need advice on what camera and lenses to buy

[rich11]

Hello, I am in the market for a new camera and lenses. I am a beginner photographer and have always used basic digital cameras in the past. I like to take outdoor photography, and want something decent that I can have for a while. I would like some advice on what I should get to get me started. I want a good camera that is versatile and reliable, I don't know much about lenses but some advice on what ones I should get would be great. Thanks, Rich

[MCS]

rich11,

This is a near duplicate of a post I made to someone else on this forum. I assume you are thinking of a DSLR.

I am an advanced amateur photographer who shoots landscapes on my vacations with a Sony Alpha 350. I learned digital photography on a Sony superzoom, so I decided to stay with the system. The 350 has a great set of features for landscape photography including 14 megapixels, the best live view going, a tilting LCD, preset modes for landscape and sunset, light weight, steady shot in the camera, D-range optimizing, and so on. I read a lot of comparative reviews on it, and it matches or exceeds most everything in its category with a couple concerns. For one extensive review comparing it to the Nikon D300 and others cameras see:

http://www.epinions.com/review/Sony_Alp ... 3767543428

The concerns are mainly these: First, it does it best work at ISO at or under 800. This is seldom a problem for landscape photographers who typically work in light suitable for lower ISO. Second, the sensor needs some good glass to provide the resolution for its 14 megapixels. Sony has a series of Zeiss lenses that do the job and then some. I have had experience with Zeiss lenses since the film days. I realize that this is subjective, but those lenses ARE better than the competition. The colors and contrast they produce are often visually stunning. Yes, they cost, but all top lenses do.

As for preset modes, I had an experience that taught me their value. I was in Arches National Park near sunset on a stormy day when the sun appeared briefly below the clouds, providing a beautiful sunset. There was little time, so I set up the tripod, set the camera on sunset mode, and shot away. The preset provided images that may be better than if I had set the camera myself. The colors from the Zeiss lens were grand. See below.

Other cameras may do as well, but the the 350 is hard to beat for the traveling amateur landscape photographer. My bias.

[Edd]

Hi Rich11,

My advice really is to have a look on the net and narrow models down that meet your budget, then go out to the shops and handle a few and see how you feel holding them.

If you don't have any lenses that you could reuse with the camera then its pretty much an open field.

I have a Canon 40D that I love, I have had it for about 6 months now and everthing seems pretty logical in layout and menu handling. My wife used to use an old Canon 300 (I think) film camera so that's why we eventually went to another Canon body so we could reuse the lenses.

I'm not to up on lenses so can't really say too much. Except that the best Canon lenses that I'm ware of are the L series which seem to produce excellent images. Just even by looking at photos posted here you can tell when the L series lense has been used. Unfortunately they do carry a price tag with them, but if your looking seriously at photography then I think they need to be considered.

Let us know how you get on.

Oh and Welcome to the Forum. Look forward to seeing you posting images soon after you've got your comera sorted.

Ed