^^ Digital can be just as good or better than film. It just depends on your experience. As you shoot more, you'll get better. tC2 thumper, PM me if you're interested in buying my D40x

 

dude, that camera is beautiful. was looking at it on the internet reading reviews and stuff.

 

yah it's a great camera to start on. I've only had it for like 4 months but I decided I wanted to jump to something that can focus the lenses from my film SLR

 

Thanks dude, are you talking about the latest pic with the tC when you say urban buildings? If yes, that place is nothing like it seems, that had some photoshoping involved, original pic was not that good, but i wanted to make it good because i did not have time to find a good spot, so it's just taken by my apartment building.

 

oh i was talking about the buildings and the cool egg haha

 

Oh that's just downtown Chicago dude. and the egg is usually refered to as 'the bean' in Milenium park. Anyways, those pics aren't that good, the latest like 5 or 6 are when I actually tried reading some stuff and practiced on how to use my camera correctly.

 

haha either way, the scenery is sweet. I don't have anything like that around here.

 

thanks for using my picture as an example lol

if ur starting out id recomend the canon rebel xt or xti

 

if you want quality pics, save up your money and get a nice dslr!

 

I just got a D40 and it's amazing. Btw, if your budget is $500, you're not going to get a D40x with a decent lens for under 750, unless you get used or re-certified.

Here's some examples of pics I took with the Nikon D40




And don't forget that I have no clue how to use the camera .

 

Wow all this talk about the Nikon D40 makes me want to get one =] I dont seem to be able to get the same types of pics with my Panasonic Lumix...or perhaps I just don't know how to use it properly =/

 

Something that you must take into consideration is that zoom lenses are generally very poor in quality compared to a prime (single focal lenght, non-zooming) lens. Of course this is a generalization and you can certainly get great results with a 'kit' lens (the one that comes with the camera) under the right lighting conditions and settings. If you want to have a lot of fun, get the nikon (or canon, or pentax) dSLR of your choice and pair it with a quality low price prime like a 50mm f/1.8 or 35 f/2.0.

Using a prime lens allows more light into the camera, allowing a faster shutter speed and letting you shoot without a tripod. It also has fewer pieces of glass and therefore less distortion and chance for glare (which reduces contrast) and flare. Also, they have a better bokeh. That is to say matter that is in front of or behind the object in focus falls out of focus more and has that pleasing dreamy look giving the perception that your subject looks sharper than it may actually be and providing more emphasis. See the pictures on the first page and you'll know what I'm talking about. A good lens that does what I just explained is around $100 new for either a canon or nikon (dunno about Pentax). Oh yeah, they allow your camera to autofocus better because of the increased light they let in.

 

x2 =) i have a rebel xt that i started with and you'll definately learn a lot once you actually have the camera.

the rolling shots arent THAT hard to do..i mean the concept of what to do is pretty easy its just actually getting it haha

 

i'd recommend the xti too but he's on a budget.. 700 plus will get him the xti with the lens kit

 

I got my D40 for $500 with a 18-55 (crap) lens from Circuit City.

 

then go with the xt..

 

that crap lens will still do wonders, better than the most expensive point and shoot.

 

hah the kit lens is good to learn on =p

 

I have no clue how to use it yet (manual mode) and I'm already taking MUCH better pictures than my old point and shoot and my moms new Sony point and shoot. She was all ____ed that I bought the camera (I owe her money haha) and wanted to see how it was better than the camera she got, so I just put one picture up of the dog running around in the backyard, and she shut up and walked away .

So far I've been able to take some really good shots, and some really crappy shots. I've just been getting lucky with lighting on the good ones.

 

When using manual mode, shutter or aperture priority, you will always be adjusting the settings almost for every shot unless lighting is consistent on different angles.. if you are shooting on full auto mode that's when you get consistent quality since everything will be adjusted by the camera, it's useful if you need to take very fast pics and you want consistent quality but your options on how you like the picture will be limited and you cant use your creativeness