MicrostockGroup

what lenses do you have now?

I have $8000 in lenses (and $4000 on wishlist ) with a $1000 camera.  Camera is a lot less important, good glass is forever

Personally if you do not have a dslr at the moment.
ignore brands, all have advantages and disadvantages.
work out what features are a must have to you ie. fps, mpixels, antishake etc.  (and every feature there is, someone will tell you it isn't important.  ie people shoot sport with less than 3fps, others will say need 8-10fps)

narrow down your list based on above (and dont rule out 2nd hand / discontinued, they still take good pics, my 5 highest earning photos were shot with a pentax ds (now worth $250? and one of two lenses I bought for AU$25 each from the pawn shop),

ignore the super analytical camera reviews (most them are based on default settings and have little value except to generate traffic).  IMO there isn't a "bad" dslr on the market.

go to a shop that has those cameras in stock, have a play with them.  find the camera that feels 'right' to you and makes you want to go take pics.  buy it (or look for a 2nd hand one) and dont look back

phil

If you take your camera to outdoor harsh conditions, a paper camera would not be a good choice...

There may be differences in life between plastic x metal.

Regards,
Adelaide

I guess it depends on what site(s) you are most concerned with but more MP = $$$. I sell all sizes pretty well. Smaller sizes get higher download volume but keep in mind that one XL can be 15x the money of an XS. And some search engines give preference to larger images.

I started off with a Nikon D50, went to a D80 and now have a D300. If I had to do it all over again I would have started with the D300. The D300 image quality is way higher which means less post processing time and higher acceptance rates.

Site's XL sizes range from 8MP to 12MP and XXL is 14MP - 16MP. If you have the funds I'd recommend at least 12MP and there are options from Nikon (12MP D300, D700, D3) Canon (12MP XSi, 5D) Sony (14MP) and Pentax (14MP). If you like Nikon, the D90 should be out pretty soon and will most likely have the 12MP D300 sensor.

the pentax k20d can be had for $1000, pretty good for 14.5mp, glass is comparatively cheap and low iso performance is excellent (but not a good choice if you want long lenses, or high fps)



 

My D50 took quite a bit of post processing to fix its issues and gave me about a 60% acceptance rate. My D300 needs minimal post processing and currently has a 100% acceptance rate. This makes a huge difference in the speed you can build a portfolio. So while good glass is very important a good body is too.

I've seen this happen back in the days of film when somebody put a nice lens on a Canon Rebel they'd picked up at Walmart (the back story involves the untimely death of an EOS 1n).  Pulled the mounting bracket right off the camera.  On the other hand back in the day we had a fair range of intermediate cameras between the top and bottom of the range (there were at least two maybe three or more bodies between the Rebel and the 1n).  That range is more abbreviated with digital, mounting brackets and such may have been strengthened as a result.

Personally the Elan II(E) is on my list of favorite camera's ever.