used for my old film camera worked with this camera as well. The main reason I chose to switch to digital and get the D200 was to be able to photograph spectacular sites around China and blow them up for the walls of our "asian-themed" guest room. It's a project I haven't completed yet, but I can't wait. One of the great things of this camera is the ability to create large scale prints from your digital images, so I hear. If you don't expect to print anything larger than 8 x 10, you probably don't need this much camera...Get more detail about Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-70mm AF-S DX f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED Nikkor Zoom Lens.

Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens [Outfit] + Nikon MB-D80 Grip + 8GB Cameta Bonus Accessory Kit Order Now

I am far from a professional photographer, but I take it as seriously as possible while still referring to it as a hobby. I take mostly pictures of people at events and many of my baby son without flash in low light situations.

I had been using a Nikon D40x for 1 year and very early reached my limitation with that camera. The Nikon D40x has very nice image quality, but the camera's interface is not suited for a more serious shooter who wants quick single button or dial access to such shooting parameters such as white balance, shooting mode, metering mode, etc. I also felt very limited by the D40x not having an in-body focus motor that would allow me to use non AF-I/AF-S lenses (which are lenses without the focus motor built-in).

The Nikon D40x limitations were severe enough that I was about to consider purchasing a Canon 40D until the Nikon D90 appeared just in time.


PROS:

1. Fantastic set of separate buttons on the camera to control parameters like ISO, white balance, metering, autofocus, image quality, shooting mode, etc.
2. Two command dials
3. High resolution 920K pixel LCD screen (like the one on the Nikon D300)
4. 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor
5. Low noise high ISO capability (for low light shooting) I can shoot ISO 1600 with good image quality with this camera, while on my D40x I could only shoot with ISO 400 and obtain acceptable IQ. I will even use ISO 3200 frequently with very usable results!
6. Separate top-viewing LCD screen in addition to the rear high res screen, to show shooting parameters constantly
7. In-body focus motor which allows the use of Nikon's non AF-I/S lenses, including wonderful and CHEAP prime lenses such as the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 (~$100 lens!)
8. Continuous shooting of 4.5 frames per second
9. Small size, although larger than the D40/D40x/D60, it is still substantially smaller in the hand than the D300/D3
10. 720p 24fps MPEG video shooting capability with incredible ability to use depth of field that I cannot achieve with my Sony High-Def camcorder.
11. Eleven auto-focus points (not as nice as the 51 points on the D300, but substantially better than my D40x with its 3 points)
12. GPS option
13. HDMI output
14. Enormous number of options to customize camera and shooting settings to fit your style of shooting
15. Fantastic image quality right out-of-box if you don't want to do any post processing
16. Terrific build quality
17. Top notch camera ergonomics (but this will be a very personal opinion that differs for each shooter)


CONS:

1. "Rolling shutter" phenomenon while recording video: The D90 CMOS sensor has the same problem that other CMOS video recorders have when recording video. If you move the camera, especially horizontally, you get a "jelly" or "rubberbanding" effect where the image wobbles significantly. It is nice to have the video features, which looks very sharp at 720p, but it is NOT a substitute for a video camera. If you use a tripod, and do not do quick zooms/pans, the video quality is excellent. Without a tripod, however, you may get nauseas watching a wobbly video. The sound is also in monoaural.
2. 1/200 flash synch: Not a problem for me, but it might be for you.
3. No weather sealing: This is found on the Nikon D300/D3 and even on similarly priced models from other camera companies
4. The buffer will fill up after about 8 continuous RAW + JPG (FINE) shots. This number differs depending on the shooting parameters that you will choose. If you shoot primarily JPG, the buffer seems to allow a very large number of continuous shots, but I have not quantified this for JPG only.


TIPS:

1. Get the FREE Nikon ViewNX software from Nikon's site as your 1st step in your workflow. This will let you examine your RAW images that you can process for either Nikon CaptureNX2 to do further RAW processing or just export to JPG for a JPG editor such as PhotoShop.
2. Recommend buying the Nikon CaptureNX2. It is a RAW converter (if you shoot in RAW) that will read the camera settings properly for export to JPG. Capture NX2, however, is not as slick as the Adobe products and Capture NX2 requires a fairly powerful computer, otherwise it can run pretty slowly on a PC > 3 years old.
3. If you use JPEGs out-of-camera, consider increasing the sharpness above the default 3 or 4. Nikon uses a very conservative sharpening default setting. Nikon has decided to change the default JPEG images to match the higher end D3/D700/D300 cameras which produce more neutral images. Consequently, the D90 images that are less punchy than the D40/D40x/D60/D80, so you may also want to turn up the in-camera saturation and contrast.



The Nikon D90 has all of the interface features that serious and even professional photographers need with wonderful image quality.Get more detail about Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens [Outfit] + Nikon MB-D80 Grip + 8GB Cameta Bonus Accessory Kit.

Samsung GX-10 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm Schneider D-XENON Lens Decide Now

First of all. People buying DSLR cameras expect to be a Photographer or take Great Pictures.
If you want to be a Photographer it will be way expensive since all Samsung/Pentax lenses are expensive and rare.
For example. A Canon 50mm 1.8 is US90, and Pentax 1.7 is like US200.
If you want to borrow a lens from Anyone. Will be impossible since I've never seen anyone using Pentax, or less Samsung.

Thats why most new to dslr companies fail. The legacy is Important.
Nikon and Canon have an old Legacy of Old lenses Compatible with new Bodies.

SAMSUNG NOR PENTAX Makes Professional Lenses or Cameras(NO Full frame cameras) means that if you buy lens from them you wont be able to use it in Full frame cameras.

Canon/Nikon is the way to go.



Get more detail about Samsung GX-10 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm Schneider D-XENON Lens.

Pentax K10D 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction (Body Only) Right now

Pentax K10D 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens I purchased this camera in December of 2007. I have waited two years before reviewing the performance of this camera in order to use it under a wide variety of conditions. I am happy to report that it has performed perfectly in a wide range of conditions over the past two years. The camera body is extremely well made, (even though final assembly for the bodies of Pentax DSLR's occurs in the Philippines and the Pentax lenses are assembled in Vietnam). The quality of the lens is equally good, while also being extremely light.
One reason for the design of DSLR's is to duplicate the "What you see in the viewfinder is what you get in the image" feature of traditional 35mm and some medium-format film cameras prior to the arrival of digital cameras. The K10D accomplishes this very well. I find myself framing, composing and shooting the same way I used to with my film cameras. This is accomplished with the traditional reflex mirror SLR design used in the K10D. This does however create a drawback in that the K10D cannot display the through-the lens CCD image on the 2.5" LCD display. In order to see the image the camera sees on the LCD display, you must utilize the preview feature which allows you to capture the CCD image in the LCD display without the captured image actually being saved to the removable memory card.
The image quality is outstanding, and the K10D offers a wide range of options for manual control. In addition to the fully automatic Green setting, which allows "point and shoot" capability in a wide range of conditions, there are priority settings for shutter speed, aperture, EV (ISO "film speed") value as well as a unique feature which allows for both aperture and shutter speed values based on a continuously variable ISO value, something impossible in film cameras. The built in metering system works well in most regular lighting conditions. Extreme low light shooting requires use of the system's built in spot and area metering system, which allows you to set which of four quadrants within the frame are to be read by the CCD for rendering exposure settings. The built in pop-up flash unit works well within its limited capacity as a fixed angle straight on un-diffused blue xenon electronic flash. I recommend getting either one of two available dedicated flash units, Pentax AF 360 FGZ or the AF-200FG if you plan on doing a lot of flash photography. As with virtually all Pentax cameras, the K-mount lenses will mount to this camera, even lenses used on my old K-1000 film SLR. Although the formatting is not 1:1 between the 35mm and the CCD format, conversion is easy. Although auto focus does not work with the older lenses, the K10D still beeps when the subject is properly focused manually with an older lens. Diaphragm automation in older lenses depends on how old the lenses are, so this varies depending on the individual lens.
The included and proprietary lithium battery pack has good charge life and holds its charge well when not in use. However, I've noticed that the threshold between fully charged and fully discharged is narrow and abrupt, so you can suddenly find yourself with discharged battery and a shut down camera fairly quickly. Carrying a spare battery pack, easily available for about $50 is another worthwhile accessory. The included and dedicated charger charges the battery pack fully within about two hours. Overall, an excellent camera. One that is as of this writing no longer in production, having been replaced by cameras that have been refined designs of this camera. I can say that any of these newer machines would be an excellent choice because the K10D is such an outstanding camera.Get more detail about Pentax K10D 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction (Body Only).

Lowest Price Nikon D50 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera with 28-80mm f3.3-5.6G AF Nikkor Zoom Lens

The D50 was my first SLR and the first camera where I really learned what I was doing with cameras. It's reliable and simple to use, and unlike the very newest Nikon cameras (D40, D60, etc.) It will focus with the older screw drive autofocus lenses. It will not meter with manual focus lenses, and that for me was a bit of a letdown since even the lowliest Canon can do that.

It's max ISO is 1600 and even today the noise level is really good, the image looking more like film grain. At ISO 200 it's noiseless and great. The burst speed is about 3 frames for RAW and about 2 1/2 frames a second non-stop for JPEG. In general if you're an amateur, snapshot traveler, or need a second SLR as a backup this is a good choice.

The battery is a slightly older style than the newer Nikons, and as far as I know isn't used in any of the new ones, so it will eventually go out of production. The card slot is SD only (2GB or less) which was all they had at the time, and the older SD cards have been phased out for SDHC. There were a few aftermarket battery grips made, but to be honest aside from making a larger handhold they weren't good for much.

The picture quality is overall very good with two exceptions. I've noticed in scenes with mixed lighting, such as fluorescent and daylight, that the camera will get confused and expose the fluorescent as light blue. I've also seen in bright cloudy skies the highlights get all blown out. In winter scenes this makes an extra cold effect, but in normal weather it doesn't look right.

This camera is also infrared sensitive, and can take pictures with just a filter slapped on. I've since converted mine to a permanent infrared and bought a second as a "full-spectrum" with only a clear glass filter.

Overall this has been a very reliable camera for me, and in a pinch it could still do most of what I need. Get more detail about Nikon D50 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera with 28-80mm f3.3-5.6G AF Nikkor Zoom Lens.