The Daily DSLR Question - Long

W

Winter Ivy

New member
DH & I have been researching DSLR's for some time now. Neither of us are particularly experienced or knowledgable about the world of photography, but are both interested in persuing and learning more as a hobby. We both feel like we've outgrown the features of our p&s and are interested in getting a camera that has tons of room for us to grow & learn. We've narrowed our choices down to the Nikon D80 and the Canon Rebel Xsi.

We like both cameras and have come up with many pros for both models, though we know we will probably be happy with the performance of either camera. So it comes down to other deciding factors. While we really love Nikon's, and the other photographers in our family/social circle have Nikons, we are leaning toward the Canon for two reasons. They are more readily available in our area (a plus for people who are reluctant to make large purchases online), and the lenses seem to be cheaper.

I have read some about the lack of body focus-drive motors in older model Nikons, which is what cuased us to start looking at the level of the D80 (though we definitely can't afford the D90 if we want to think about extras like lenses). I understand that this causes compatibility issues with some lenses if you want/need to be able to auto-focus. I just now read that the Canon Xsi also has no body focus-drive motor, but can't find any more information about it.

So my question is, if there is anyone here who has experience with this, do the Canons without body focus-drive motors have the same lens compatibilty issues as the Nikons? I know next to nothing about the lenses that are available for either brand. I am sorry if this sounds totally ignorant, I don't belong to any digital photography forums yet, so I decided to ask here since you ladies are so knowledgable about this kind of thing.

Thanks in advance for any input or education that you might have to offer :thumbup:

-Diana
 
I'm not too familiar with the XSi, but I do have the XTi (for almost 2 years now) which is the model before that and I don't have any lens compatibility issues at all. I have several lenses for my camera - the 18-55mm kit lens (which I don't use), 50mm f/1.8, 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 and the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 (which is my fave lens). I know with the Nikon D40, D40x and D60 the issue is that they don't auto focus with prime or fixed focal length lenses such as the 50mm, 85mm etc. As far as I know the XSi should not have that problem, but you could check the kenrockwell and dpreview web sites and also B&H always has lots of info on the camera on the specs/features tabs.
 
I know nothing about Canons, but wanted to tell you that Nikon D50s do not have the auto-focus issues that D40s and D60s do. I have a D50. I'm not sure they make them anymore, but you could buy a used one.
 
I don't know anything about the Canons. But I have a D80, my 17 year old has a D70, and my mom has a D40. If you have a question about one of those I'd be happy to answer it for you.
 
My sister has the d90 and I have the XSI, inside I get much better shots than her. She will even admit that, she has many of times put down the nikon and grabbed my XSI because it gets better shots. I'm telling you that thing is amazing. Her shots look digital if you know what I mean. She even wishes she had not got the Nikon.
 
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