I second redrage here!..


Its the glass which matters and not the body.

So @silver I wud suggest that dont be in a hurry. Get hold of any of your frend having a DSLR, get a feel of it, take some 50 odd shots, as ergonomics matter a lot here.

D80 is a legendry DSLR, if you get one then go ahead and forget about D60. Have a budget for lens as well as 35k may fetch you body only.
For the time being u get a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 which will cost u less than 5k (Call jayesh@ fotocircle) and can get you awesome photos!

When it comes to DSLR, you dont have to compromise on the pic quality, let it be Nikon/Sony/Canon/Oly etc.

Featurewise, I would suggest learn the basics first. By that time u get hold of all the features your cam will be outdated...

[Confession] Its been more than two years since m using my D40 and till date I am not able to understand the proper functioning of Metering

This is by far the BEST piece of advice in this thread.

With DSLR's, you are not just acquiring a camera, but buying into a whole system. First try and analyze what type of shooting u are mostly going to do... then research the best lenses suited for the job and then see which manufacturers are offering these type of lenses ...compare their prices and when you've finalized on the lenses you want, just pick up a body that mounts your selected lenses

Honestly speaking, you can't go wrong with any of the current day DSLR's!

^^ And to add more-

@Silver - Initially u may be unable to decide what kinda photography u are good at, or what may fascinate you. To answer this I shud say u go for a 18-55mm lens initially which covers two aspects i.e.Landscape and portrait shots(with a lil lesser bokeh) plus general shots.

That lens is good enough to make you understand your specialities.

Its now that I am finding an urge to get a tele lens (max 250mm) and a macro lens (100mm) , but life without these lenses are not showstoppers .

two additions.

pentax is up in weather proofing(body+lens)which is way better than canon and nikon.check to actually see difference.

pentax also has one of the BEST kit lenses.

damn the dollar rupee ratio is 1:50.41

I would most definitely agree with the Pentax bit. I have a film SLR with the K mount, so add in a bit of nostalgia as well

But the problem is availability of lenses. I don't know the current situation in India, but over here, finding even old lenses for Pentax/ Sony (minolta) is several times harder than either Nikon and Canon. Srikeerthi (Sksy_biker) will attest to the fact that I had my eyes on the Pentax Km and the Sony Alpha A200/350 for a while. But a bit of research in the aftermarket told me that buying into these systems is not a great idea in the long run.

Even if you're going Sigma/ Tamron/ Tokina, I have seen that Nikon/ Canon mounts have better support.

Again, the situation may be different in India. If it is so, please feel free to oppose my observations.

P.s.
All posts (Including mine, including this post) edited to take out what is not in accordance with the thread subject. I want this thread to be useful for everyone who is looking to buy an entry level DSLR in the future.

In Case of a DSLR its always the lens that should be taken into consideration - Its the basic mistake we do. Good lenses with ok body will give better images than ok lenses with Good body.

If you already have some good lenses for a particular mount from your old SLR or have chosen some lenses which only particular manufacturer provides then go ahead with that manufacturer.

For E.g. Suppose you are a die hard macrographer then you may look at Canon 60mm f/2.8 MPE 1-5x lens which go only with Canon cameras or if you want lighter lenses you may look at Pentax pancake lenses which go only with Pentax cameras.

People with old Nikkor lenses tend to go with Nikon since they are still compatible and cameras above Nikon D70 have auto focus in their body whereas Canon ditched the old FD format lenses. Today Canon boasts of a wider range of versatile lenses and so many people prefer Canon eventhough AFAIK Nikon has slightly better bodies (specially D90/D300/D700/D3) according to dxomark website.

Also for some good reasons I always like Pentax primes .Pentax as already said has issues with supplies in India else they are considered the most VFM with pro like features and inbody IS in a consumer budget.Its a pity that they still dont have a FF DSLR.

@redrage : I think 70:30 ratio is too huge .... 60:40 or 50:50 looks good for a newbie , but DSLR is like a gadget where you will keep investing around 30-40k every year atleast

i have my own perception.great lens.body comes and goes.granted.but that "comes and goes" concept is mostly used outside INDIA.man look at those pros.mk1 in one shoulder and D3 in other all with primes and stuff.but average joes stepping into this have sort of one chance.(not life man.)since we do project buying this as an investment,to me the body counts equally to the lens.cause the way i see it,if a sharp lens can capture awesome light but that light the sensor and the processor just cant convert into a presentable format then the body gets a zero.so its mostly a blend of body and lens.
if lens lens and body secondary was then all pro people would be shooting on D40s and 400Ds isnt it?why do they jump to marks and Ds?cause they know that the body is equivalent to the lens.u blend it you got the ultimate tool.
and i have seen that in india once this investment is made,the person rather sticks to the camera he possess.(minus IT people.they have lot of moolah ).

u have to hunt for the body equally for the lens.


i wanted to make one note regarding spot metering.what spot metering does is calucation of 4% exposure.partial is 9% exposure metering.spot comes handy mostly in two situations,potraits and macros.they are just "spot" on.but they are not limited to only those two categories of photography.u can apply anywhere you want.you unlock the potential of the spot metering.

as far as lenses on pentax side goes,they have opened shop in INDIA.so if u go the retail way,mail them that you want this that etc,they can arrange.

but for most of the people,a wide and tele is enough to start at.say 18-55 and 55-300.ideal lenses and good IQ.or even the 18-250 is good for a mototgrapher.

anvancy.

Believe me, 60:40 is the right kind of proportion one is looking at when it comes to lenses vs. the camera body. Heck, I would even go so much as to divide this ratio further in favor of the lenses and make it an 80:20!

I guess this is a better approach to figure out what suits you best. Will look out for better deals and if i get one will share the same....

The prices quoted were not made up as many of you are feeling, as this will be my first DSLR I dont want to pick it up from the "gray market" and then regret, I would not consider it now.....

Thats quite true nik, i agree for a person investing in an system that ratio is high. When i bought my first setup (40D + 18-55) , i made the mistake of not taking care of my budget. I spent lot of money on the body and had little to invest on the lenses. I picked up a 55-250 lens later and from my experiences i think if you are entering photography and shooting a variety of subjects nothing like a 2 lens combo offering 18 - 250 focal range. I learnt a lot from this setup and this made me find the limitations of my 55-250 for my interest i.e. wildlife and bird photography , but still with some decent PP work i was able to make good images.

The point here is why i stressed on picking up quality glass is, i have a friend who too was investing on a system, he bought a 70-200 F4L lens for about 30 K and got a cheap seconds 400D body and kit lens for less than 20k and with this setup almost matching the budget of mine. But the images from the L lens what a world of difference, its a really awesome glass! Sharp,tact and really awesome lens if you are capturing fast action or even sedate expressions. He knew what he wanted from the lens hence the expensive lens setup,It really dint depend whether 400 D or 40 D body here . For all canon buyers you can try out the canon lounge at brigade road in Bangalore where u can test the lenses. Just take your laptop and a body & see the images for yourself with different lenses like 85 mm , 70-200, 17-40. you will know how good they are. You can plan your investment depending on them. I am sure there are a lot of people while starting photography know what the want like wildlife, people know they want the reach hence 70-300/ at least 250 . Here if you are knowing what subject u gonna shoot and your are insisting on fantastic quality right from the beginning invest on glass.

If on budget i feel (please feel free to contradict) a decent body (400D/450D/XXd/1000D/ D40/D60/D80) + 18-55 (Canon/Nikon/etc etc) is step 1.
Once u need the reach 55-250 (canon)/55-200 (Nikon) or 70-300 VR/IS (Canon/Nikon) is really an awesome setup to learn and the fun is when u reach the limitation then you will know its the time to go for better glass. By that time you will know what to go in for and its the right time too to upgrade.

Sorry for the long post but to end there is a fantastic article from Mr. Ganesh Shankar who is one of India's fine nature photographer, who has won the Nat Geo and various awards,
please please read this.

Photo Equipments Buying Patterns for Nature Photography !!

As mentioned before, regularly updating bodies is out of question for a lot of people. For example, me and a friend of mine are looking forward to buying DSLRs quite soon. We would much rather spend a decent amount at the start for a body and a couple of lenses and then regularly save up for additional lenses. We would much rather stick to one body for the longest period possible and build the lens collection than swap bodies every 6 months.

Now with some working knowledge on DSLRs (I wouldn't dare say I am an expert or anything), I feel that I have outgrown the basic models. For eg. my style of shooting is to set ISO, Aperture and SS manually while using metering as a guide. Therefore, I'd like all possible metering options in a body (Including spot, which I even use in my cellphone at times). I also prefer the additional utility of a top display and dedicated controls for each major setting (I am in love with the dual control wheels in the D70).

So it's not like the body doesn't matter. It does, a lot. Lenses are most definitely a long term investment, but that doesn't mean bodies are a short-term investment. I'd rather get a decent body that will serve me for a few years than a cheap one that I will outgrow in 6 months.

No one updates the body on a weekly or monthly basis. The term regular for updating is very relative.If you are having the budget for investment then spend on a good body nothing like it. For people having a budget and if given a choice between good glass and ok body, 99% will go for good glass. There is nothing like a cheap body i personally feel bodies like 350D and 400D from canon are really good, i know a lot of photographers even from BPC,INW,PAAI who still are using these bodies with L series lenses. Again it depends from person to person and what subjects you are shooting.

For me for shooting wildlife which i have been doing from the past 3 years, it dosent matter whether its a 400D/450D/40D, of course the gripping of the 40D is good and the 6fps helps. It wouldn't have mattered to me whether it was any cam in that range all of them have APS-C sensors. Spot metering or not, I can replicate the effect in CS4/light room even better than the original scene.

If you are budget is permitting you nothing like getting a good body, but i am saying if its not there is nothing to worry about as i said its the glass that brings out the classy images body again compliments it.

I am not disputing that cheaper bodies can take great pictures. Far from it. It's all about the artist and not the tools. But there ARE features in more slightly expensive bodies that make life a bit more easier, right?

That's all I'm trying to say.

Thats true Synn. Yes the features are there but i am just trying to tip that for beginners during investing,instead of only thinking d60.1000d or about any other body, they too can think of the lenses and the investment they are going to put into the system depending on what they shoot. So that in the long run they can save and plan better. we know that a dslr and further to that lenses are a money pit, it keeps going on and on. Just planning on what lenses and subject/interests now can save a lot for the future trust me.