Originally posted by: teatime0315
First off, brand doesn't matter that much. Canon and Nikon both take amazing pictures.
You're right -- the brand doesn't matter much, yet you overlook Minolta/Sony, Pentax [and Samsung], and Olympus [and Panasonic]. Sigma and Fuji are too niche to mention, really.
But for budget sake, I'd stick with Canon or Nikon because of their extensive line of lenses.
I find this comment quite bizarre actually. I'd argue that, for budget's sake, you should stick with Pentax or Minolta/Sony because of the extensive amount of used lenses available for those mounts at auction for very little money. For instance, you can get an excellent quality 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 with a strong metal frame from Minolta for less than $50 shipped.
If budget is a serious concern, how does an extensive line of lenses matter?
Secondly, how much are you looking to spend.
I see from a subsequent post that this question was answered, and it's absolutely key. For between $650-700, you can get the Sony A100 with the kit lens. For $450 (on Amazon), you can get the K100D with their kit lens. For $650 at Buydig, you can get the Samsung GX-10 with kit lens (copy of the Pentax K10D). Also at Buydig, Olympus has the E-410 with kit for $629 or the E-500 with a two lens kit (28-90mm and 80-300mm in 35mm terms) for $558.
Incidentally, the Sony, Pentax' K10D and K100D, and Samsung's GX-10 all have image stabilization for every single lens attached to the camera, unlike Canon and Nikon which require you to purchase special lenses to have the same ability.
With money a significant concern, I'd stick with the kit lens initially and look to buy a prime (non-zoom) lens at around 50mm, which is usually fairly inexpensive (Minolta's is about $50-70; Canon and Nikon are similar). Alternatively, you could look at a prime 28mm lens, which is going to be approximately 50mm equivalent on a digital SLR (50mm is considered "normal", ie., what you see with your eyeballs and is a good focal length to start with). The Minolta 28mm f/2.8 is fairly inexpensive at auction, running about $70 or so. Not sure what equivalents are with the other brands.
Keep in mind with the D40 (and the D40x) that if you want autofocus, you have to buy AF-S or AF-I and cannot use older lenses which require an in-body focus mechanism. Apparently that excludes the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D which is probably the cheaper 50mm lens available for the Nikon mount. I can't seem to find an AF-S lens in 50mm.
And as "ElFenix" said extra batteries and a BIG memory card.
On my Sony, I get 80 pictures on the maximum setting per 2GB card (that's using RAW+JPG mode). RAW only I get a little over 100. On maximum JPG, I get 440. Check some reviews to see what capacity you would likely need. 2GB cards are running at $35 now (Sandisk Ultra II); probably cheaper if you go with a lesser known brand.
The battery in the Sony lasts for 750 shots (even using the flash some), but I don't think many other cameras match that rating (I just know it's a significant improvement from my previous camera!).
Steve's Digicams says the Canon XT battery gets about 600 shots without flash; XTi says 500. Pentax K10D gets about 500 (same source). I think the D40 is rated at 470 (odd info on Steve's).
Regardless, an extra battery is good to have as a backup just in case you are at the end of the day and need a little extra juice for those last few shots. Or, as happens more often for me, I forget to charge my usual battery and then have the spare to take up the slack for my forgetfulness!
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