This is a letter I sent to a friend looking for advice on buying a DSLR for the first time. He doesn’t have much experience with cameras but wants to make one buy and get something good. This might help anyone in a similar position:

Check out DPReview if you want a new camera. It is really detailed and will tell you every single thing about the cameras. It also has a side by side comparison if you want to compare different cameras.

The big two DSLR manufacturers are Nikon and Canon. Other manufacturers have good cameras (some may argue that they are better) like Pentax, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic and lately Samsung but Nikon & Canon are still untouchable due in no small part to their huge market share . The lens and other accessories for them are easy to find. I won’t get into the technical stuff as most of the features are quite similar between brands and will mean nothing to someone owning a DSLR for the first time. You will have to do more detailed research to find out how things such sensor size, autofocus points, exposure bracketing, burst speed, ISO range, etc., will be of importance to you.

Here are some simple but very useful features you should think about when buying a DSLR:

1. Dust Removal is included in most newer models. Important for a DSLR as changing lenses causes dust to build up on the sensor and will eventually show up in your photos. My Nikon D40 doesn’t have the feature and i am having a hard time getting the dust out which shows up especially in photos of the sky.
2. Size of the LCD screen should be at least 2.5″ so you won’t struggle to read the display especially if you have reached that 40 year old barrier.like me.
3. Compatible Lenses: not every nikon lens will fit every nikon camera, the same is true for the others. The drawback with nikon D40, D40x and D60 is that only a narrow range of lens will work on them. see this article on my website to understand this:.http://www.amateurphotoblogger.com/2008/04/23/nikon-d40-buying-decision/.
4. Live View: This is an added bonus coming out with newer cameras that allows you to take pictures with the LCD screen (without having to look through the viewfinder). This is handy for taking pictures in crowds or if you want to take photos without anyone realizing you are focused on them.
5. Kit Lens: make sure it comes with a good lens especially if you don’t have the cash to splash on expensive add-on lenses right away.
6. Face Detection: shuts off the LCD screen when your face goes up to the viewfinder so you are not blinded by the bright LCD at nights. I suffer with this problem using my D40 at nights because it lacks this feature.

7. Price…of course (needs no comment).

For other more technical advice check out DPreview and you may also look at these links:
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/discovering-the-great-dslr-features/200187 and
http://alatest.com/digital_slr_cameras/c-248/
Check out Ken Rockwell’s Reviews of Nikon and Canon cameras at the bottom of his home page. Ken is considered an expert on digital cameras.

Finally, check out what I’ve done with my photos at my photography site Amateur Photoblogger or check out what else I have to say at my blog http://dejagib.com/blog.

Hope this helps you.

Jaro.

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I have just received my Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di Ld Macro 1:2 lens. I will be using it on my Nikon D40. The price was too low for me to pass up ($129.95 plus shipping on Amazon) but the performance re-enforced the saying: “You get what you pay for.” Here is a quick summary of my experience.

The lens itself looks good and expensive. It comes with lens cap, and hood. There was no difficulty mounting it on the D40. Focusing is a lot more difficult than on my Nikon 18-55mm or 55-200mm. The sore point is that after shooting for a while, it refuses to focus. The simple cure I found was just to switch the camera off and then back on. On all occasions it started focusing after this reset.

The photos at times lacked sharpness, but occasionally, it surprised with some real sharp photos, like this one I took of a flower:

I had particular difficulty getting a sharp shot of a heron on the beach. I tried at different focal lengths but could not get it sharp enough (hand held). I guess it may have been caused by the closeness of shades between the background and the subject. These were the best I could do:

Another shot a little farther away:

It was even more difficult getting sharp pictures in the street. Because it does not focus that easily, the moving subjects were hard to capture and when they were, they weren’t that sharp. Here are some samples:

The Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di Ld Macro 1:2 cannot compete with my Nikon 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED. The Nikon focusses faster and is much sharper. The only thing the Tamron has is the longer focal length and of course, the Macro feature (which I haven’t tried as yet). Apart from that, you would be better off getting the VR version of the Nikon for around $200.

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