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Recommended Cameras: Spring 2008
The Nikon D40, the answer to most people's camera questions. April 2008 Fast Answer: Serious Camera: If you don't have the time to read the rest of this page: For the best possible camera for just about anything, fun or serious, I use my Nikon D40. I own more expensive cameras, but whenever I grab a camera for my own personal vacations or family photos, it's almost always my remarkable Nikon D40. There isn't anything reasonable I can't do with Nikon's least expensive D40. There is no real reason to pay more for a D40x, D60, or D80. Save your money for more important things. For $499, complete with an exceptionally good lens today, it's a no-brainer. (I paid $600 for my D40 a year ago.) I wouldn't bother with the more expensive Nikons unless you really want to spend money, or will be using it all day, every day. I only use my more expensive cameras when I'm shooting all day. If I'm spending more time carrying it than using it, I always grab my Nikon D40. Compact Pocket Camera: If you want a fantastic compact camera with superb quality, convenience and a huge screen, I'd get a Canon SD750 for a whopping $170. The Canon SD750 has a very high quality titanium case, fantastic image quality, an excellent lens, a huge 3" screen that fills the back of the camera, and sells today for only $180! I'd get it at Amazon, Adorama or Ritz. The only reason to pay more is to get Image Stabilization for hand-held shots of non-moving subjects in dim light without flash. I'll cover these below. (I used to recommend, and personally I use a Casio EX-V8, because it has a 7x zoom and stereo movies, however it went out of production with no replacement. Get one at Amazon if you can.) Introduction Friends and family always ask me what camera to buy. Here are my recommendations, starting with the least expensive possible camera that can make great pictures, including big enlargements, and moving up from there depending on how much money you'd like to spend and what you'd like to photograph. Click any of the names or photos of the cameras to get to my detailed reviews, and if I don't have a detailed review, at least to another page with details. If you find this page helpful, you can support me to keep adding to this site by using the links I've provided to Adorama, Ritz, Amazon and B&H when you get anything. I've been using these great stores myself for years (or decades), using these links costs you nothing, probably saves you money, and gets you the same great service I've enjoyed myself. Caveats: Cameras What makes for a good or bad photo is the skill of the photographer. Regardless of the expense and advancement of your camera or car, you still have to drive your camera. just as you have to drive you own car. A camera can't take a picture any more than a typewriter can write a novel, but camera makers would like you to think so. The ultimate quality of any photo does not depend on the camera. A $150 camera can make the same quality photo as a $5,000 camera. Good photographers get great great photos even with the cheapest cameras. Most people will get the same crappy photos even if they spend $10,000 on a new camera. If you're not happy with your photos, a new camera rarely solves the problem. Learning how to recognize a good photo before you take it and how to adjust your camera are far more important than buying a new camera. The reason to spend more is to get a camera which makes it easier to get great photos over a wider range of conditions and can handle a wider range of subjects. For instance, it's easy to get great shots of posing family and friends with any camera, but sports, moving kids, and indoor cultural events without flash require more flexible cameras. Caveats: Stores I can't vouch for any other stores or ads you see since I haven't used them. Personally I always use Adorama, Ritz, Amazon and B&H. See How to Buy on how to avoid scams. Hint: if anyone's offering prices lower than Adorama, Amazon or B&H, it's almost always either an outright scam or a place that will try to upsell you on worthless accessories to charge you more than you would have paid from a good store. Often the bad stores, especially those that advertise heavily on the Internet and look perfectly legitimate but with lower prices, pad their prices by trying to sell you accessories, like the battery charger, that already come with the camera! I'm as cheap as they come, having started my photo hobby before I was 11 years old and working off my allowance, so I've researched the cheapest places many times over. Recommendations back to top The Cheapest Good Digital Camera: $135. Don't want to spend much money on a good camera, but want great photos? Get the $135 Canon A580. Today's A580 is far better than the Canon A70 for which I paid $400 in 2003 and with which I made these photos. The Canon A580 can make great photos. The A580 is better than the excellent A550 I used in 2007. The A560 has a larger 2.5" screen and adds face detection. I'd get the A560 for $130, no problem! For ten more dollars, you can get the Canon A570IS, which adds image stabilization (IS). I find IS very helpful for no-flash, dim-light photos of things that don't move, but I doubt that anyone buying one of these would know how to turn off the flash to get the best use of this feature. If you want IS, get the Canon A570IS, if not, save your ten bucks for something else. Hint: I get the wilder colors I prefer by setting all my Canon compact cameras to their "Vivid" modes. To do this, hit FUNC/SET, go down a couple of clicks to OFF, and click one to the right to VIVID. The limitations of these two very inexpensive Canons are that 1.) you have to supply your own AA batteries (they come with one set of disposables), 2.) they can't photograph moving things well, 3.) their flashes take a long time to recharge for each shot, and 4.) they are too big to fit in a pocket. Their photos are great, they just aren't as small or convenient as more expensive cameras. If you have another $80, most people (including myself) will be happier with the next group: High-Performance Pocket Camera: $170.
The Canon SD750 is built like a tank, has a huge 3" screen that fills almost the entire back of this tiny camera, it fits in a small pocket and comes included with its own tiny battery and charger. I'd get it at Amazon, Adorama or Ritz. It's a model that's been out a while, so it's well discounted. I prefer setting all my Canon compacts to the "Vivid" color mode. Press FUNC/SET, go down a couple of clicks to OFF, and click one to the right to VIVID. The only reason to pay more is to get Image Stabilization for hand-held shots of non-moving subjects in dim light without flash. Canon has three new models not quite out yet, the SD890 IS, SD790 IS and SD770 IS. Any of these three is welcome in my pocket any day. The SD890 has 5x zoom and they all have IS. The SD850 is a bargain because it's a year-old model:
I own an SD700 IS, which I bought in 2006. In 2008, I'd get any of the SD850 (about $240), SD870 (about $300) or SD950 (about $350) or the SD890 IS, SD790 IS or SD770 IS. Even the SD850 is greatly improved over my beloved SD700 for which I paid over $400 back in 2006. Each model offers a little more resolution and features. Most people get the SD950, but personally I'd get the SD870 because is has a wider lens and a larger 3" screen than the others. The SD950 appears to be made of titanium while the SD870 feels like plastic, but I'd go for the bigger screen of the SD870 for less money. As above, I get wilder colors using Canon's "Vivid" mode. I hit FUNC/SET, go down a couple of clicks to OFF, and click one to the right to VIVID. Unless you're shooting movies, the limitations of all of these compact cameras, regardless of price, is that they can't photograph sports or moving things well. For sports and moving kids, you need a Single-Lens Reflex (SLR). Everything Canon makes is good. If you find a Canon you like, get it. Canon introduces new models every week, so I can't possibly keep up. SLR Cameras SLR cameras are needed to photograph things that move, like kids, sports and just about anything that won't pose for you. My favorite SLR camera just happens to be the cheapest SLR camera: the incomparable Nikon D40.
The Nikon D40. The Nikon D40, for only about $499, comes included with an excellent 18-55mm lens, built-in flash, battery and charger. My D40 is so light that I forget I'm carrying it, and it lets me easily make extraordinary images. Even with 6 megapixels I can make stunning 12 x 18" prints. If you can't make a sharp shot with the D40, a more expensive camera isn't likely to help you. Contrary to what salespeople try to get you to believe, megapixels have nothing to do with sharpness. Call me a renegade, but honestly the Nikon D40 is superior to the more expensive D40x, D60 and D80 for two reasons very important to full-time professional photographers. First, the D40 is twice as sensitive to light as the D40x and D80. (The D40's ISO defaults to ISO 200 instead of the less sensitive ISO 100, making for sharper photos in any light.) Second, the D40 is far more flexible with flash in daylight. The maximum shutter speed of every Nikon other than the D40 when used with flash is only 1/250 second, while the D40 easily shoots at 1/500 with flash with no loss of performance. I have a complete, free, plain-English users guide to the Nikon D40 where I explain everything I know about how to get great photos and great colors with it. So why do people pay more for other cameras? Because most of the people buying these don't exactly earn 100% of their income from photography. Full-time pros know intimately the importance of esoterica like sync speed, but snapshooters are more easily separated from their money because they worry about unimportant things like megapixels. Megapixels don't matter. If you want a fancier camera, the next real step up is the Nikon D300 as I explain below.
Nikon SB-400, about $110. The built-in flash of the D40 is excellent, but can't be pointed to bounce off the ceiling to improve your indoor photos. Since I just saved you at least $200 with the D40 instead of the D60, let me suggest an excellent accessory flash, the SB-400. I own more expensive flashes, but I almost always have my SB-400 on my D40 when I run out the door. Even if you don't bounce it, the SB-400 lets you shoot fast with flash since it recharges much faster than the D40's built-in. I use my SB-400 even on my more expensive Nikons. It's that good. You Can Stop Here!!! This is all you really need. I go on vacations for a week at a time with my super-lightweight D40, 18-55mm and SB-400 flash, and never miss anything. In fact, I love not having to carry more gear! The D40 battery lasts so long, about 500 - 1,000 shots, that you might be able to leave the charger at home if you're feeling lucky. I shoot so heavily that I always take it. Did I say heavily? I've made about 15,000 shots on my D40 and it looks and runs exactly as it did when brand new. Photos of Far Away Things
The included lens is great for everything, so long as you can get close enough. If you can't, get the Nikon 55-200mm VR lens for about $230. The D40 and this lens will cost about the same as the more expensive D60, and I still prefer the less expensive D40.
If you want to get serious shooting sports, get the bigger, longer more serious Nikon 70-300mm VR lens. I have a neighbor who uses a D40 and the 70-300mm VR to photograph his high school football star, and everyone (even he) is amazed at the quality of the images. This system easily tracks and focuses on the players as they run around!
If you really want to get serious for indoor sports and theater, the fully professional (and therefore about $1,600) Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR works in much lower light, and works perfectly with the D40. Wide Angles
I'm a sucker for ultra-wide lenses. If the included lens isn't wide enough, my favorite is Nikon's 12-24mm DX (about $925). For about half the cost, the Tokina 12-24mm is just about as good, but won't autofocus on a D40. The even wider and less expensive Sigma 10-20mm will autofocus on the D40, but I don't trust the durability of the Sigma lens. Long term, it's always better to spend money on lenses instead of digital cameras. Any of these lenses will work great on any fancier camera. Cameras drop in price and go obsolete every year, while lenses can stay current for decades. Cameras for the Man Who Has Everything No one, not even me who uses his cameras all day long, needs anything better than a D40. Guys who own fancy cameras may not have the confidence to admit it and poke fun at the D40, but I love it. I can make great photos with my D40, so if anyone tells you the D40 can't make good photos, it's because they aren't good photographers themselves. I own fancier cameras because they make it even easier to do fringe-element things, like make 6-foot-wide prints that are still sharp close up (prints from a D40 look great at any size when seen from a reasonable distance), or shoot with bizarre wide angle lenses, or burn away at 10 frames per second for sports. No one needs this, but if you have the cash or use cameras so much that even little improvements are appreciated, go for it. See also Is It Worth It.
The best camera for serious amateur photographers is the new Nikon D300 ($1,800). It does the same thing as the D40, just more of it with more weight and far more expense. Honestly, though, the D300 offers much faster firing rates for sports. I'd get the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens with it (about $700). I love the 18-200mm VR because it does everything well in one lens; every other Nikon lens works well on the D300, too. The Nikon D300 handles much faster than the Canon 5D below. Get the D300 if you shoot sports, people, news and action. If you work on a tripod and/or with subjects that can hold reasonably still, like portraits and theater, used properly, the Canon 5D has extraordinary image quality better than the D300 and at least on par with my $5,000 Nikon D3.
For careful landscapes and portraits, I prefer my Canon 5D (about $2,100). I most often use a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 L II (about $1,300) or 17-40mm f/4 L (about $650) lens, or a Canon 70-200mm f/4 L (about $1,000) with it. Most or all these lenses are on rebate in the USA until 17 February 2008.
For professional news and sports, every man wants the Nikon D3 ($5,000). The Nikon D3 is also great for landscapes, but bigger, heavier and more than twice as expensive as the flimsier Canon 5D. The Nikon D3 is heavily back-ordered, but has no equal. All Nikon lenses work on the D3. For the man who wants a D3, he'll want the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR I mentioned above, as well as the $1,700 24-70mm normal lens and the $1,800 14-24mm wide lens. Every less expensive Nikon lens works great on the D3, too.
The craziest (good) camera for portraits and landscapes is Canon's $8,000 1Ds Mk III. It's the world's best. Go for it. Get the same lenses as I suggested for the Canon 5D, or the sorts of folks who get the 1Ds Mk III tend to want the far heavier 70-200mm f/2.8 IS over the much lighter (but just as good) Canon 70-200mm f/4 L I prefer.
PLUG If you find this as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone. The biggest help you can give is simply to use the links I provide for getting these items. Thanks! Ken |
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