Advice from Professonal Photographers for SLR

Thank you all guys for your suggestios and advices. Well with the budget I had in mind, I went ahead and picked a Canon 550D with 18x55 lens (Japan Made) for time being.. I will be investing on additional lens later.. Well frankly speaking it was too hard to choose b/w Nikon and Canon as both are excellent.. I had my heart on Canon 60D though!!

http://qatarliving.com/node/1978819

the 5100 is a much newer model. The sensor, autofocus, metering, etc.. are all improved on the 5100. Seeing that you are getting a new camers, I would recommend you get the latest one, and the 5100 is not an expensive camera.

I think they are being sold with 18-55mm lens as a package. If you can afford to get the 55-300 or 70-300 lens then you will have a good staring kit.

I did yet another round of my research.. There are good models in Canon like the 550D and 600D.. But for some reason Im more interested in Nikon.. I dunno the reason though.. so looks like D7000 is out of my reach.. so that leaves me with 2 options.. D90 or D5100.. Suggestions and opinions please !!! Thanks.

There are a lot of reviews, test shots, discussions in the net regarding DSLR. I took nearly one year before coming to the conclusion of buying my Nikon D90 and its worth its value. Actually I purchased it from India where it was cheaper by around QR 800.00.

Take enough time before you make a decision as your brand will be a lifetime commitment. You may change the body; but still you can use the same lenses. Go for body only and select the lense of your choice. "Lens Hero" site will be useful in selecting the lenses.

Online purchase is more economical if it is possible from here. Most good brands come with an international warranty.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of light.

I don't recommend that you go for 1000 or 1100D, neither the Canon 75-300mm lens. I'm a Canon guy, so I don't know much about the Nikons. So, for Canon, I believe the least you can go for is 550D.

For family and internal photography, you can go with Tamron 17-50mm F2.8, an excellent startup lens with a wide aperture that really helps in low light conditions.

Then, give yourself some time and look for a Zoom lens for sports photography, Canon 70-300mm IS USM would be a nice start, if you have more money you can go for the next Canon 70-200L F4 "L Series is the high quality lenses series from Canon".

There's also the nice off-brand Tamron 70-200 F2.8

I am the photographer for a magazine here in Qatar. And I use, and am happy to recommend Sony. But to be honest, until you know what you want to do with your camera it's difficult to choose between brands. These days they are all excellent, and any DSLR you buy is going to do the job well for you.

The camera is only half the story. Once you start buying lenses and accessories for the brand you have chosen, it normally means that you are committed to that brand for life as you will want to use your lenses and accessories with the next camera body you buy.

I advise you to pop into Carrefor and buy a photography magazine to get a feel for what your options are before shelling out your hard earned cash.

Last evening, I saw in both Villagio Carrefour and in Airport Lulu; NIKON D90+18/105 VR lens was on sale.QAR 4099 !Great price.

Is it safe to buy on QL? I mean i have my concerns when it comes to buying electronices from QL.. Thanks for the suggestion.. I shall browse for some more forums and reviews..

there are some people here in QL selling nikon D7000 and canon 7D(or if you can afford full frame cameras, i sugget you get those) a little cheaper than those in carrefour and lulu.try calling them, they are good buys. i prefer this two, 7D and D7000

nope, don't buy anything cheap, if you get to learn(eventually) photography, you'll regret buying those entry level dslr(that's what happened to me). you might want to buy mid to higher end cameras.don't think that you are just a beginner that's why you need an entry level dslr, I say go for the expensive ones, eventually you gonna learn photography and mid to higher ends will suit your needs(or more). i will suggest finding one with good or best ISO performance, very important thing for me. and watch youtube videos on aperture,shutter speed, and ISO. 3 most important thing you need to know. good luck.

( buy nikon :) )

btw last night at Carrefour I checked out tis SLR Cannon 1100D for 2800 bucks which comes with additiobal lens of 75-300mm .. i think it has no video recording.. apart from that is it a good buy?? I wasn keen on buying it though..

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.. Well let me try to answer all ur queiries to help me buy teh right one that suits my needs.. Well Im not planning to make a career out of this. Im a frequent traveller so I would prefer to own a SLR wherever I go.. Im not particular abt the megpixels coz I know its all about ur LENS.. Also Im a sports person.. I make it a point to go watch most of the games .. be it football tennis F1 or any other sport that Im fond of.. So keeping that in mind too that I could capture some good pics when Im watching teh games.. Well my areas of ineterst in photography is Sports, animals, during adventure trips, my travel places, lacdscaping, natural scenic beauties and ofcourse my gf and my lil nephews and neices :) My budget is 3000 riyals.. I would mind shelling out lil more than 3000 bucks if that piece is really worth that extra spend considering my requirements.. Im not very particular about having video recrdings but I guess I would prefer to have .. if not 1080p 720 atleast.. Also I would liek to buy something pref which comes with additional extra lens which is good..Well I hope I have answered most of the questions aksed .. I hope U could suggest me with the models I could go for consdering my needs and requirements.. Thanks again guys..

it is better to know first which kind of photography are you interested in? is video recording necessary?

you can't go wrong with either canon or Nikon. what matter is what fits to your hand. go to the mall and try both brands and different models.

for me, I love the grip of D90.. its features are not simple but not complicated, not small but not big, not light but not heavy, not cheap but not expensive. and since D7000 is released, it's a great opportunity to buy this model as its price is also decreases. it's the best bang for the buck!

as a beginner, you will not outgrow this fast. if I were you, I will buy "body only" and (nifty fifty)50mm f/1.8(not zoom-able but fast lens, good for portrait, low light without flash, indoor, etc.) in which you can get a nice bokeh(background blur) that will look like a professional looking image.

usually, newbie in photography tend to buy the latest body(which is wrong, you should invest more on lens. remember, photography is all about composition and image quality. you may check on qatarliving and see how many are selling their stock zoom lenses..

if you like to make a better video recording in dslr, you may go to canon 60d(1080p) which also has swivel screen which you can use in tough angle. for my personal experience, I barely used the video feature. by the way, D90 also has video recording but 720p only.

if you're thinking to wait and save money to buy the better body, once the new model is out you will save again to buy that body. I mean, it's endless... humans are insatiable. if you're more concerned on your gear rather than your composition, well, that makes you a bad photographer. it's better to buy now and start shooting.

welcome to the world of photography!

Both Canon and Nikon are good camera. Look for after sale technical support to choose and availability of attachements. If you are just starting, MP is irrelevant because you can not differentiate a photo taken with 12MP to 18MP. What is your favorite subject? Do you want to take photos of people, sports or fast moving subject, landscape and miniature or macro. That way you can choose what type of lens you need. Will you use photography as a hobby (Canon xxxD or Nikon Dxxx) or you plan to go earning from it. Then you have to choose a semi-pro (Canon xxD or Nikon Dxx) to higher end DSLR which will cost a big amount of money (Canon xD or Nikon Dx). If you can afford or have anough budget, I suggest you go for the higher end.

60D 18-135 best value for your $

What's your budget? it completely depends on how much you have to spend.

If you have something like 4000 QR, then you can go for Canon 550D or the new 600D with the normal kit lens (18-55mm) or the all around (18-125mm), if you have more money to spend then you can go for Canon 50D with a better lens like Canon 15-85mm F3.5 or the nice off-brand Tamron 17-55mm F2.8. Then after, think about a nice zoom like Canon 70-300mm F4-5.6 or one of the Tamrons or Sigmas according to your needs and budget. Feel free to contact me for any more advices :)

Go for a nikon easier to use than Canon

If you are a starter go for a canon much easy to operate.