"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
According to (East Bay) Phil
:
Hi, first timer here.

I've put-off the leap to digital for financial reasons and because I
wanted a SLR. It seems
possible to get a d50 in my range. I'm thinking of buying the body as
cheaply as possible

[ ... ]

2 - Any recommendations for a place to buy it cheaply? I saw some
places - royal camera,
best price cameras, and cci camera city - that sell the body for around
$300. Are these
places for real? reputable? I've never dealt with 'grey-market' goods,
if that's what they
sell.

Beware that some of the vendors who sell via the web or via mail
order and who offer seemingly too-good-to-be-true prices, will ask you
to pay extra for things like the battery, the charger, and several other
accessories which normally come with the camera as part of the standard
price -- and that by the time you are through adding these to your
purchase, you are back up to the price which you would have paid to a
*reputable* dealer.

There is a web page which rates these sellers, and I'm sure that
someone else here either will post the URL, or has already done so.


www.resellerratings.com to check out various dealers...and, I have seen the
D50 (refurb) body for $379 from a reputable dealer with a good
rating...don't recall who it was at the moment, but you can always use
something like www.pricegrabber.com for that kind of search (still check
resellerratings feedback).

3 - Assuming I do get the body and then hunt for the lens, is the 18-70 a
good place to
start. Truth be told, most of my experience is with a plain ol' pentax
p3. :^D

The Nikon 18-70 "kit" lens which normally comes with the D70
(and I believe can come with the D50 as well at some price adjustment)
is an excellent lens for the price. I got my D70 body only (and used it
with other lenses) before going back to the store a year or so later and
adding a 18-70mm kit lens to my collection. There are things which I
still prefer the 28-105mm for (including its macro-capability), but the
18-70 is more likely to be on the camera if I am carrying only the
camera with a single lens -- unless I am expecting to need the
capabilities of one of the other lenses.

For that matter, if you can do without zoom, the 50mm f1.8 or
50mm f1.4 are also very nice lenses -- light and quick to use. The 50mm
focal length would be the equivalent (in coverage) of a 75mm lens on
your old pentax -- assuming that the p3 is a 35mm film camera.

Good Luck,
DoN.
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