Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My old Nikon N65 has finally been put to rest and I am now in the market for a DSLR.. I dont have a lot of experience with digital, but want to get the best one possible and learn on it. I have heard rave reviews about the canon rebel xti, but (and this is going to sound quite silly), I dont like the way it feels. I went to best buy, picked it up, and went "yuck". I dont know what it is, but its like trying on someone elses shoes. So I think I have it narrowed down to either the pentax K10D or the Nikon D80 (probably a refurbished model).. Does anyone have these, and can you give me some pros and cons? I do a LOT of macro (bugs, frogs, fungi), and also birding.. so I know I'm going to have to invest in various lenses once I pick the camera body out. I love that the pentax is weatherproofed.. I spent more money cleaning my nikon ove the years than I originally paid for it..

If theres another one I'm missing in this class, please let me know.. Im basically going on internet info and reviews online since our town is lacking a good camera store..
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>>If theres another one I'm missing in this class, please let me know.. Im basically going on internet info and reviews online since our town is lacking a good camera store..

I would certainly wait a few weeks and see what new is announced. The reason I would wait is that when the new models are announced (Canon and Nikon just did) and come out, the prices on these older models will drop.

Any week now, Sony is set to announce its mid-level DSLR which is supposed to be pretty nice (12-14MP CMOS, image-stabilization, big bright LCD and viewfinder). It would certainly compete in this range, IMHO.

I have heard good things about the Olympus E510, although I don't know what macro lenses are available in this 4/3 mount.

However, if you have any investment in Nikon gear, why wouldn't you go with the D80 or one of the new Nikons? They are good cameras and you would save $$ by not having to run out and buy lenses, assuming you have some worth keeping.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I have used cameras with and without image stabilization. Its a great benefit, particularly when handholding macros.
I don't know if you can get image stabilized macro lenses in Nikon/Canon system, but with a system that has in camera stabilization, you can buy any brand macro and it will be stabilized.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I own a pentax k110d. Its the model without image stabilization but my friend has the k100d which has it. The cool thing about pentax is that he can put any lens ever made for pentax on it and IS will work with it. No other dslr will do that to my knowledge. Most of them dont even accept older lenses. i'll show you some shots ive taken with my pentax. im very impressed with it especially for the price. I just looked at prices. d80's are $1099.99 and k10d's are $899.99 with a $100 rebate.