There are tons of camera reviews everywhere on the internet, giving technical information and complicated test results and diagrams, but i know most of the beginners who didn’t have a SLR camera before doesn’t understand most of the technical information. Honestly i don’t understand most of the technical test results and diagrams myself. So this post won’t be complicated and technical…

I will just give basic information about the recommended cameras for beginners. Also i want to say that there won’t be huge differences between the cameras that i’m going to recommend to you. Of course some of them are better than the others but you can easily understand which one is better by looking it’s price.

Canon DSLR Cameras for Beginners

Canon is a famous camera producer from Japan and it has a wide range of products, from beginner level cameras to most expensive professional ones. But we are interested in beginner level right now.

Canon 350 D (or Canon Digital Rebel XT)

This is the cheapest model of the Rebel series (2nd generation Rebel series), it is low-weight, small, easy to use and effective. Most probably it can satisfy all your expectations from a DSLR if you are first starter. This camera is released in March 2005 so it is a little bit old.

Features

  • 8 Mega-pixels
  • US Kit Price : $ 380 - 440
  • ISO : 100 - 1600
  • Shutter Speed : 1/4000 sec. to 30 sec.
  • Sensor Type : CMOS
  • Storage : Compact Flash Card

Canon 400 D (or Canon Digital Rebel XTi)

This is another camera from 2nd generation Rebel series of Canon. It is very similar to 350 D which i mentioned before. It is a newer camera released in October 2006 and it has couple of new features. Also it is one of the cheapest 10 mega-pixel cameras that you can buy.

Features

  • 10 Mega-pixels
  • Dust control : This is a really good feature to have, sensor cleans itself automatically with ultrasonic vibrations.
  • Better Image Quality (Comparing to 350 D)
  • US Kit Price : $ 570 - 610
  • ISO : 100 - 1600
  • Shutter Speed : 1/4000 sec. to 30 sec.
  • Sensor Type : CMOS
  • It has a bigger LCD Screen than 350 D (2,5 inches)
  • Storage : Compact Flash Card

Canon 450 D (New) (or Canon Digital Rebel XSi)

This is the newest member of digital rebel family of Canon also it is the most expensive camera of the series. It released in April 2008 which is the current month so it is NEW. Again it is similar to other two cameras but of course Canon has added some new features to this new camera that can attract most of the beginner level DSLR users, such as image stabilized lens, dust control and live view. Another change that Canon made in this camera is changing the Storage Card Type from Compact Flash to SD Cards. (The other cameras of the series were using CF [Compact Flash] cards, but 450 D is now using SD cars which are lighter than CF cards.)

Features

  • 12 Megapixels
  • Dust Control
  • Live View LCD
  • Kit comes with Image Stabilized Lens (f 3.5-5.6 EF-S 18-55mm)
  • US Kit Price : $ 900 - 1000
  • ISO : 100 - 1600 , It also has a function that camera can automatically decide which ISO to use between ISO 100 and ISO 400 values.
  • Shutter Speed : 1/4000 sec. to 30 sec.
  • Sensor Type : CMOS
  • It has bigger LCD Screen than 400 D (3 inches)
  • Uses SD cards for storage

Nikon DSLR Cameras for Beginners

Nikon is another famous company of camera and photography world which is also from Japan. Prices of Nikon digital cameras are slightly higher than cameras of its biggest competitor Canon.

Nikon D40 and D40x

It is a good camera for learning photography. ıt is small, low-weight ad cheapest digital SLR camera of Nikon. These are the only good points of this camera in my opinion and i also want to say that i do NOT recommend you this camera. The reason of this camera being included in the post is making a comparison more easy for you.

Features of D40

  • 6,1 Megapixels
  • US Kit Price : $ 470 - 500
  • ISO : 200 - 1600
  • Shutter Speed : 1/4000 sec. to 30 sec.
  • Storage : SD Card
  • Sensor Type : CCD
  • Only 3 auto-focus point (There are 7 focus points in 350D)

Features of D40x

  • 10 Mega-pixels
  • US Kit Price : $ 580 - 620
  • ISO : 100 - 1600
  • Shutter Speed : 1/4000 sec. to 30 sec.
  • Storage : SD Card
  • Sensor Type : CCD
  • Only 3 auto-focus point (There are 7 focus points in 350D)

Nikon D60 (New)

New digital camera of Nikon, released in March 2008. This is the smallest digital SLR camera of Nikon. D60 offers some upgrades over the D40x. Dust control system and improved autofocus are considerable changes for D60.

Features

  • 10,2 Mega-pixels
  • Dust Control
  • US Kit Price : $ 730 - 760
  • ISO : 100 - 1600 (+3200 with boost)
  • Shutter Speed : 1/4000 sec. to 30 sec.
  • Storage : SD Card / MMC Card
  • Sensor Type : CCD

Nikon D80

Best of these three Nikon DSLR cameras is D80, it is fast and closer to professional. This 10 megapixel DSLR is good for action photography.

  • 10 Mega-pixels
  • US Kit Price : $ 830 - 880
  • ISO : 100 - 1600 (+3200 with boost)
  • Shutter Speed : 1/4000 sec. to 30 sec.
  • Storage : SD Card / MMC Card
  • Sensor Type : CCD

I won’t write about other brands for now because i believe starting with Nikon or Canon is better. Nikon and Canon are the sector leaders and you can find a lot more lenses and other photography equipment for these two brands than other brands. Also they have much professional and complicated cameras that you may want to buy as you get more experience in photography, probably when you want to upgrade your camera you’ll prefer to buy a Nikon or Canon just like almost every professional photographer, so if you buy a lens for the beginner level cameras i mentioned in this article, you will be able to use these lenses later when you have a much professional digital camera.

Canon or Nikon? it is a tough question, every one of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. Objectively i believe Canon has a better price/performance ratio on beginner (consumer) DSLR cameras segment.