[jongles]

February 25, 2009 at 9:44 pm

rory i’m no expert and as of yet don’t have one type of photography i’m into , wildlife and landscape normally but still finding my feet. In the end i went for the samsung gx10 which is essentially the same as the pentax k10 (samsung and pentax are collaberating and the gx10 is just a rebadged k10 some aesthetic differences but same spec). If its any help the five cameras i had in mind where the canon 450d, nikon d60,olympus 520,sony alpha 350 and finally the pentax/samsung. the prices range from around 450 – 650. I got mine with a 2 lens kit for 450 and to be honest price was a factor. Camera exchange has a few shops in town georges street is one, found them very helpful.
Of the 5 i’ve listed there are no dogs their all fine cameras, I narrowed it down to those 5 because they represented the max i could afford in each brand maybe not the best rational but I needed to set a benchmark. There are of course cheaper models in each brand.
For me the samsung represented best value for money hopefully i won’t regret that descision, pentax was one of the major manafacturers for a long time and samsung are just getting into the slr market will the collaberation end in disaster? hopefully not. The features i liked on the camera are its sturdiness/weatherproofing, 11 point autofocus backwards compatibility with pentax lenses and of course most importantly its feel in the hand, however if memory serves me it is one of the slower of the 5 and one consistent criticism is that its jpeg mode is below par and reviewers recommend to shoot in raw mode which is excellent but this will slow you down even more. that wasn’t a major concern for me but if your planning on a lot of high speed sports shots it may well be an issue for yourself. perhaps some of the more seasoned members could advise on this or indeed your local shop.
I found surfing the net great for getting ideas and spec and so on but there is no substitute for actually handling the camera, you may well have made a decision through research and then pick it up and it just feels wrong.
enjoy the hunt

[jongles]

February 24, 2009 at 3:38 pm

Hi Rory and welcome on board.
I’ve just gone through the process of buying my first Dslr and there is certainly no shortage of reviews and advice out there.
ephotozine dcresource and digital-slr-guide are all good places to look on line the last one gives some good general advice. The rule of thumb been buy the camera which suits your style of photography. Now thats a tough question for us beginners!

i’d second what cathald says about checking out your local camera shop or shops if possible, i’d be leaning more towards a specialist camera shop as opposed to the large chains currys harvey norman etc usually you get more time and unbiased advice.

[jongles]

February 23, 2009 at 10:37 am

welcome onboard Brian. remember your local library great way to read up and most importantly it costs nothing and most of them would have postings for local clubs.

[jongles]

February 20, 2009 at 8:19 pm

Thanks guys , haven’t really got into photoshop as of yet but soon, I looked for a volunteer to get out of the van and pull his whiskers but people just have no sense of sacrifice! .stcstc I couldn’t figure out how to get the image “in” the post, how do you do that? I followed the post with instructions using imageshack pasting the url and all that . i know its more user friendly having it embedded for all to see straight away.

[jongles]

February 17, 2009 at 10:36 am

oops that’ll learn me to try and post stuff in work, will try again when i get home, sorry for the mess i’ll get there eventually lol

[jongles]

February 16, 2009 at 10:43 am

Welcome on board Olaf

[jongles]

February 11, 2009 at 11:14 am

don’t forget the pentax indeed, however if the pentax grabs your eye and theres loads of reasons why it should. Really sturdy weather proofing inbuilt IS and the backwards compatibality of the lenses just to name a few, if those attributes attract you then perhaps you should look at the samsungs. Essentially samsung and pentax are making the exact same cameras. Not quite sure of their relationship but you can get the same bit of kit for less with the samsung. Probably the GX20 for your price range.

I hadn’t quite got your finances when i was looking for a camera, i had narrowed it down to 5 off the top of my head i think they where Canon 450d, nikon d60, sony alpha 350, olympus 510 ? and pentax K10 / k200 but it was the samsung that took my cash in the end.

[jongles]

January 23, 2009 at 4:09 pm

oops didn’t read all the replies , enjoy the nikon piusno1

[jongles]

January 23, 2009 at 4:07 pm

Hi piusno1
Not sure if you’ve gone ahead and bought your camera yet. I was in the same boat as yourself and just bought my first dslr last wkend. I had been interested in a few and had no brand allegiance. I narrowed it down to either the pentax k10 or perhaps k200 or the canon eos 450. However pentax appparently have all but pulled out of ireland and as a result are meant to have little or no customer support. however there is positive news samsung are now collaberating with pentax and they have the samsung gx10 which is apart from a few aesthetic differences the exact same camera as the pentax. In the end its what i went for and so far I’m very pleased but I am only a beginner so i’m no pro when it comes to d slrs.its price is very attractive 450 euro with a double lens kit . But what might be of more interest to yourself is the fact that it has the k mount system for its lenses and if you still have old lenses in your posession theres a good chanec they’ll work. Pentax to the best of my knowledge haven’t changed their mount since the 70s.

honest i don’t work for samsung just something to throw in to the mix, seems canon and nikon seem to have more then just sony to worry about ! i included a link to a review below.

http://www.dcviews.com/reviews/Samsung-GX10/Samsung-GX10-review.htm

jongles