Would this be good starter camera?

[Chinaman]

(Snick @ May 10 2010,19:33)

(Chinaman @ May 10 2010,17:18) BTW, has anyone gotten an iPad yet??? SNICKY???

How'd you guess ?
I'm waiting on mine, I purchased it from Apple a few weeks ago, but I'm waiting on a friend to deliver it when he comes to Thailand. Two more weeks of waiting.

I've played briefly with one, and it looks great.

Well, you are my first guess when it comes to Apple-gadgets

Congratulations then. 2 weeks is not so bad, in particular as there are plenty of other toys in the LOS u can play with

Ok, back to the D90 then ... and sorry 4 the brief sidetrack ...

[pacman]

(tomscam @ May 10 2010,15:40) After reading Pacman's enthusiasm for the Pentax K-x in another thread, I went out and bought one myself. I, like you, was stewing over what would be best for myself and I'm pretty happy with my decision.

Tom, I did read earlier that you had bought the K-x & I am delighted that you are happy with it.

I don't make recommendations lightly but there is a lot of online support for this value model from Pentax.

I am torn between buying one myself & I look forward to you posting pictures with yours. The proof is in the pudding as they say.

I also see what the fuss is about with the Canon 550D & I had no hesitation in recommending it to Azza. He is a Canon buyer through & through & this model will be a market leader for the next year or more. Older model Canons like the 400, the 450 & the 500 are all still giving stunning results in the right hands.

It is the cost of adding all the glass I want that makes me hesitate. I expect Azza to add one or two lenses to the standard kit lens of 18-55mm that comes standard. He will work out what he needs but his results so far are impressive.

One camera I didn't mention is the Pentax K-7, their top-of-the-line DSLR. It is a very strongly made prosumer model (magnesium alloy body) that is weather sealed, a great innovation for any camera to be carried around in the tropics.

Everyone is hoping Pentax bites the bullet & updates the K-7 with the same image generator that makes the K-x so special. This is the software built into the camera to create the JPEG image format that gives a ready-to-go pic. Superior algorithms have given the K-x up to 3 exposure stops advantage over some systems.

Review after review for the K-x rates the camera generated JPEG's as good as anything that can be processed from the RAW data. That is good enough for me. The less post production work I need to do gives me more time to enjoy the camera & take more pictures.

What does this all have to do with the D90? I was talking to a long time camera salesguy I trust recently & I asked him what other DSLR with the same size sensor (not a full frame) would be a match for the K-x. I expected him to say "nothing" but after considering the question a moment, he replied "only the D90". And that costs over double the price at an Aussie camera shop.

He also went on to say that the only camera he recommends today to anyone walking in off the street who wants the latest is the 550D. Easier to sell with its 18 megapixels versus the 12MP of the D90.

Confusing isn't it?

[ezflip]

 I agree with pacman about the choice of glasses sometimes dictates your choices.

If you have no previous lenses. Then it's an open market. You can get what you want within your allowed budget, practicallity and peer review.

I bought a Nikon D70 at the time that the D90 came out. Didn't have the budget for the D90 but I chose Nikon because I had (& still have) a 35mm F4s with 2 lenses that I could not simply part with. 80-200mm f2.8 AF-IF/ED and a 85mm f1.4 AF-D. Both pro lenses that I could of sold as used but the price I would have gotten would barely cover the tax on their newer & updated counterparts.

Keeping thoses lenses dictated my choice of camera.

DT - for the price you quoted, it's a good deal.

[lemontree26]

A bit more pix than allowded but it's all about the Nikon D 90.  I think it was taken with a Nikkor 85 mm 1.8 fixed lens.  The picture is not as it should be due to a brand new pola filter that turned out not to be 100 % clean   .

Man I adore those legs.
Btw she's sweet.

[spare wheel]

Maybe you have bit more cash than i to burn, but i bought the panasonic TZ6 lumix. a great bar camera.

will be back in use soon

SW „¢

[tomscam]

I've had my new Pentax K-x for a week.

[tomscam]

I bought this camera after much research on the net and after Pacman's personal recommendation, which sealed it for me.

There was much hype about this camera's suitability to low-light situations. Something which would suit most BM's as their pics are usually taken inside a hotel room at night. I'm not going to be in LOS for another six weeks so the best I could do was try it out at the rainforest which is just down the road from me.

[pacman]

Nice pics thanks Tom. Pics 3 & 4 are better exposed than the first two but then again, you have subjected the camera's metering system to a nightmare scenario where it has to either over-expose to show the shaded part or under-expose so the sunlit part doesn't wash out.

No camera can compensate for that, it will just take practice to choose which area is to be exposed & which isn't as important. Post production of RAW images can save most of the detail but one of the things that distinguishes the K-x is that the JPEGS it can produce are so well processed that owners are reporting that most PP work is not helping.

I like the lizard lounging in the last pic, it makes a nice change from the lounge lizards we normally see on this site...

[Torurot]

Looks like Fraser Is. I've got a picture of that lizard somewhere. Can you leave the exif in the pictures so we can see what's going on?

[tomscam]

(Torurot @ May 16 2010,20:17) Looks like Fraser Is.   I've got a picture of that lizard somewhere.     Can you leave the exif in the pictures so we can see what's going on?

Those pics aren't from Fraser Island. They're from Broadwater National Park which is located North-west of Townsville.

The was quite a bit of native fauna about that day. Apart from the goanna I have pictured we saw wallabies, bush turkeys, and kookaburras running about. I'm not originally from North QLD but I have to say that it is a stunning part of the country.

[tomscam]

That second picture is shit. Looking at that now I should have left that one out. It was quite dark in the forest and that pic is totally over exposed. FFS

[lemontree26]

(deepthroat @ May 10 2010,05:49) I saw the following on sale at Costco today:

Nikon D90 12MP DSLR with 2 lenses (18-55VR/70-300VR) and a case with 4GB SD card.

$1,395

So finally what did you buy?