A Good Digital SLR Camera??? Suggestions Please

TelekineticFrog

I was looking into buying a good digital SLR for taking photographs that would be used for building a photosource library to later be used for texture creation. Does anyone have some good suggestions for cameras and or lenses? I know some of you have posted some great photos before. I've been looking at the Canon EOS 40D. It seems to have overall excellent reviews and is a solid camera. Any information would be appreciated.

Joshua Stubbles

Nikkon D40 is also hot shit. That or the Cannon Digital Rebel XT or XTi. My boss just bought a Pentex K10D. It's nice, and supports nearly all lenses out there. Though I noticed it's image performance isn't as good as the aforementioned cameras.

Tumerboy

I have the Canon Rebel XT and like it very much. Though I had a Canon 35mm Rebel 2000, so admittedly I was a bit biased, and it helped to already know how to use most of the features.

Entity

If all you want is to take textures or photographs of static object then go for the 400d/rebel xti for canon. IQ wise the 400d and 40d are almost the same, with the 40d having a speed advantage (more shots per second)

vahl

Yeah I also have a Rebel XTi/400D and I'm very happy with it

TelekineticFrog

On the note of photography for texture usage...what Lenses would you recommend if any? I know I'm going to pick up a good macro lense. Kinda already have that one picked out.

Joshua Stubbles

You'll want to have a good collection regardless. A soft fisheye can help capture more details than you could otherwise, with minimal distortion.
A telephoto is also handy for when something is further away than you can get.
They can be super pricey for good lenses though. Just watch out for that

Entity

get the 50mm f1.8 prime lense, super cheap and excellent iq

Rens

dont buy a nikon d40, since the d300 came out the d80 and d200 dropped quite a buck. its a much better investment to get one of those two.

if you put a bit more into it, you will recieve alot more, and those things last long. so after a year you wont end up saying, damn, why didnt i put in a couple bucks more and got a better camera. the d40 is nice, but its still a step up camera.

you should consider the amount of money you are willing to put into it,

(i stick with nikon, i know)
d200 +- 1300 dollars
d80 +- 800 dollars
d40 +- 600 dollars

plus, you can have a nice body, but a bad lens will bring down the quality fast, so investing in a good lens is just as important.
im thinking about a 105mm macro f2,8 and ill probably end up around 500 bucks,

i recently bought a d200 and love it.

see how much you can and are willing to invest, if your just going for textures, i wont get a badass camera, are you looking for quality, invest, and youll wont regret it.

Ryno

I've got a Rebel XT and really like it, but that D80 looks pretty sweet and I've heard nothing but good things about it.

ScoobyDoofus

Rens is right. The Nikon series cameras have dropped in price pretty substantially recently due to the new releases and offer some great quality. Additionally because you are mostly using this for texture capture you don't need 12-14megapixels, 8-10 should suit you just fine.

The Nikon D40 and the D40s have no internal ability to focus the lens and so rely upon lenses with an internal drive, so watch out.

Some of the lower end Canon cameras also use cheaper materials to construct the camera body and sensor shielding so you are MUCH more subject to RF interference noise on your sensor, especially if you are using a battery pack. In fact the company I used to work for had to refund tens of thousands of dollars worth of photography fee's due to that exact problem.

Don't let that frighten you away from Canon though as they have a good line, you just need to spend a little more to get to the genuinely good stuff IMO. I have a 5D sitting on my lap right now actually.
For real in depth comparison & analysis I'd suggest checking out www.dpreview.com

(I am a professional photographer, and have been for years, working for a digital photography company if that means anything to you re: credibility)

Entity

The 5d, being a fullframe camera, would be a bit too much for taking pictures of textures though. Unless he needs the extra noise handling capabilities, i'd just go with the lower end cameras (which, in my opinion have excellent image quality as well).

I say buy a 400d and invest in some good lenses. Bodies come and go, but lenses stay for life