Nikon DSLR for a beginner?

[Mariozi]

Dave pretty much summed it all Hidroj.
This apply not only for Nikon but also Canon.
These rumors are founded by the lack of serious pro single focal DX lenses and Canon`s lack of a standard digital sensor. Newcomers to the DSLR market will also press these things up and price down.
This is the main reason I did not invest in the D200, and spend less money on the D50, to wait the storm to pass.

 

[alo100]

There supposed to be a D80/90 between D200 and D70 comming out, the price should be in between, any info from anybody?


Another thought about DSLR and DC, from another point of view, supposingly the mid-high priced DC's are also suitable for UW photography (with wide angle, macro etc.), the advantage of them are the corresponding housings are much cheaper. Imagine you have a 15mm to 105mm DC with macro, A, S, M... modes, with ok AF system, it can really last for a while. Unfortunately, this range of camera is shrinking, the new DC's comming out are lack of wide angle, some of them having lower battery capacity, some camera lines are gone....
Nowadays, many of the new small housings are for point-and-shoot, or another class is the 3m depth water-proof point-and-shoot DC's. This is really putting an end to the mid range DC and force people to choose between point-and-shoot and DSLR. Unfortunately, technology wise the DSLR's are not optimum yet, and the housings are ten times more expensive. As we all know, unlike the filmmed camera, once a DSLR is obsolete, it's really obsolete. Every time we need to buy a new DSLR there is a new corresponding housing.

 

[swisstrav]

if you can... wait
the way i look at the market, the thing to come is the full size sensor. at the moment cannon is on the market. nikon and all manufacturers of slr´s have to follow. by that time also prices will remarkably dropp.

if you don´t want to wait, go for a high class body. in our field, not the body is the thing. it is the whole equippment to take a camera under water. when spending k`s of cash for hausing, ports, arms and flashs you want to keep that set-up for a few years. with this in your mind, i would not invest in a d50.

swisstrav, still on film

 

[alo100]

D50 or the new D80/90 is another issue.

The mid-high priced DC has it's advantage of lower in price, both body and housing, smaller in size for the housing. Plus, macro, Tele, all kinds of wet lens, common strobes that you can re-use for the future DSLR. With that kinds of combination, I can wait but without wasting the time for not be able to take UW photo's.

My last camera which use film is F-100, all of my old lens can be used together with the new ones. Can you see why I waited?

 

[the chemist]

Another vote for the D50. The D200 is a great camera but if you are new to dslr's which it sounds like you are I think the D50 is better. the d50 only has one command dial but this should simplify things until you know if you want to invest further. I would suggest the d50 over the d70 becuase of the better iso advantages in the d50. I have used all of the cameras mentioned, but not underwater Of course the D80 was just announced which might be of interest to you.

 

[pterantula]

If I already own a D70 and want to get into UW photography, is there an "inexpensive" option for housings, or do I have to spend $3K more?

You can pretty much count on about $3k - I just got an Ikelite housing, which is only $1200 on the surface, but all the accessories, the strobe and the case brought it to just under $3k.....

 

[pterantula]

You can also jump into DSLR the way I did: got a used D100 on eBay. It was a great deal, and a great learning experience. Once you get the feel for that, you can add some lenses to your collection, and those will then fit on your D200 when you upgrade.

I just got a D70s and the corresponding full Ikelite housing setup, since the D100 has some hotpixels already and there were supposedly several processor and interface improvements in the D70s; I will say that the D70s is faster (shutter/mirror response) and more streamlined (and it does have the slightly larger LCD screen), and so far has given me really nice test results.
I couldn't justify the cost of a D200 and a housing kit, that's just too much for a non-professional (who's already spend many thousands on his music gear...).

Check out this too:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/obsolescence.htm (this guy is one of my first research stops for digital photography).