[John Layne]

I’m about to buy a digital SLR before a trip to Europe in mid August and I am looking for recommendations.

Currently I have a Nikon F601 Film SLR and a crappy Canon digital camera of the point and shoot variety (lots of problems with the Canon, but that’s a different story). The Nikon F601 has only one lens to go with it an AF Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8, in the past I have tended to borrow other lenses from a good friend of mine.

I would appreciate your comments and recommendations.

List below is what’s at the top of my shopping list so.
Nikon D200
AF-S DX 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED
AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
Speedlight SB-600

[mrcharles]

My wife and I are both professional photographers and can highly recommend the Canon 5D. If that is a bit too expensive, we also have the Canon 20D and are pleased with it, too (this model is superceded by the 30D... no first hand experience, but I expect it to be of comparable quality or better).

We prefer Canon to Nikon lenses (experienced both...). We had a Nikon D100 and were very disappointed with image quality and glass... but we know of some local pros who still ride with Nikon digital...

For good, professional reviews I highly recommend a visit to http://www.luminous-landscape.com/ ...

By the way... be very careful about changing lenses with digital cameras. The sensor is electrostatically charged (and the charge can persist for several minutes after turning your camera off...) and it is a dust magnet. Keep your rear lens mount/elements very clean... and make sure that your camera bag is kept as dustfree as possible... every little bit helps.

I hope this is helpful. Good luck!

p.s. (I recently purchased a Epson p2000 image viewer/storage device and can recommend it... it beats buying a bunch of cards...).

[Jake256]

I would say dpreview.com is a good place to start too. I just bought a D200 a week ago to replace my d70 and I like it a lot, but I have many friends that have dumped Nikon for the high-end Canon stuff. Better service is the main reason. I've really never had a problem with Nikon.

I have the 12-24 and it is an ultrasharp lens, BUT it has a distortion that a bit difficult to fix. It's a mustache distortion that curves two directions at the edges. Not a big deal unless you are stitching images for VR work. I use the panotools lens fix plugin for Photoshop. It does a pretty good job fixing the images.

I also have the speed light and it works just fine.

[JesperW]

1. Go to www.dpreview.com

2. Read the reviews of your candidates

3. Only buy it if the review conclusion is "Highly Recommended". "Recommended" and lower ratings mean "This camera sucks but I can't say so or I'll ruin my relationship with the manufacturer"

[noseman]

I just saw the new alpha series from Sony.

$999

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSH ... style_dslr


looks promising...

[zoetropeuk]

At some point in time over the past 12 months I've owned the following for business purposes:

1. D70
2. D200
3. Fuji S2Pro
4. Fuji S3Pro
5. Canon 20D
6. Canon 5D
7. D2X
8. 1DsMKII

and a large selection of lenses. Now to sort Nikon from Canon, I prefer Nikon cameras. Nikon's menu layouts, button layouts and controls are so much easier to use compared to Canon. The 1DsMKII for example is just far too cumbersome , whoever thought of needing a two finger combination and dial to change ISO has obviously never used a camera in a real situation.

The Nikon cameras are just so much easier to use. I recently went on an 18 day trip to Norway and took both the D200 and S3Pro with me. For speed and usability the D200 wins hands-down. But for ultimate image quality you simply cannot beat the S3pro.

I also have both lenses you suggested and I think they make a great combination. You may want to add a 50mm or 60mm lens to the list if the budget can stretch. I used my 60mm Macro for day to day tourist type shots and the typical bug/flower close-ups.

Once my gallery is online I'll add a link for you to check out.

Matt

[j_man]

Everything mrcharles said.

I would recomend a 5D, this is an awesome camera. I have a 20D which I have loved ever since I bought it (now superceeded by the 30D which I've never used) Best thing I ever bought. It seems you already have experience with Nikon though so the choice is up to you.

I think the Alpha series is what Sony have released after buying up all of Konika Minoltas now defunkt DSLR range.

Josh.

[andrebaros]

THe Canon 5D is possibly the best DSLR out there right now but if your a traveler not a pro than I personally think the Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT is the ultimate travel camera. It's compact but doesn't compromise quality... having the same image processing chip as all the higher end Canon's. It's only sortcoming is the smaller CCD vs the 5D full size sensor, but you get used to this pretty fast.

I have the 350D and am lucky enough to have several friends who are professional or semi-professional photographers who also use Canon DSLR bodies who let me borrow lenses. I took the EF-S 10-22 on a recent architectural sight seeing trip and was amazed with this lense. Virtually no distortion even at 10mm, great focus out to the edge. Simply amazing. Every photo I took with it looked professional.

Here's a great review of the canon lens... skip to the bottom
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital ... arison.htm

The new EF-S 17-55 IS 2.8 also looks like a great lense with that huge round aperture.

My typical travel lense with it is the EF-S 17-85 IS. Great range, decent in available light (which is what I mostly shoot) and pretty much the only lense you need... but it has a lot more distortion at 17 than then 10-22.

I've always prefered Canon because that's what I grew up with, but most of the photographers I deal with have switched from Nikon for film to Canon for digital... though Nikon may finally be catching up.

Of course the classic review site is:
http://www.dpreview.com/

[Leonardo]

I have own a portion of "zoetropeuk" cameras

1.D70
3. S2Pro
5. Canon 20D

and I have play with the rebel (hated the thing, I couldn't figure out how change the apperture or speed...fogot which one)

What's the purpose of the trip? Fun, enjoyment, vacation?

If I was planning to go to Europe one more time I wouldn't take any of them.

Having a big bag full of expensive lenses and cameras is a pain in the ass. You simply can't leave it anywehere! not to mention you won't be bring them to a night club or when you're parting (where all the fun drunk pictures are taken ).

I did got some nice shots while I was in europe, but I would have rather leave it at home.

http://www.tereschubert.com/art/ (to see some pics)

leo

[andrebaros]

The Rebel X's only interface issue is the two buttons needed to manually change the apperture in full manual mode, otherwise it's great. But it's just like 3d software, if you've used Maya for years you'll hate the Max interface when you first start, but once you use the same camer for a while you can do whatever you want with it. Go and play with some of these camera's before you buy... all these old school photographers who think you need to carry a chunk of steel to take good pictures forget that you need a good eye and a good lense before the camera even matters.

[John Layne]

What's the purpose of the trip? Fun, enjoyment, vacation?

If I was planning to go to Europe one more time I wouldn't take any of them.

Having a big bag full of expensive lenses and cameras is a pain in the ass. You simply can't leave it anywehere! not to mention you won't be bring them to a night club or when you're parting (where all the fun drunk pictures are taken ).

I did got some nice shots while I was in europe, but I would have rather leave it at home.

http://www.tereschubert.com/art/ (to see some pics)

leo

The trip is a vacation, 5 weeks in total 1 1/2 weeks in London the rest in Croatia, mainly cruising around the islands, plus a few days in Italy and Slovenia.

Sadly I’m getting on a bit in years (I’m 40) and the sight of balding, slightly overweight, middle aged guy bouncing around a night club is not something that I would willingly force on my European friends.

[Leonardo]

I would still recomend you a pocket camera... Many of those little things do amzing work and they will give you more time to enjoy whatever 40 y/o people like to do

(I was looking on my files to see if I could find a pic of me with my backpack... that things started to get heavy by week1, and I stayed 4 months )

leo

[Jake256]

I would still recomend you a pocket camera... Many of this little things do amzing work and they give you more time enjoy whatever 40 y/o people like to do

(I was looking on my files to see if I could find a pic of me with my backpack... that things started to get heavy by week1, and I stayed 4 months )

leo

The big cameras are a pain to lug around. I would agree.

The only problem with a pocket camera is there are very few with true wide angle lenses. 37 mm is about the best you will find without an attachment. If you are shooting architecture then this will be a problem.

[hyltom]

37 mm is about the best you will find without an attachment. If you are shooting architecture then this will be a problem.

There is few 28mm now on the market (Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 with Leica Lens, Ricoh Caplio R4, Samsung...)

[Jake256]

37 mm is about the best you will find without an attachment. If you are shooting architecture then this will be a problem.

There is few 28mm now on the market (Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 with Leica Lens, Ricoh Caplio R4, Samsung...)

Yea, I knew there were a few, but I wasn't sure who made them. Several have wide angle attachments. My old Nikon 990 was like that. If you are standing in front of Notre Dame the 28 will still be a bit underpowered. The interior shots is where it will really kill you. You'll need something fast and wide.