How Many Digital Cameras Do You Need To Try?
After four wonderful years, I finally sold my Nikon D70. To this date, I still miss it. I got a D40 not long after, but somehow it just didn't feel quite right. I couldn't complain about image quality; it's without a doubt better than that of the D70. The problem was, it felt tedious just to go through menus and look for settings for ISO, white balance, card formatting, etc. I never had that problem with my D70, as it had dedicated buttons that made settings customization a lot easier. Also, the D40 doesn't have autofocus when I use my 50mm 1.8 lens. So after three short days of using it, I returned the D40.
Before you run out and buy a Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, you might want to consider a few things. The video quality is not that great. We're basically talking about the same grainy video quality you'd find on YouTube or the thousands of other 2 minute video clip sites. Panning and zooming should be kept to a minimum with the Flip Video, as the camera struggles to maintain image clarity during these movements.
Ease of use is definitely a strong point with the Flip Video. There's basically one big red button for recording, and a couple more for reviewing and deleting. The Pure Digital promo video in all it's cutesy cartoon like style describes shooting videos as simple as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For most people it will be that easy. Simply record (big red button), upload (flip out USB), edit (software included), and share (included software emails friends and uploads to blogs or social network sites).
Since the price of the camera increases with the amount of megapixels, you should first analyze what you will use the camera for. If you will mainly use it to take shots for your blog or will not likely print anything larger than a 5x7 there is no reason why you should go for something higher than a 4.0 megapixel camera. Save your budget for other features and accessories instead of investing in megapixels you will not use.
However, the main advantage you would get if you decide on spending more for a higher resolution camera is cropping: a 9x12 shot taken at 5.0 MP can be resized to 8x10 or 5x7 without any loss in quality.
The XSi also has great image quality, good skin tones, and has very little noise. I would have gotten the D80 if it had the same features found in XSi; namely, auto-sensor cleaning, highlight tone priority, and pre-bundled VR lens.
I still like the D80, except the XSi wins because it's a 2008 model and has the same features found in the pro 1DS and the semi-pro 40D. It may not be the best SLR camera ever, but it's the best SLR camera of the moment for me.
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