I just bought my last camera about 4 months ago, It is an Olympus Master 2, and sure it has gotten me through my first semester of photography class, but it is time to move off the old point and shoots, and get the real deal professional level, with removable lens. Granted the Olympus Master, does have nice features, but as long as I have a fixed lens I will never get the shots I want to get, and take full advantage of being in control in manual mode.

Of course everyone in my photography class, is a camera junky, so we all talk about which one we have, and which one we want. The one thing which has been brought up was, the Cannon versus Nikon debate. Cannon being more the camera for shutter priority, and action shots, and Nikon being more for aperture priority and studio shots...

So for the seasoned vets on cameras, since I want to steer my major more towards portraiture and studio photos, should my next step up in camera be the Nikon, and if so, which one. I will say I did some solid studio shots with the school's studio camera, which was a sony, but no one ever seems to say (including my prof) Oh Sony's are the best cameras

What's your budget? Whatever it is don't get a Nikon D40. It is disappointing and not easy to use, feels cheap. If you can find a good deal on a used D70 or D70s, that would be a prime camera. They don't make them anymore and I think the D80 took its place.

We have the D100, D70 and a D70s. We are trying to sell our D70's so we can buy the D300. D300 should fit all our needs.

You'll want an ED lens as well. Don't go cheap with a G lens.

BTW, there will always be a debate on Nikon vs Canon, just like PC vs MAC. It's up to you which brand you prefer. This is a great web site to comapre all cameras and lenses: http://www.dpreview.com

I stand by my polaroid 110%

Shake it baby




-J

I thought a poloroid was a feeling you got when someone was looking through your pictures behind your back

Thanks for the site jdawg, as to budget, well still have to be somewhat on the lower end of the scale, my big mistake was when I went and got the olympus, I almost got the Cannon Rebel, it was about $200 more, and I debated back and forth, and thought, if I totally suck at this, then I am paying too much, for just one class. But since I don't suck, it should be a solid investment. I know the real money is in the lens,not the body, but I want one which will hold up for a bit, not just a few months.

I found this today and I thought it was interesting. I wouldn't want to risk my camera, but cool images.

http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/0 ... a-tossing/

I shot professional for over 20 years and used Canon. Canon has wonderful optics, fast processors and great color balance. The one thing that Canon changed when autofocus arrived was to update the cameras' body and introduce a larger lens mount opening. This larger opening allowed additional light to enter and faster lenses to be made.

Andrew Osterberg
Going Beyond Photography...
VirtualPhotographyStudio.com

D70 or D70s would be better.

I suggest Sony Alpha or Panasonic Lumix