Considering buying a camera...

[Viking]

Friend of mine is selling a camera. Nikon D3000 with a 18-55DX lens. Good, meh, or bad?

[HeroHog]

Good lens for pictures indoors. You would want to pick up a 60 - 210 zoom or better for longer shots. Nikon makes some good cameras but I am not familiar with this particular one.

[Viking]

The "55" is the zoom? I'm guessing the "18" is the width of the lense?
Never owned an SLR camera before.

[Ben]

18-55 is the zoom range of the lens. Multiply by 1.5 for that camera, so ~28-80 or thereabouts.

[Viking]

18-55 is the zoom range of the lens. Multiply by 1.5 for that camera, so ~28-80 or thereabouts.

Ah, gotcha.

[HeroHog]

The 18 is considered a mild "wide angle" setting and 55 is close to what the eye sees naturally and would be the "standard" view. A 60 to 210 lens goes from just above "natural" to a fairly good level of magnification. At 210 or so you can get steady enough to take pictures without needing a tripod to prevent blurring from movement of the lens.

[HeroHog]

Looking at http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d3000/ I see it is a 10 megapixel auto-focus with manual over-ride capability and it does take interchangeable lenses so I would say it is a very good camera and well above an entry grade digital. NOTE: Additional lenses will NOT be cheap!

[Boomhauer]

NOTE: Additional lenses will NOT be cheap!

But the 18-55 lens will suffice until he can get more/better glass.

The D3000 is Nikon's equivalent to the Canon Rebel XS, and both are entry level DSLRs. They make very good first time DSLR cameras. I'll add that I cannot stand using point and shoot (i.e., "normal" digital cameras). The compact DSLRs provide better "usability" for me in terms of function, ergonomics, and especially battery life.

[HeroHog]

But the 18-55 lens will suffice until he can get more/better glass.

Agreed.

[sanglant]

for people not lucking into a setup. as always, don't forget to look at pentax.


other then not being able to get some specialty lenses, and no lens rentals. you don't miss much and can take some really nice pics. and ANY old pentax lenses will work(you might have to do some work to use them though) on the dSLR.

at least through the K10d, let me find the chart... link i love me some old lenses.

wouldn't trade my K10d for less then a pain free existence.


oh, and 210 is still a little short for birding. i have the sigma 70-300, it's crap inside but outside anything more than over cast and it's worth dragging it's weight around for.

oh and if the 18-55 is fixed aperture it's a really good lens, variable is what i have. it's ok but at 55mm the aperture is to high(opening to small) to take a really good portrait.

[p12]

for people not lucking into a setup. as always, don't forget to look at pentax.


other then not being able to get some specialty lenses, and no lens rentals. you don't miss much and can take some really nice pics. and ANY old pentax lenses will work(you might have to do some work to use them though) on the dSLR.

at least through the K10d, let me find the chart... link i love me some old lenses.

wouldn't trade my K10d for less then a pain free existence.

New Kx owner here. Love it. HDR capable. Already had a couple of film manual lenses.
Live View. Pentax makes good equipment.



oh, and 210 is still a little short for birding. i have the sigma 70-300, it's crap inside but outside anything more than over cast and it's worth dragging it's weight around for.

oh and if the 18-55 is fixed aperture it's a really good lens, variable is what i have. it's ok but at 55mm the aperture is to high(opening to small) to take a really good portrait.