[banyantree]

I have had a Sony DSCT1 for a number of years now and thought it was about time to upgrade to a decent camera.
Although I'm fairly new to SLR I would like to buy a camera which will last at least 10 years. I dont wish to buy a beginners SLR. My grandfather was a professional photographer however unfortunatley he is not around anymore to offer me advice.
I have been looking at both the Nikon D200 and the Canon EOS 30D and cannot make my mind up. I would be taking a lot of portrait and people photos and interior and exteriors of buildings.
Can anyone recommend which one is the better model or are they both just as good.
What type of lens should i buy for the camera. Do i need to buy Canon or Nikon lenses or is there a better lens available? I'd be looking at a 55-200mm or 18 -200 plus a wide angle lens for interior shots.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

cheers.

[cu3ed]

D200, honest opinion it would pee all over the D30

[senu]

Originally Posted by cu3ed

D200, honest opinion it would pee all over the D30

cu3ed,
Know the D200 very very nice (... now where's that lottery ticket?? )

We know the new 30D replaces the 20D with a few enhancements but only seen it on display in Jessops,
Im sure you have enough personal knowledge of the cameras to say specifically what features a 30D owner would be missing that the D200 owner has seeing as both are "above entry level" DLSRs'

See comments here relating to how we share our info on these cameras

[SSB]

Originally Posted by banyantree

Although I'm fairly new to SLR I would like to buy a camera which will last at least 10 years.

Both the D200 and 30D should be durable enough, but I find it hard to believe we'll be using these cameras 10 years on ... things are just moving so fast.

Originally Posted by banyantree

I dont wish to buy a beginners SLR. My grandfather was a professional photographer however unfortunatley he is not around anymore to offer me advice.

Again, neither are beginners DSLRs so both would seem to meet your needs.

Originally Posted by banyantree

I have been looking at both the Nikon D200 and the Canon EOS 30D and cannot make my mind up. I would be taking a lot of portrait and people photos and interior and exteriors of buildings.

Both will serve you well for people and building pics. It'd be a poor show if they couldn't. I don't suppose either really gives a marked advantage over the other in these sorts of pics.

Originally Posted by banyantree

Can anyone recommend which one is the better model or are they both just as good.

Again, I'd say both are comparable in quality. They both have different controls and I personally prefer the Nikon for control and menus etc.

Originally Posted by banyantree

What type of lens should i buy for the camera. Do i need to buy Canon or Nikon lenses or is there a better lens available? I'd be looking at a 55-200mm or 18 -200 plus a wide angle lens for interior shots.

Well, generally the canon / nikon lenses are good. But there can be good and better lenses depending on what your budget is. You might find that lenses from 3rd parties such as Sigma and Tamron will offer better value for money. Both are capable cameras so it would be a shame to skimp too much on the lenses.

What type of lens you buy is dependent on what you want to shoot. For buildings a wide angle like 10-20mm/22mm (sigma / canon) or 12-24mm (nikon / tokina) is a good bet, for landscapes and general stuff (including people) you're looking about 17mm to 70mm and for a longer zoom you are really looking at anything from 100mm to 500mm. Read lens reviews (sometimes with a pinch of salt) and work out where in your budget you might prefer to spend your money. I'd suggest that one lens cannot meet all your needs and you might be better breaking your lenses into two or three ranges zoom-wise. It's worth noting that you can get decent "prime" lenses (50mm / 30mm) which can offer good low light performance for a reasonable price.

Finally, I'd also suggest that you might budget about £150 for an external flash, which can make a big difference.

[senu]

SSB,
Very "succinct"

PS: In general terms dont you think though that the "Budget" DSLRs' are no poor relations of their more acccomplished brethen ?

[SSB]

Originally Posted by senu

PS: In general terms dont you think though that the "Budget" DSLRs' are no poor relations of their more acccomplished brethen ?

Yep, that's about the size of it. It's normally a few features shaved off here and maybe a few corners cut in the body manufacture, but you're often getting very similar results in terms of image quality between the "budget" and "semi-pro" bodies. What can make more of a difference is lens quality, both in terms of absolute image quality and ease of use (AF speed and accuracy mainly)