Nikon D3000?

[LusbyMom]

I have a friend who wants to buy his wife a camera for Christmas. She loves my Nikon D40 and he asked me to look around for one for her. I am not finding much on the D40 anymore it looks like their is alot of new stuff.

So I came across this camera Nikon D3000 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Extra VR Lens

What do you think?

 

[wch]

nothing wrong with the camera at all. although I would shop for a better price. A couple steps up from your D40 but not entirely non user friendly. 1 good thing is that the lenses for the d3000 and d40 are interchangeable (AF-S) and you will eventually want to try other lenses. A few people have complained about the VR not working to well on action shots.

 

[jbr13]

VR not working well on action shots is a normal thing. You really shoud turn off VR when shooting action. You are going to be moving the camera with action shoots, kinda working against the VR. Now for action and sports photography, some newer VR lenses have a setting were your left to right movement is not affected, just the up and down.

 

[LusbyMom]

nothing wrong with the camera at all. although I would shop for a better price. A couple steps up from your D40 but not entirely non user friendly. 1 good thing is that the lenses for the d3000 and d40 are interchangeable (AF-S) and you will eventually want to try other lenses. A few people have complained about the VR not working to well on action shots.

Do you have any other suggestions that might be better? He had asked me to check into but their is alot of different stuff since I got my camera a year and a half ago. Probably shouldn't go to complicated since she just has a regular digital.

I figure once I find a camera then I can shop around for prices. He thought my camera was $1500 and he really wasn't wanting to spend that much.

 

[jbr13]

If you go to DPreview you can compare what ever cameras you like and get great reviews. Nikon has the D60, D3000 and the D5000. Canon has the Rebel T1i, the Rebel XS, and the XSi. All of these are under $1000 with kit lens. All have different advantages and disadvantages. You can find out all about them by looking into their reviews on DPReview's website.


As for being able to suggest a camera for this person, it depends on what they are looking at using it for. Sports, then something like higher frames per second would be great. If they are looking at using it for a general camera, then the least expensive will be more than good enough!



http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp





Jason

 

[jbr13]

Oh, and don't forget. If they look at a good point and shoot, it can take just as good of pictures in most cases. Saves a lot if they are just going to use Auto mode. They could get a good point and shoot for $300-$500, and it comes with 20X optical zoom. That kinda zoom lens for a DSLR is going to run $1000 plus.


Something like this is killer for a Point and Shoot

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/601912-REG/Nikon_26171_Coolpix_P90_Digital_Camera.html

 

[LusbyMom]

Thanks Jason! I am going to print this stuff out and see what he thinks. Not sure if she is going to be into all the stuff the DSLR's offer.. she might be just as happy with the point and shoot. I think she is just looking for something that takes better pics.

 

[kom526]

Check the SENSOR size vs. MP and go with the bigger sensor. (At least this is what I was told.)

 

[jbr13]

KOM, Yeah I believe the larger the dimensions of the sensor itself, the better the image quality. That is the advantage a DSLR has over a point and shoot. 12.1 Mega Pixel DSLR sensor is about the size of a stamp, and a 12.1 MP point and shoot's sensor is about the size of your pinky fingernail.

DSLR sensors mostly have two sizes, APS-C which is what most DSLR have. The second is a Full Frame sensor, which the more expensive DSLR models have.


Here is a sample of all the different sensor sizes.

the little squares in the bottom left corner are what Point and shoots have.

 

[kom526]

KOM, Yeah I believe the larger the dimensions of the sensor itself, the better the image quality. That is the advantage a DSLR has over a point and shoot. 12.1 Mega Pixel DSLR sensor is about the size of a stamp, and a 12.1 MP point and shoot's sensor is about the size of your pinky fingernail.

Thanks for the confirmation that I wasn't hearing things.

dpreview.com should list the sensor size in their reviews under technical specs (or something similar)

 

[aursulaj]

Camera for Sale

I'm not sure if your friend is looking for a new or used camera, but I have an Olympus Evolt 500 for sale. I recently purchased a NIKON, and am looking to sell my old camera. It is a digital SLR, comes with two lenses, rechargable battery/ac adapter, owners manual, and a 1GB memory card. it is a very nice camera, which can be used for basic point and shoot or more advanced photography. I have had the camera for approximately 3 years. It is a very nice camera. I am asking $450 obo.

 

[czygvtwkr]

Not all the Canon G11, S90 and the Panasonic LX-3 have the larger 1/1.7" sensors, the smaller sensor has more noise and higher iso but allows for those long zoom lenses that are not HUGE like they would be on an SLR.

 

[jbr13]

Not all the Canon G11, S90 and the Panasonic LX-3 have the larger 1/1.7" sensors, the smaller sensor has more noise and higher iso but allows for those long zoom lenses that are not HUGE like they would be on an SLR.

If you look the 1/1.7 is one of the small squares in the lower left corner.

 

[czygvtwkr]

If you look the 1/1.7 is one of the small squares in the lower left corner.

Yes, but still its one of the largest sensors you will find in a point and shoot.

 

[itsbob]

I have a friend who wants to buy his wife a camera for Christmas. She loves my Nikon D40 and he asked me to look around for one for her. I am not finding much on the D40 anymore it looks like their is alot of new stuff.

So I came across this camera Nikon D3000 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Extra VR Lens

What do you think?

D40 was upgraded to the D60, then the D80, and currently the D90..

I don't know the differences between the series, but I THINK the D3000 is more user friendly with a lot less capability.

 

[jbr13]

Not really correct, The D40 was not upgraded to the D60, D80 then D90.

With Canon and Nikon, there number system does not work that way. In fact the D80 was out before the D40, D60, and D90.

The D60 came out to be an upgrade to the D40, the D90 is the camera to replace and upgrade the D80.

The D3000 is a series pretty much in between the D40/D60 and the D90.

 

[czygvtwkr]

Not really correct, The D40 was not upgraded to the D60, D80 then D90.

With Canon and Nikon, there number system does not work that way. In fact the D80 was out before the D40, D60, and D90.

The D60 came out to be an upgrade to the D40, the D90 is the camera to replace and upgrade the D80.

The D3000 is a series pretty much in between the D40/D60 and the D90.

Nikon sold D40 D60, D90 all at the same time with different price points. Sort of like Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac.