If you’ve got the money and the patience, buying a DSLR is fantastic. You’ll need one to have the most control over your camera, the best low-light image performance, and the best image quality in general. They aren’t quite so useful for casual photographers because of how much they cost, how much their accessories cost, and how much space they take up.
There’s a few major mainstream companies that sell DSLRs. You’ve got Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus, and Panasonic. Canon and Nikon models are the top sellers by far, so that’s mainly what I’ll be covering.
One thing you’ll probably be confused by is the ridiculous naming conventions for SLR cameras. Both Canon and Nikon suffer from this, there’s unfortunately no way around it. You have to look at reviews and prices for specific models, higher numbers do not necessarily mean better.
My personal recommendations are the Canon Rebel XSI, and the Nikon D90. The newer Canon T1i is more expensive without having added too much and the Nikon D300 is too much camera for most new users. There’s a few lower end cameras like the older Nikon D70, the Canon Rebel XS, the Nikon D3000…they’re all fine cameras. But they’re not my main recommendations right now. If you get a great price on those, go for it.
One final thing to mention before I go into the recommendations, and it’s very important, is that you’re buying into a system. Once you start buying lenses and accessories, it’s tough to sell them all to switch to another system. While I don’t recommend buying the actual camera offline, it’s worth going into a camera store and holding both cameras in your hand and shooting a few sample shots to see if one style turns you off immediately. Oh, and I’ll be showing prices for the bodies only because the kit lenses that come with both systems are average at best. If you choose to get one it’s not a big deal, but you’re usually better off saving up a bit extra for a nicer lens. I’ll cover those in a separate article.
Canon Rebel XSI – $531.89 – The more affordable of the two cameras I’ll be reviewing and the one I use as my personal camera. A 12.2 megapixel camera with a large 3 inch LCD, live-view, internal sensor dust cleaning system and continuous shooting at 3.5 frames a second.
It’s been one of Canon’s most popular models for good reason. It’s cheap, the body feels solid, the image quality is superb, it has almost every feature you could want in a SLR (unless you’re a pro shooter of course), there have been very few issues with it. A camera this good, brand new, at a price this cheap (and that’s not even counting the instant rebates you can get with it if you buy a printer/lens from Canon) is a fantastic deal for anyone starting into Canon.
The Nikon D90 – $809 – is the higher end of the two cameras I’m recommending here. It’s a 12.3 megapixel camera, has a high quality body, can film high-def video, the LCD/viewfinder are great, the physical interface comes highly praised, it’s a fantastic camera. Other benefits include great high ISO performance, continuous shooting at 4.5 frames a second, and live view, so you can take pictures from the LCD screen rather than the viewfinder.
This camera has a nicer feel and some nicer features to it than the Rebel XSI. But of course, you’re paying a few hundred dollars more and there’s rarely any discounts available on it. The video feature is nice but it’s not as advanced as I’d like it to be, so your usage of it may be limited. I think it’s currently Nikon’s most popular model though I’m not 100% sure of that but you really can’t go wrong with it.
Both cameras are strong contenders at a great price with tons of features and fantastic image quality. Either one should give you tons of enjoyment.
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