Need some advice on first SLR purchase.

[Westside guy]

Argh. This is rapidly devolving into a ridiculous argument. The OP already stated his preferences. Also, it's darned unlikely that he'll be looking to use 30 year old lenses, no matter which brand he goes with. For the vast majority of people buying dSLRs, being able to mount 30+ year old Nikon lenses or 30+ year old Pentax lenses versus "only" being able to mount 20 year old Canon lenses is completely irrelevant.

And that bit from Wikipedia about setting apertures on "G" lenses - the OP is buying a new camera, not looking to use new lenses on an old camera! C'mon, if you're resorting to copy and paste - at least cut out the stuff that's not even marginally relevant.

 

[wheelhot]

I guess we can slow down the off topic here now since the OP is getting his first SLR purchase, he is not bonded to any manufacture yet. He can get a Nikon now and change to Canon when he needs a new camera and it won't hurt him as long as he haven't start buying new lens for his current camera (lets assume Nikon). Heck, he can even own a Oly and change to either Nikon/Canon when the time comes.

But like some of you guys who have Pentax lenses, Canon lenses, Nikon lenses or whatever lenses. The choices you guys have to make is well almost none since if you buy another brand you need to invest on a whole set of new lens. Anyway, the one thing I like about Canon is that you can buy 3rd party lens adapter to fit Nikon lenses on a Canon body (scream Nikon fanboys!!! )

 

[compuwar]

Pentax Imaging (remember, pentax makes medical equipment and many other items) isn't quite the money loss leader you're thinking they are.

I don't think, they're a loss-leader, instead I read Hoya's 2008 (their fiscal year ends March 31 of the year of the report) annual report, did you, or are you just a rabid fanboy? Here's the direct quote from page 5 of the 2008 report:

Pentax Corporation—which became Hoya’s consolidated
subsidiary in the second half of the fiscal year—posted net sales of
¥89.0 billion and operating loss of ¥134 million.

The keywords here are "operating loss." That's not profit, it's not even break-even. Both Olympus and Pentax are in the endoscope business, Olympus having purchased a British manufacturer- but here's the thing- just because the endosocpe comes out of the Pentax business unit doesn't mean the revenue gets to float the dSLR business. Indeed, the Hoya executives may decide that butt cameras make much better products than dSLRs and that their efforts in the dSLR business just weren't worth-while, or their shareholders may decide that for them, depending on how the company is doing and what the economy is like- if the dSLR business were making lots of money then it wouldn't be the concern that it is.

Finally, the sales jump of going digital appears to be loaded with folks who already had Pentax lenses and film cameras- so the sales volumes moving forward require lots of new dSLR buyers, and Pentax doesn't seem to be gaining market share quickly enough to fill out the numbers. Everyone's FY09 and FY10 projections are based upon growth in China and India as well as a growing market in the West. If manufacturing were ramped for that, then the fall is going to be harder (this may be one of the few times that Nikon's limited production capacity vis a vis Canon is actually to their advantage.)

 

[Mindflux]

And that bit from Wikipedia about setting apertures on "G" lenses - the OP is buying a new camera, not looking to use new lenses on an old camera! C'mon, if you're resorting to copy and paste - at least cut out the stuff that's not even marginally relevant.

G Lenses are just gelded (no aperture ring). They're still perfectly viable on the compatible Nikon body (D40 only, apparently). This isn't about new lenses on an old body,this is about lens accessibility

 

[juanster]

G Lenses are just gelded (no aperture ring). They're still perfectly viable on the compatible Nikon body (D40 only, apparently). This isn't about new lenses on an old body,this is about lens accessibility

which no doubt about CAnon and Nikons are the easier to find so yeah lens accessibility, Canons and Nikon win and im out of this off topic argument...

 

[Apple Ink]

Well I completely agree with the person here who talked about changing cameras. The OP is only going to purchase an entry level DSLR and he can EASILY change tracks during his second body purchase considering he hasnt bought some expensive or old lenses!

Talking about company sustainability..... forget Pentax, Olympus their fate is pretty much decided but I'm really worried for Nikon! Its nowhere near me avoiding recommending Nikon but considering this inclement weather, its not helpful to ONLY and ONLY exist in optics business. For that regard I'm happy with Sony since its one company we can expect to stick around! Having just invested hugely in the DSLR business and lots and lots of cash behind.... there's only really one way for Sony DSLR division to go -> up!
And if anyone doubts there interest in the segment.... No company till date has managed 6 camera bodies and ~30 lenses (incl high end G and Zeiss) in JUST 2 years!

But balancing the future predictions and current scenario in equilibrium..... Canon, Sony and .. er,, Nikon are best bets!

 

[cube]

Stop spreading FUD

 

[wheelhot]

Well it will be interesting to see how the DSLR market is moving because, with the introduction of video in DSLRs (if it succeeds), I have the feeling that this technology will be seen in all future DSLRs in 3-5 years time.

If it does go that way, Canon and Sony seem to have the advantage over Nikon since Canon and Sony makes DV for quite a while already whereas Nikon has been specialized in making SLRs. I'm surprised when I learned that Nikon is the first among Canon and Sony to release a video feature in their DSLR.

As for Sony, so far they offer one of the best for the buck entry level DSLRs but their image quality is still not that good (especially in higher ISOs), even the A something with 2 Bionz image processing took poor photos at higher ISO. So like I said, it will be interesting to see what happen in the next 2-3 years

 

[147798]

Don't count out Panasonic. Optics expertise is difficult to recreate, but with the change in electronics technology (sensors, video, compression algorithms, etc.) someone like Panasonic can close the gap through their ability to dump money into R&D

 

[luminosity]

Panasonic also partners with Leica, which gives them a recognized name brand to compete with. Leica is as much a heavyweight in the camera world as Canon and Nikon. Of course, if you take a Leica out on the street, chances are that nobody will understand that you're holding equipment that could be worth thousands of dollars.

 

[Apple Ink]

As for Sony, so far they offer one of the best for the buck entry level DSLRs but their image quality is still not that good (especially in higher ISOs), even the A something with 2 Bionz image processing took poor photos at higher ISO. So like I said, it will be interesting to see what happen in the next 2-3 years

Bang on point. But I'm not worried for this reason since Sony has a good experience in making sensors (All Nikon sensors are manufactured by Sony) and its not long before they improve on their processors. But Noise can be countered by shooting RAW and the in-built stabilization!
Besides... the bang for buck is only going to remain for another year or two.

Canon presently has the best, repeat BEST iso noise and overall image quality!

FUD....?!?!? What uncertainty? That Pentax might not survive? LOL!

 

[wheelhot]

Canon presently has the best, repeat BEST iso noise and overall image quality!

Yeah, you got that right. Its interesting to see how Canon might try to fix chromatic noise in the future while retaining as much detail as possible.

Why you say bang for the buck will remain a year or two and what's FUD?

 

[cube]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt

 

[Apple Ink]

I say that bang for buck in case of Sony will only stick around for an year or two since by then the market may only witness three major vendors... namely Canon, Nikon and Sony! And once Sony sets it out right.... it'll be the same. Either D40 type (No features, dumping ground for extra parts) or XSi/1000D (Ok Ok features with a considerably large price tag)!

FUD... lol.... I was referring to cube's post and seemingly s/he's been kind enough to explain!

 

[wheelhot]

aah okay. I wonder what FUD stands for.

 

[scubaEddie32]

nikon D2x works good for me

I use a Nikon D2x for doing sports 70-200 2.8 lens

my sports Pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubaeddie32/sets/72157594296428407/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubaeddie32/sets/72157594383745310/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubaeddie32/sets/72157594381534463/

 

[TXBDan]

Bang on point. But I'm not worried for this reason since Sony has a good experience in making sensors (All Nikon sensors are manufactured by Sony) and its not long before they improve on their processors. But Noise can be countered by shooting RAW and the in-built stabilization!
Besides... the bang for buck is only going to remain for another year or two.

Canon presently has the best, repeat BEST iso noise and overall image quality!

FUD....?!?!? What uncertainty? That Pentax might not survive? LOL!

This thread is chock full of nonsense. http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor

I'd highly recommend doing some research elsewhere. You can't go wrong wrong with Nikon or Canon. Sony is coming up strong as well.

btw, Nikon doesn't only make DSLRs. They make optics for all sorts of things. My gf is a molecular biologist and has a $100k Nikon microscope.