new camera thoughts
 

I love photography, but I have never been a photographer. I am looking at these cameras on Amazon like the canon SD1100, 770 etc. I know some of you lads have some nicer, professional ones. But for a beginner like me who has no experience what should I be looking at? Would a point and shoot like the aforementioned suffice? I would love spending around 300 on a nice beginner but I am not so keen about spending more at this point...Thoughts?

Go to KenRockwell.com he has good advice.

I got sick of my point and shoot focusing on the window. thats a pain. Check out the Nikon D40. You can get it with a nice lens from amazon for 409. It will give you more room to grow than a point and shoot. I carry a D90 with an 18-200mm on trips. fits in the end pocket of my flight bag.

*Thread Revival*

Looking to step up from my point and shoot. I have narrowed it down the Nikon D40 and found one online on sale for $559 new, on emicrox. Is this a decent price? My online searches have all shown in the 650-700 range, but I noticed some post saying they are in the 400 range. Have the prices gone up that much over the last year?

Edit: Just found them online at photosuperstore for $469 and and dailydealdigital for $479.a...anyone know anything about these websites?

Be sure to check BBB. There are many online photography retailers that are nothing more than scammers.

$549 for a D40? I hope its coming with a whole slew of goodies. If that is just for the body, I wouldn't even remotely consider it. The D40 has been replaced 3x over. It is a discontinued item. The price would not go up unless its a scam.

You can get a D3000 + 18-55mmVR for $549 from BH.

bhphotovideo and adorama are your best bets for legit online photography sales.

new camera thoughts
 

I think the D-40 would be a good choice, great camera. However, I just bought a D-3000 Nikon for less than that amount and I can tell you that it has so many improvements with excellent image quality. I also own a Nikon D-5000 with even more improvements, but with about the same image quality as the D-3000. My Son and I used to have an aerial photography business and We found out that Nikon worked best for us. Good luck.

Not sure if this is a good deal or not but they have them for $499 at best buy with the following included. Although it's on the website, it shows not in stock anywhere...

* Nikon 6.1-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera
* 18-55mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens
* Lithium-ion battery with quick charger
* USB cable
* Camera strap, body, eyepiece and accessory shoe caps, rubber eyecup and software CD-ROM
* Owner's manual

I am having a hard time finding a new D40, for a reasonable price, (I know they have been discontinued), although I am still looking. In the mean time I've decided to take a harder look at the D5000. Anyone have and good info on this camera?

The D40/60/3000 (same basic camera, essentially), is a great body to learn how to use a DSLR. I started on a D60, myself (10mp vs the D40's 6mp).

I know you said you're ready to move up from your p&s, but depending on how you see yourself using the camera, a DSLR may or may not be worth the several hundred bucks.

Just for family vacation/sight-seeing snapshots? I'd take a look at a high feature super-zoom camera. They have many of the features and manual controls that a DSLR has and are also easier to maintain than DSLRs.

Looking for the ease of full control and superior low-light capability that a DSLR offers or you're looking to pursue photography as a new hobby? Yeah, go for a DSLR.

The D5000 is an interesting specimen. High quality CMOS image sensor, but does not possess an internal auto-focus drive motor, which in your case probably isn't important.

Long-story short....if you see yourself keeping the camera set on the 'green box' i.e., auto-mode, and never using the manual/semi-manual modes, then I'd go for a high feature super-zoom. Otherwise, as an entry-level camera, the D5000 would work just fine to cut your teeth on using a DSLR.

This is exactly my goal! Thanks for all the information/advice.

*cough*Don't forget Canon*cough*