Need help with digital camera.

[NIevo]

Well my wife has been talking about getting into photography for awhile now and I'd like to suprise here and get a nice digital camera for her. I really don't even know where to start as there are so many choices out there. I can't really afford a uber expensive one but would like one that wasn't outdated within a year. Here are a couple I was looking at in the upper ranges of price. Are either one of these better then the other or is there another one that would better suit her needs for the price?

Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review
Nikon D80 digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review

 

[msowsun]

Both are good cameras. The Nikon D80 is more expensive and has more features.

Canon has just announced a new replacement for the 400D/XTi. It is called the XSi. It will be out in April and is loaded with new features.

It will cost about $879 (body only) or $999 with the new the new "kit" lens. The new kit lens is an 18-55mm with Image Stabilization. This lens had gotten great reviews as it is very sharp and an excellent buy for it's price.

 

[Jim Krause]

I'm still in the dark ages of photography. Film cameras' that is. One thing that I have learned in 50 plus years of photography is that you will never get away from having obsolete, outdated equipment, unless you buy the latest new camera every 6 months. I would suggest setting a price limit and then research what's available within that range and also take into consideration, your wifes' technical interest and ability.

 

[MasonJar]

As Jim said, hoping that the camera will be current in a year is a bit of a pipe dream unfortunately. The good news is that it will (likely ) still work just fine, so you should choose one with the features you want and are happy to use.

I have had a couple of Canon "point-and-shoot" cameras - G3, G5, and one from their 'S' series too. All have taken good pictures, and have had more than enough features to cover almost every shooting situation. The G5 also has two "custom" settings where you can save manual settings for repeat use. It also has a fully manual mode, which I rarely use.

The amount you will spend, and the features you will want are very dependent on the end use of the photo. With film that wasn't so much of a consideration (well, maybe a bit of a debate between slide and print film), but with digital, some uses are limited by the characteristics of the image you capture.

For example, if all you want to do is view pictures on the computer, and email or post them for viewing, you really only need a sub-megapixel camera (if you can find one...!). That's because the resolution of the screen is so low - relatively speaking - that you either can't see the difference anyway, or the picture turns out so big that it can't fit on the screen. Hwoever, if all you want to do is produce poster sized versions of your work, get the most pixels you can, since printers are much higher resolution and therefore require more "information" in the form of pixels to produce an acceptable result.

Hope that helps...

Andrew

 

[ukon30fan]

Instead of looking at the Nikon D80, look at the new D60 series - comes with a useful lens with built in antishake.

 

[rogerw]

Just my two cents , I bought the canon Power Shot A570 is. I have had it for a year and it takes great pictures. I know its not top of the line but for $140 its all I need.