hey, i wanna get a dslr camera.. i've always been interested in photography, but i never had the budget to get a good camera. but finally my mum agree to sponsor me one. i've been looking at either nikon d40 or canon 350d. i went to photo-shangri la to play with the nikon d40, but i realize that the kit lense is just for zooming, not focusing? am i right? im still a beginer, hope you guys can teach me more.

enter to a DSLR's world is a "no-end" road.U will oways look for more lens in the near future.Basically the len come with the camera cover only 18-55mm range which is not so "enough" for a beginer or even a pro...and of course they can zoom(from 18-55mm), focus,auto or manual focus.

My sugguestion is,why dun u get urself a DSLR's like camera(P n S) at the moment and if u are getting those with 10x optical zoom,it basically cover 35mm-350mm oledi.Learn from that then later if u really seriously into photography then upgrade to a DSLR.

Most of us start from normal p n s camera too.I used to own a Olympus C750 b4 this.

Hope this helps

Kit lens just for zooming, not focusing? Of course the kit lens can focus. I don't get what you mean.

MY QD,.......

i dont get what you mean???

slr is a good way to start any photographic journey. p n s may confuse u more...
if u can take the "plunge" just take it... but make sure u have some one to teach us stuff and never stop shooting.


maRx,

i think what u meant by 'zooming' is the focusing and the 'focusing' is the focal lenght of the lense (distance of the image)


just my two cent.....

what i mean is, normally lense will have 2 dials rite? focusing dial and zooming dial, but the d40 i played with yesterday only have zooming dial? (refering to manual focus.) im a total noob in this, but i dont mind taking the plunge to learn more.

This post has been edited by maRx: Dec 27 2006, 05:35 PM

When you switch your lens to M mode which is manual, you'll get to play with your focusing "dial" and zooming "dial". Once you've switched it to auto focus mode, you wont be able to use your so called focusing dial.

Obviously using AF is good but when your camera cannot focus automatically, using Manual focus is the next thing to do.

d40 is special downgrade version if the d50...
in order to make the body smaller... nikon just neglected to install the focus motor.....
therefore if ur lense doesn't have the motor built in , u have to focus manually....

auto focus only supported for AF-S or AF-I lense (more expensive)

This should not be the case cause the kit lense support af.....

p/s: if u not prepare to spend a lot of money for the extra AF lense (more than usual) d40 is not the way to go....

This post has been edited by forger: Dec 27 2006, 06:25 PM

how much would a AF-S 18 - 200mm lens cost?

is it true that nikon D50 is no more in production? thats what the camera shop told me.. how much is the market price for D50?

If I'm not mistaken, they were having a Nikon sale sometime last week, as advertised in The Star.. D50 going for RM24XX something or RM25XX something.. Can't really remember...

If you're really on such a budget I reckon the best thing to do it to hunt for a second hand D50 or EOS 350D... Get something within the range of RM1.5-RM1.8K (Body + Kit Lens if possible) Even if you could get new sets of these 2 models within the range of RM2.5K, your lust for lenses would definitely blow you beyond the RM2.5K figure..

Trust me, I'm a newbie too, and temptations are hard to contain... You'll never be satisfied with the 18-55mm kit lense...

This post has been edited by zephyr: Dec 27 2006, 09:59 PM

RM2500???
OK, let me start with Nikon coz i donno Canon's price...

D50 with 18-55mm Kit Lens = RM2300
1GB Sandisk Normal SD Card = RM75
Hoya 52mm UV Filter = RM50
Normal Camera Bag = RM90
Nikkor 70-300mm Normal Lens = RM300 (buy with Camera) (No UV Filter)
Nikkor 18-200mm VR = RM2500 (No UV Filter)

thanks for your replies. i just dug up my dad's old camera stuff, i found a HOYA 62mm skylight (1B) filter.. made in japan and also a Vivitar 75-205mm f3.8 1:4X macro lense. will this 2 items be useable if in a D40?

and when i look through the lense, everything is blurry.. its like the lense went through mud or sumthing, can it still be serviced and used?

isnt D50 out of production already? i went to photo shangri-la in 1utama and they told me that D50 is out of production and they dont have stock anymore. please advice on this.

recommend you to get the Canon 350D since now the 400D is out i think the 350D u might get some nice promo or something.

or the Sony Alpha with the trade in disc at RM2899.

The nikons above which are mentioned are not bad as well.......

Basically this is what i think since my photography days from film SLR.
more so nowadays with digital.......

From what i see, nowadays with the digital era.... most ppl just keep the photos in digital format, in CD/DVD/HDD/etc.....
and if pictures are processed print outs... most ppl do it in around 4R size for easy keeping....

For this size, a 10K camera and a 2K camera won't do much difference.
So is a 10K lens and a 2K lens or the kit lens for that matter. U might be just be tempted for wider lens / more telephoto which might be a premium.

A lot of people tend to forget that the camera is just an equipment to take pictures and does not equal to better equipment = better pictures.

Give me a D2X or a EOS1D and give 1 of the pros from national geographic a pentax ist or minolta 5D with kit lens... chances are they will be able to produce much much better pics then me. i admit i'm just a noob.... lol...

And judging from technology nowadays.... all brands are already very very good.. no 1 brand is superior than another in my oppinion.. go to the camera shop... hold a few and snap and play with a few cameras in the price range that you are interested and get the 1 which you are the most comfortable with in terms of ergonomics.... chances are you'll be able to take better pics if u are more comfortable with the camera.

While there are ppl that may say that Canon or Nikon will provide u with better array of lenses and accesorries... think about this... are you sure you are going to get those mucho expensive lenses?

while some may argue that the kit lens is not enough in terms of range... but come on.. i know ppl with fix lens that are able to take pictures perfectly... and not worry bout not enough range.

start to learn composition before worrying about everything else.

just my 2 cents.

since ubeginner cna always start with kit lnes......slowly do the upgrade

thanks for all the advice guys, i already bought my Nikon D40 kit at RM2488 with lots of freebies : RM300 voucher,Tripod,nikon dslr bag,kingston 2gb 50x sd card,kingston card reader,screen protector,mini photo frames. And, the tripod brand is Stein Zeiser.. is it a good tripod? it feels quite sturdy to me.

This post has been edited by maRx: Dec 28 2006, 06:45 PM

D40? good luck to u...