... I started out in 2005 with a 20D, at about the same time the 1ds MK II was released.
Because this was a hobby of mine at the time, the 1ds mk II was way out of reach, both in terms of price, and due to the demand for good glass to go with it.
I am used to the 20D's AA filter, for me it is a normal part of the work flow to apply default sharpening at the end of the job in PS.
For the dissapointed Kodak guy, I have to ask and point out two things;
- What glass did you use? The 1ds MK II (and the MK III even more so) demand expensive, excellent glass. The large sensor and the resolution will put even the most expensive lenses to the test.
- Did you apply default sharpening after post processing? Canon state that a unsharp mask / smart sharpen of about 300% 0.3px (tweak when needed) is necessary to combat the AA filter. If you do that, detail will jump out at you and make your jaw drop, seriously.
For me the 1ds MK II experience has been a real treat. I bought mine summer 2007, well aware that the MK III was due to be announced.
For me, the small percentages in resolution didn't matter (though the MKIII, as a total package, is a step up from the MK II). The MK II creates wonderful photos. I have used mine for landscape, macro, studio, product and animals so far and I love every pixel i get. Prints looks great, my 70-200 f 2.8 finally saw use as a portrait lens again and my 17-40 really goes super wide for landscape.
The menu system's "idiot proofing" can be somewhat confusing at first and I miss my 20D control stick for the focus point selection, how ever; When you have used it for a while, the handling become second nature.
I don't need a "live view 42" flat screen TV" on the back of my camera as the new DSLR's have these days, draining the battery, so I am perfectly happy with the smallish one on the MK II. I use my screen for quick reviews/controls and to check the RGB histogram for exposure, the rest is done on the computer.
I don't complain about size or weight and I don't see why one should when one is buying a camera one may use in a desert war -or to club down a potential mugger and take his photo afterwards. :)
Seriously though; If you don't want a heavy full frame camera, go for the 5D (or the coming 5D mk II). I use my 1ds mk II with the 70-200 F2.8L, the 135 f2 L, 24-105 F4 L and the 400 5.6L and even though I get tired some times, I know that these various combos will produce pictures that will "aw" my clients.
- Besides, a little work out is good for everyone in a time when people are getting more obese by the minute.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars (would give 4.5 if possible), deducting some of the points for the over complicated menu-control system as well as the missing control stick for the focus points. (The 20D had it, and was released at the same time, so IMO the 1ds MK II should have had it).
At the time I am writing this review, a used 1ds MK II can be had for about 50% of it's introduction price.
If you are planning to step up from the 1D, 5D or the xxD/xxxD series, I would recommend this camera with no hesitation.
- Prepare to spend the money, saved on buying a used camera, on glass :)
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Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II 16.7MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
... Great camera! Easy to use for a novice. Instruction manual is logical and easily understood. If you are looking for a DSLR, look no further. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Canon EOS Rebel XSi (a.k.a. 450D) SLR Digital Camera Kit (Black) + Canon 18-55mm IS Lens + Tiffen 58mm 3pc Filter Kit + Canon 75-300mm III Lens + Tiffen 58mm 3pc Filter Kit + Two (2) Transcend 8GB SDHC Memory Card + Willoughbys Accessory Kit
... This camera has an awesome image stabilization feature, and I have been very impressed by most of the features; good color fidelity, great in low light etc. And it's cheap. However, recently the camera stopped recognizing the battery. Sent it to Pentax who can repair it (new circuit board) for $250, which in my view is not worth it. Things happen to technology, but I'm wondering if this is a weakness with the brand as I have never experienced such a glitch. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Pentax K100D 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Shake Reduction (Body Only)
... I was a little concerned after I placed the order because I didn't see in the description that it was specified to be new, or refurbished either. Package showed up and everything was brand new.
Great shipping, great deal. Would definitely do business with adorama again. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Nikon D60 10.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Two Lens Kit, with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX VR & 55mm - 200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX - USA Warranty
... Great camera! Easy to use for a novice. Instruction manual is logical and easily understood. If you are looking for a DSLR, look no further. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Canon EOS Rebel XSi (a.k.a. 450D) SLR Digital Camera Kit (Black) + Canon 18-55mm IS Lens + Tiffen 58mm 3pc Filter Kit + Canon 75-300mm III Lens + Tiffen 58mm 3pc Filter Kit + Two (2) Transcend 8GB SDHC Memory Card + Willoughbys Accessory Kit
... This camera has an awesome image stabilization feature, and I have been very impressed by most of the features; good color fidelity, great in low light etc. And it's cheap. However, recently the camera stopped recognizing the battery. Sent it to Pentax who can repair it (new circuit board) for $250, which in my view is not worth it. Things happen to technology, but I'm wondering if this is a weakness with the brand as I have never experienced such a glitch. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Pentax K100D 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Shake Reduction (Body Only)
... I was a little concerned after I placed the order because I didn't see in the description that it was specified to be new, or refurbished either. Package showed up and everything was brand new.
Great shipping, great deal. Would definitely do business with adorama again. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Nikon D60 10.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Two Lens Kit, with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX VR & 55mm - 200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX - USA Warranty
... I already reviewed this product as excellent. Packaged very well. Excellent correspondence with seller. Brand new condition as promissed. Prompt delivery. I would recommend this seller highly. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Nikon D200 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-70mm AF-S DX f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED Nikkor Zoom Lens
... Much improved over the previous version S3 Pro in terms of ease of use.
The larger display screen is nice and the menu is much improved.
Although the AA batteries of the previous version had its advantages, I prefer the lithion ion battery system of this version.
The actual results is not that much of an improvement -- pixel count and ccd sizes remain the same. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on FujiFilm - FinePix S5 Pro DSLR Camera Body
... I have owned this camera for 18 months or so, and have used it in a variety of settings, indoor, outdoor, sunny, low light, action, stills, portraits, etc. It absolutely excels when there is enough light. Beautiful pictures, quick focus, solidly made, excellent camera.
The problem I have is with low light situations. Not dark, but something less than bright sun. This camera has significant trouble focusing if the subject isn't well lit. Since I bought this camera to take action shots of my son's wrestling team (think about how poorly lit gyms are for taking pictures) and playing football (Friday night lights aren't always so bright), it has been a challenge to get the shots I want. Another problem is that above an ISO sensitivity of 800, the pictures are grainy and ugly, which is pretty much impossible to Phtoshop out, making low-light photography even more difficult. To compensate, I bought a fairly nice 28-200 Tamron for the wrestling mat, which allows me to keep the aperture and ISO relatively low and take some pretty nice pictures with my hot shoe flash (Pentax AF360-FGZ). I also bought the 50-500 "Bigma" from Sigma for football - it doesn't cover the whole field, but as I walk the sidelines, I can get some decent shots while avoiding ISO settings over 800.
Bottom line: if your main purpose is to take low-light action shots, spend the extra 300-500 on a mid-level Nikon. If you're taking family vacation photos, nature photos, etc., this is a great camera and an excellent value. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Pentax K10D 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
... Why should you purchase this older canon model?
~ It still takes great quality photographs, and at 8.2 megapixels, it still large enough to produce 24x30 inch image or even a little larger.
~You can find the 20D on amazon or other classifieds for 400 dollars or cheaper, and amazing price for an SLR body!
~I've owned this camera for over 4 years now, and it's NEVER let me down. Canon builds quality cameras, and despite me dropping it, taking it out in frigid weather, its barely shown signs of wear.
~This camera still out-preforms newer nikon cameras in the realm of sport photography. It can snap off a burst of at least 20 photos in a couple seconds. I use it for hockey, football, soccer, you name it!
~Be sure to check the sensor every so often for dust, I try to clean mine once a month or so to keep photos looking crisp and colorful.
~Great in-camera settings (called parameters in the menu) let you control contrast, sharpness, saturation, and also control b&w or color modes. You get much better results doing it in-camera than in photoshop.
~If you're looking to "go professional" and buying an SLR, but don't want to drop 900+ dollars on a canon rebel, try the 20D. It's an amazing camera!
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Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Canon EOS 20D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
... I am far from a professional photographer, but I take it as seriously as possible while still referring to it as a hobby. I take mostly pictures of people at events and many of my baby son without flash in low light situations.
I had been using a Nikon D40x for 1 year and very early reached my limitation with that camera. The Nikon D40x has very nice image quality, but the camera's interface is not suited for a more serious shooter who wants quick single button or dial access to such shooting parameters such as white balance, shooting mode, metering mode, etc. I also felt very limited by the D40x not having an in-body focus motor that would allow me to use non AF-I/AF-S lenses (which are lenses without the focus motor built-in).
The Nikon D40x limitations were severe enough that I was about to consider purchasing a Canon 40D until the Nikon D90 appeared just in time.
PROS:
1. Fantastic set of separate buttons on the camera to control parameters like ISO, white balance, metering, autofocus, image quality, shooting mode, etc.
2. Two command dials
3. High resolution 920K pixel LCD screen (like the one on the Nikon D300)
4. 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor
5. Low noise high ISO capability (for low light shooting) I can shoot ISO 1600 with good image quality with this camera, while on my D40x I could only shoot with ISO 400 and obtain acceptable IQ. I will even use ISO 3200 frequently with very usable results!
6. Separate top-viewing LCD screen in addition to the rear high res screen, to show shooting parameters constantly
7. In-body focus motor which allows the use of Nikon's non AF-I/S lenses, including wonderful and CHEAP prime lenses such as the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 (~$100 lens!)
8. Continuous shooting of 4.5 frames per second
9. Small size, although larger than the D40/D40x/D60, it is still substantially smaller in the hand than the D300/D3
10. 720p 24fps MPEG video shooting capability with incredible ability to use depth of field that I cannot achieve with my Sony High-Def camcorder.
11. Eleven auto-focus points (not as nice as the 51 points on the D300, but substantially better than my D40x with its 3 points)
12. GPS option
13. HDMI output
14. Enormous number of options to customize camera and shooting settings to fit your style of shooting
15. Fantastic image quality right out-of-box if you don't want to do any post processing
16. Terrific build quality
17. Top notch camera ergonomics (but this will be a very personal opinion that differs for each shooter)
CONS:
1. "Rolling shutter" phenomenon while recording video: The D90 CMOS sensor has the same problem that other CMOS video recorders have when recording video. If you move the camera, especially horizontally, you get a "jelly" or "rubberbanding" effect where the image wobbles significantly. It is nice to have the video features, which looks very sharp at 720p, but it is NOT a substitute for a video camera. If you use a tripod, and do not do quick zooms/pans, the video quality is excellent. Without a tripod, however, you may get nauseas watching a wobbly video. The sound is also in monoaural.
2. 1/200 flash synch: Not a problem for me, but it might be for you.
3. No weather sealing: This is found on the Nikon D300/D3 and even on similarly priced models from other camera companies
4. The buffer will fill up after about 8 continuous RAW + JPG (FINE) shots. This number differs depending on the shooting parameters that you will choose. If you shoot primarily JPG, the buffer seems to allow a very large number of continuous shots, but I have not quantified this for JPG only.
TIPS:
1. Get the FREE Nikon ViewNX software from Nikon's site as your 1st step in your workflow. This will let you examine your RAW images that you can process for either Nikon CaptureNX2 to do further RAW processing or just export to JPG for a JPG editor such as PhotoShop.
2. Recommend buying the Nikon CaptureNX2. It is a RAW converter (if you shoot in RAW) that will read the camera settings properly for export to JPG. Capture NX2, however, is not as slick as the Adobe products and Capture NX2 requires a fairly powerful computer, otherwise it can run pretty slowly on a PC > 3 years old.
3. If you use JPEGs out-of-camera, consider increasing the sharpness above the default 3 or 4. Nikon uses a very conservative sharpening default setting. Nikon has decided to change the default JPEG images to match the higher end D3/D700/D300 cameras which produce more neutral images. Consequently, the D90 images that are less punchy than the D40/D40x/D60/D80, so you may also want to turn up the in-camera saturation and contrast.
The Nikon D90 has all of the interface features that serious and even professional photographers need with wonderful image quality. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens [Outfit] + Nikon 70-300mm Lens + 4GB Card + EN-EL3e Battery + Case + Cameta Bonus Accessory Kit
... I bought this camera as a backup. I had one before but sold it to buy something else. The Seller AK was great and easy to do business with. He sold me a camera in near mint condition with lots of extras and he even had the firmwear upgrade done. Thanks AK. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Nikon D100 6MP Digital SLR Camera
... I have used the D80 camera with the 18-135 lens kit that was a package when I bought it in Dec 2006. Not even 3 years and the lenses has malfunctioned. I was on vaction in Yellowstone and the camera does not focus anymore, so I ended up doing manual focusing. I knew it is the lens because I have 2 other G lenses from my old N65 and the camera focuses well when using the old lenses. Nikon only has a 1 year warranty on this. Otherwise, before the lenses broke it was a great camera. Nikon has very poor customer support. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
... this camera is excellent. In the past I had a complete Leica set. this one is better. ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens + 8GB Deluxe Accessory Kit
... I had not used a digital SLR before purchasing the XSi. The camera has many good reviews in e.g. consumers reports - one of the best 100 products. I think my past experience with point-and-shoot Canon cameras helped me decide to buy this product because I was familiar with the Zoombrowser software and trusted the Canon name. At first, I was horrified to find that the primary shooting modes for the camera do not allow use of the LCD display to formulate shots. I own a 35mm SLR film camera and was not good at using it so having another SLR where I would have to make settings in most modes made me anticipate poor outcomes. But, after reading the manual and using the DVD's that came with this package, I was more confident in composing shots and setting up the camera and have done very well in my first month of ownership. And, I discovered the live shooting mode that does allow the use of the LCD display. I would recommend this camera and the outfit to anyone moving up to a digital SLR because the camera gives you all the capability you can handle (for now) and the accessories and materials really move you into a new awareness of how to take great shots. I am quite happy with the camera and the package. I would recommend that anyone buying the camera also get the battery pack and an upgraded memory card (4 GB comes with the camera). ...
Check Amazon Price and Read More Reviews on Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12MP Digital SLR Camera (Silver) with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens & EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III "USM" Telephoto Zoom Lens + 8GB Deluxe Accessory Kit
