hey guys i see that a lot guys here know what they are talking about when it comes to photography.. i want to get a digital slr for my self but i have no clue wher to start.. like i have no idea what brand to get or what kind of lens so i get.. i basically want a camera that would take pictures and make them look realistic and professional.. any suggestions?

 

Oh my...here we go again...talking DSLRs on a BMW forum.
Anyway, why don't you Google a photo forum, and maybe get an opinion from people that know a bit more about cameras in general?
Or just search here. For some reason BMW people LOVE to argue about the cameras...

 

Quick and easy - shop carefully ... decide budget in advance. If I had to do it over again I'd look for image stabilization on the camera body because otherwise the price of lens is quite high. More and more have active LCDs so you can use that instead of only the viewfinder.

I bought my Canon Rebel XTi last year + an extra 28 - 135mm Canon IS Zoom lens and the best combo price was < $800. Today a Canon with more features is about $150 less. The new Olympus are also good deals as are the Nikons.

 

I'd say taking professional looking pics is more up to your photographing skills than a camera (when speaking of modern DSLRs). So decide your budget, test several cameras if possible, and choose the one that works for you best. It will take you long as a first SLR.

Of course people can suggest you different models and that's great, but then it's mostly based on personal preferences.
So here's mine !

I have a Sony DSLR A300 with the kit lens (for now). The reasons I chose it:
- it has an image stabilizer in body instead of lens
- active & tilting LCD
- other features that are quite comparable to the other SLRs in a same price range
- the price


- Antti -

 

thanks guys..ill check it out..

 

OK can we talk about watches instead

 

I'm thinking about taking the DSLR plunge soon too so I'll be interested in seeing what opinions are posted. (I'm not going to go crazy with one of the higher-end ones, I'm more likely to go with something closer to entry-level.)

As far as a good camera review site, I think Steve's Digicams is to digital cameras as E60.net is to BMW 5 series cars:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/

 

I can link you to the previous threads but I'm on my iPhone. I just got the canon t1 with the lens kit. I made a thread with sample pictures that I took from the camera here in the lounge section, check it out.

 

DPreview !!!

 

For starters you should have a budget of how much you are willing to spend. Then decide on what features you will be using. If you will be using the camera strictly for photos only a Canon Rebel or Nikon D40 will be suffice. Some of the newer cameras are able to shoot HD Video such as the Nikon D90 or Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

As for lenses many of the cameras are sold in bundles or kits. Most of the kits have general lenses 24-105mm or 18-105mm. You can use these general lenses for most applications. Later on down the line, depending what you like to shoot, you might want a macro lens, telephoto lens, wide angle, or fish eye....so on and so forth.

As Rudy mentioned I suggest visiting a few other site or forums such as dpreview.com/forums
Or you can do a search in the upper right hand corner and look for a few photography related threads.
Good luck and hope this helped.