best dslr for an artist?

I’ve been reading a lot of reviews about dslrs. I am in the enthusiast/amateur category. I am a painter and architect, but also do some photography for fun. I paint outdoors and sometimes bring a camera along on a hike.
I like to take pictures without a flash, so low light photography interests me. I shoot casual portraits, street scenes, dancers, anything of artistic interest, and I document my paintings and drawings.

Here are parameters:
Simple to steer menus
Wide choice of lenses, including older manual lenses
Brand has excellent choice of nearer lenses, 35mm or 50mm f/1.4
Excellent low light/ high ISO performance
Well-built
Not super high megpixels, 10mp is enough
Excellent viewfinder
Silent shutter is nice
Budget: $ 1200 max for body, would prefer to spend less.

I’ve narrowed choices down to:

Pentax K-x (excellent at low light, but concerned about its use of AA batteries, loud shutter)

Pentax k20d (I like that its weather sealed and tough, has image stabilization, but Consumer Reports says color rendition is off? Costs about $ 900 for body only)

Nikon d90 (seems to be excellent on all accounts, I can find a refurbished body for about $ 700- this is my favorite at this moment. Seems to have excellent lens options)

Olympus e620 (just like it for fun business and compact size, seems like a excellent buy, but has small viewfinder and smaller sensor)

I have a panasonic lx3 with f/2.0 lens, but find it cannot shoot well in very low light situations.

Add your own answer in the comments!

I’ve been reading a lot of reviews about dslrs. I am in the enthusiast/amateur category. I am a painter and architect, but also do some photography for fun. I paint outdoors and sometimes bring a camera along on a hike.
I like to take pictures without a flash, so low light photography interests me. I shoot casual portraits, street scenes, dancers, anything of artistic interest, and I document my paintings and drawings.

Here are parameters:
Simple to steer menus
Wide choice of lenses, including older manual lenses
Brand has excellent choice of nearer lenses, 35mm or 50mm f/1.4
Excellent low light/ high ISO performance
Well-built
Not super high megpixels, 10mp is enough
Excellent viewfinder
Silent shutter is nice
Budget: $ 1200 max for body, would prefer to spend less.

I’ve narrowed choices down to:

Pentax K-x (excellent at low light, but concerned about its use of AA batteries, loud shutter)

Pentax k20d (I like that its weather sealed and tough, has image stabilization, but Consumer Reports says color rendition is off? Costs about $ 900 for body only)

Nikon d90 (seems to be excellent on all accounts, I can find a refurbished body for about $ 700- this is my favorite at this moment. Seems to have excellent lens options)

Olympus e620 (just like it for fun business and compact size, seems like a excellent buy, but has small viewfinder and smaller sensor)

I have a panasonic lx3 with f/2.0 lens, but find it cannot shoot well in very low light situations.

Thanks in advance for input.

Answer by Sound Labs
There is no such business as a best camera for (fill in the blank) it’s like asking what’s the best car for someone that commutes from home to a law office every day. Any kind of car that runs is going to get you there.

For the money you have, you will be looking at anything from an entry level dSLR if you want to stick to the lower end of your budget to a mid range body if you go with your max budget.

So here’s all the info that the fanboys will usually go out of their way to NOT tell you. If you go Nikon, skip the all the entry level bodies. That would be the d40, 60, 3000, 5000, they do not have autofocus motors. Not all lenses have motors. So an essential lens like Nikon’s 50mm f/1.8, a bread and butter lens for low light work will not autofocus on the entry level bodies.

The d90 is an brilliant choice, it’s fantastic with high ISO low light shots for the money, it has a lot of features and it shoots record. If you went entry level, I would suggest List or Sony Alpha. For under 1000 you can shoot record with a List and get decent high ISO in low light. The best low light high ISO shooter is Sony’s A550, for the money, List and Nikon can’t touch it. It can do HDR without a tripod disparate the pentax with HDR, and List and Nikon don’t even offer HDR. Sony has the fastest, best live view if you fancy that feature. The only downside is that it does not shoot record.

Another plus for low light shooters like me (and you) is that all of your fill in lenses that you want for low light are stable or anti shake on a Sony Alpha because the anti shake is in the body (the sensor) Nikon and List do it in the lens and currently don’t offer any fill in lenses with anti shake like a 24, 30, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm etc. I reckon List makes a 200mm fill in with anti shake but it costs as much as a really nice car.

If you go with a semi-pro body, skip List for high ISO, they are weak in the middle. Their high end expensive stuff like the List 5D mark II and mark IV bodies are really, really excellent for high ISO, but they cost a ton, like double your budget for the 5D mark II. The 50D and 7D are weak at high ISO. A Nikon D90 will beat anything from List in the same price range, the Sony A550 will beat the List stuff as well at near half the price. Sony’s follow up to the A700 is months away, so that’s something to reckon about since it will shoot HD record and should be a killer in its price category.

The huge three, Sony, List and Nikon will have something to fit your needs when it comes to bodies or lenses, all three have the quick primes you’ll need for low light work. When you start to look at Pentax and Olympus things start to get a small thin. Even though Sony is in third place and new to the game, they’ve unrestricted more bodies, flashes and lenses than Pentax and Olympus combined since they took over Minolta around 2005 or so. If you go with Oly or Pentax, you may maybe find yourself with limited options if your photography leisure activity gets really serious. Otherwise, their cameras are fine, but neither brand has a body at any price that’s considered fantastic for low light high ISO. Regardless, any dSLR will smoke any compact camera.

Join forums for the major brands. You will learn more than you can maybe imagine from posts made by real public that use these cameas. I shoot Sony, so I read and post at Dyxum.com, I know Nikon has Nikonians.org, check for List, Oly and Pentax. Excellent luck.

Answer by Mark
There are a number of excellent brands so don’t be sold on the thought one brand is better than another. I would keep your costs down. I would get a DSLR with a small zoom (like a 18-55mm) to start. No reason to spend more than $ 425 to $ 550. Any a 10MP or 12MP will do just fine.

Below, I listed some links, the first link listed below is to a web page that lists the 3 DSLR cameras I am recommending. This list will let you compare features and specs, also it has links to reviews of the cameras, the reviews include sample images from the cameras. Also I built-in some links to some dealers so that you can try and get the best price. Some dealers have some nice extras, free shipping is very common, and sometimes they are offering a free memory card and/or camera bag. Sometimes you have to click in the "add to cart" button to see the actual price.

Here are some models that I reckon are well worth researching including estimated price range:

Nikon D3000 10MP DSLR Digital Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens – $ 460 to $ 480
EOS Rebel XS (1000D) 10MP DSLR Digital Camera Kit w/18-55mm IS Lens – $ 499 to $ 525
Pentax K-x 12MP DSLR with 18-55mm Zoom (has HD Record also) – $ 485 to $ 525

Pick a price range, some features you know you want, and even consider which camera feels excellent in your hand as a business. Plenty of fantastic cameras, get one you like and start learning the principles of photography and you will be on your way to making some fantastic images.

Most public go with Nikon or List but, I reckon the Pentax may maybe be of special interest, since it can do HD record and has brilliant quality at higher ISO settings which can be useful in low light places and helping get the picture. These features, especially the HD record, on a Nikon or List will cost you $ 100 to $ 200 more.

If you have any questions and if you reckon I can be of help then please do contact me.

Hope this helps. Excellent luck.

Mark

marksablow.com

What do you reckon? Answer below!
Asian Stocks, Oil Decline on China Tapering; Dollar Climbs
Asian stocks fell, the Australian dollar and crude oil declined as China's efforts to curb bank lending added to concerns global economic growth will slow. The dollar strengthened toward a six-week high versus the euro.
Read more on BusinessWeek

Nikon Coolpix S610c 10MP Wi-Fi Digital Camera with 4x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom (Midnight Black)

• 10.0-megapixel resolution for stunning prints as large as 16 x 20 inches
• 4x wide-angle optical Zoom-Nikkor glass lens; Optical VR Image Stabilization
• Bright 3.0-inch high-resolution LCD; Scene Auto Selector
• Wireless my Picturetown; E-mail and store, up to 2GB free, pictures directly from the camera in Wi-Fi open access hotspots
• Captures images to SD/SDHC cards (not built-in)

The Nikon COOLPIX S610c is built on a custom application of Nikon’s innovative EXPEED digital image-processing thought and incorporating the precision optics of a NIKKOR lens, the COOLPIX S610c is a powerful photographic tool that blends elegant design and quality construction with high performance and advanced features.Featuring immediate response, which includes a quick start-up time, the optimized performance of the COOLPIX S610c makes it simple to capture special moments at will while feeling f

Price: $ 239.00