I recommended a D90 to a friend's daughter less than a year ago and
she's extremely happy with it. There were two principal reasons for my
recommendation. She already owned a lesser Nikon (D40 IIRC) and she was
familiar with things Nikon and was pleased so far but wanted something
better. The specific reason for recommending the D90 was that it was
the cheapest of the prosumer models which, by my definition, is the
point where camera bodies gain two control dials. If you're shooting in
manual mode you have separate controls for aperture and shutter speed.
You don't have to fuss with menus or mode switches to change the
function of the single control dial when shooting manually. I
personally can't imagine not having dual controls on my camera. AFAIK,
regardless of brand, the dual controls appear at roughly the $900 price
point for body alone. Since she was going to give her camera and single
kit lens to her sister she was going to need another lens regardless of
camera brand. The D90 then as now was selling in kit form with the
18-105/3.5-5.6 VR (in lens IS) lens for about $1200. But it can be had
from Beach Camera for $1039. There is also a Nikon $50 "instant" rebate
available and I think Beach's price includes that rebate.
I think the D90 as a DSLR is still probably highly desirable but is
getting long-in-the-tooth compared to newer cameras. Where it shows its
age is that, although it does video, it doesn't do HD video which all
more recently released cameras do. The D90 was released just before HD
video became standard fare. Of course, video may not be desired at all.
But I'll bet it will be for a college student.
All of the entry level prosumer DSLRs (those selling for about $900) are
very good cameras. Canon is a logical choice for those having MF lenses
from one of the 6 adaptable brands (Olympus, Nikon, etc). If Pentax had
had a full-frame camera at the time I bought my 5D I might likely have
gone Pentax. If I was looking for an APS-C size sensor camera today I'd
also still be looking strongly at Pentax. Like Oly 4/3 cameras they
(and Sony DSLRs) have sensor based IS. But only Nikon and Pentax have
full lens compatibility for their own MF lenses of the 60s and 70s. But
full compatibility (at least in Nikon's case) depends on the price point
of the body. The lesser models have much less compatibility than the
more expensive ones. And, of course, Minolta (now Sony), Nikon, Canon
and Pentax AF lenses from the early 80s are still compatible with their
modern DSLRs.
The Pentax K7 might be an interesting choice. The K7 costs less than
the D90 but offers some features of much more expensive cameras like
full HD video, a magnesium body, weather seals, micro AF adjustments,
electronic level indicator, interchangeable focus screens, etc. But, on
the down side, its high ISO performance probably isn't as good as Canon
or Nikon.
Notice that I didn't recommend Oly 4/3 cameras. That's principally
because the Oly 4/3 DSLR line is done. But an Oly 4/3 DSLR or many
other brands may make very good choices in used cameras. Sony never
followed the pattern and Nikon has only recently broken it but the
pattern on model numbers by some of the camera companies have pretty
much followed a pattern of single digits for model number of
professional cameras, double digits for prosumer bodies and triple
digits for consumer grade cameras. Therefore, when looking for used
cameras with which you may not be immediately familiar a model
designation like Canon 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, etc or Nikon D40, D50, D60,
D70, etc. or Olympus E-30 or Pentax K10D, K20D etc. tells you that
you're looking at a prosumer level body of its own time. Sony DSLRs are
all 3 digit model numbers with function increasing with the number.
If you want to go with a used camera and can determine a price point you
may want to go to dpreview.com to compare competing cameras of the same
function/quality level. For example, the Canon 40D is still an
excellent 10MP DSLR. The KEH price is in the range of $600-700.
Checking on DPreview we see that the 40D was tested in October, 2007.
Looking at DPreview's camera reviews in chronological order we can see
that the Sony Alpha A-700, Nikon D60, Olympus E-3 and Nikon D40X are
roughly contemporary cameras although the E-3 should classify as a
professional camera with the others being prosumer.
If I were to buy used and didn't want to gamble on ebay I think I'd buy
from KEH (satisfaction guaranteed) and also look for one in EX or better
cosmetic condition. My rationale there is that if it's in good cosmetic
condition is has been well cared for and very probably hasn't been used
much. For a DSLR I think its the shutter mechanism that will probably
fail first from tens of thousands of exposures. A camera in excellent
cosmetic condition probably doesn't have an abnormal number of exposures
under its belt.
Anyhow, those are my thoughts.
Chuck Norcutt
On 10/13/2010 9:45 AM, Bill Pearce wrote:
> I recall recentrly reading that prices on the D90 were falling rapidly, and
> that the new models would soon supplant it.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Hudson [mailto:OM4T@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 8:12 AM
> To: Olympus Camera Discussion
> Subject: [OM] camera recommendation for a student
>
> I have received the following message from my nephew-in-law in Maine
>
> "...... I mentioned that my step-daughter Lynzee is keen on photography and
> will be taking a photography class this year. She is required to get a
> digital SLR camera and I was wondering if you'd be willing to recommend one
> for us, or give us some guidelines on what we should be looking for?
> Clearly we need to get one that will fulfill her requirements, but we do not
> want to waste money on bells and whistles that she'll never use. I've
> attached some pictures she has taken using a $150 point and click digital
> camera. Currently she is looking at new low end Canon and Nikon models
> ($500-$600US). Would a low end model be sufficient or would you recommend
> something a little better? Also, is it worth considering a second hand
> camera or should we stick with something new with a warranty?"
>
> The young lady is a first year college / university student. The point and
> click camera photos referred to all suggest that she has a good eye for
> composition, simplicity and creativity. A couple are in black and white and
> I thought that they could fairly grace the photo gallery of Chris Crawford
> for example and not look out of place.
>
> I know nothing about Canon and Nikon DSLRs other than that they are
> excellent brands with a wide range of lenses and attachments.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas and recommendations?
>
> jh
>
>
>
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>
>
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