I hale from notebookreview....with questions....

[spookyu]

Hey, I wandered over here from notebookreview.com and was just wondering if you guys could give me a few hints. I'm sort of looking to get into digital photography (nothing professional, just want the pictures I take to look a little more...uhh...well....professional -haha). I was just wondering if someone could suggest a decent DSLR that I might be able to consider picking up for a few bucks (I'm looking to spend as little as possible). I would like something with some more advanced features (just because I do know my way around a camera and could make use of them). If someone could bounce some ideas off me so I could get going in the right direction that would be great.

Edit: Crap, should have filled this out.

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.

I have no clue what a DSLR runs, but I am hoping to get away with like 400 bucks?

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you?
Doesnt really matter, I have a nice little sony point and shoot if I'm looking to go light.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?
8 or more is fine.

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x)
Standard is fine.

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
7.65

Do you care for manual controls?
I live off them, I never use the point and shoot stuff on my Sony DSC-W5, I love the manual controls.

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?
Home photography.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
No, they will end up as my desktop background or on a web site most likely.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?
I'll take pictures anywhere and everywhere

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?
It is possible.

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
Nikons have always been faithful to me (do they make digital SLRs?)

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Nope, no clue

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)
Nope, nothing really, but if a camera has extra features I would certainly still consider it.

[Ben Stafford]

Nikon does make digital SLRs. Currently their cheapest current model is the Nikon D50. It is going to be over $400. With a lens, you can currently get it in the $600s. They may have something for the holiday season, so wait a few weeks to see if there are any announcements.

Other ones to look at: Canon Digital Rebel XT (they have a newer one out, the XTi, but prices may be good on the XT), Pentax K100D or K110D (only difference is that K100D has their "Shake Reduction" system and the K110D does not).

If you think that you'll want to drop more money on a more advanced digital SLR body later, then a major part of your decision should be the entire product line including lenses. For example, if you get a Canon now, you can always reuse your "kit" lens when you upgrade bodies.

[spookyu]

Is it possible to use lenses from an SLR shooting film on a DSLR (basically, are the lenses compatible)? My grandfather has an SLR he bought a couple of years back and if so I could just get a decent body now and mooch off him for the lenses (he NEVER uses any of it, and I would, but I hate taking pictures with film).

[Ben Stafford]

In short: it depends. What SLR and lens does he have?