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Question about buying a d50 cheaply



 
 
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  #11  
Old May 3rd 06, 06:57 AM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply

On Tue, 02 May 2006 14:52:49 -0700, Phil wrote:

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 and then finding a reasonable multipurpose lens until the 18-200 becomes financially accessible to me. I have a few questions.

1 - Is there any reason I should consider the d70 or rebel xt over this camera?

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.

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


Thanks,
Phil

PS: please pardon my cross post - I'm not certain which list is most appropriate for these questions.

The cross post is acceptable. The line length is far too long, I cannot
remember how to do it in sylpheed but it was quite simple.

--
Neil
Delete 'l' to reply
  #12  
Old May 3rd 06, 11:08 AM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply

Bolshoy Huy wrote:
get the Olympus Evolt-500 kit.

I agree. Check out the E-500 before you make your purchase. I have done
my homework and this is the one I am getting.


Ron

--
And it really doesn't matter if
I'm wrong I'm right
Where I belong I'm right
Where I belong.

Lennon & McCartney
  #13  
Old May 3rd 06, 11:32 AM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply


"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.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---



  #14  
Old May 3rd 06, 01:14 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply

I read all the reviews, I read where the New York camera shops will
bait and switch. Get you to buy then tell you that it will take two
weeks or more for the camera to ship. Or they high pressure you to buy
accessories and better yet, extended warranties. I was careful but I
didn't entirely believe the stories. I thought that the whinners were
inexperienced at online purchases or just easy to con. NOPE - all the
stories were true. Here is how it went.

First I shopped all the sites. I used all my search tricks to find the
very lowest prices on the Minolta 5D that I wanted. (Yes, this all
started with a Minolta). After all Konika-Minolta had gone out of the
camera business and the prices should be dropping. Well, they did for a
while. I finally found the camera, body only, at for just $399. WOW,
that was a great price, but surely it would come down more? No, it went
up $50 so then I started shopping again. I found it at for $399 a
couple of days later so I decided that I should quit messing around and
place the order. I placed the order with "Best Price Cameras" and
didn't get a response. Nothing until the next day when I got an email
from "Steve" saying that the order is not complete until I talk to him
via telephone. Email orders are not complete until he comfirms it. I
called the next day and it took over 3 hours to get him on the phone.
First he tried to sell me a battery (was supposed to be part of the
package) then a memory card ( 3 to 4 times the price of other sites)
then he hit me with the extended warranty. After I convenced him that I
didn't need any of these things he said that the price had gone up
since I placed the order (over a $100 uncrease). I had looked at their
site before I called and I was ready for the change. I told him to
cancel the Minolta and make the order for the Nikon D50 with the 18-55
lens that I saw for $485. I got 3 day shipping putting the total at
$527.50. More than I wanted to spend but I was caught a little off
guard and I wanted a camera in the worst way. Steve then said that the
"that" camera wasn't in stock and it would take two week to get it.
Crap! Send it any how. I was mad, and worried that in two weeks
something else was going to happen. Sure enough it did. I emailed Steve
that night to find out where the camera was. Some one else called back
the next afternoon and said that the "Minolta" was ready to ship. What
Minolta, I had ordered a Nikon. "Oh, the Nikon is still back ordered
but the Minolta (at the higher price) was ready to ship." Great, I
canceled the order!

Back to the beginning. I started shopping again. Found another "good
deal" by using at Prestige Camera, by this time I was willing to pay a
little more to keep from getting jerked around again. The price at
Prestige through Digitalsaver.com was $585 which included ground
shipping for $25. Long story short, by the time I finished the checkout
the price was $612. Now I'm ****ed. Cancelled order.

Back to shopping. Finally found Abes of Maine (really New York too).
Placed the entire order on line (so far) the price of $622.89 includes
2 day air shipping, full US warranty, a free 512mb memory card and all
the manufacturer supplied accessories listed. Believe it or not that IS
a big deal. The memory card, the battery and charger would have cost me
at least $100 more with the other guys. So I lucked into actually
getting a better deal. I got everything that I ordered and the camera
is Great. I would do business with Abes of Maine again.

  #15  
Old May 3rd 06, 03:22 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply


"East Bay Phil" wrote in
message news:20060502145249.652f49f3@localhost...
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 and then finding a reasonable
multipurpose lens until the 18-200 becomes financially accessible to me.
I have a few questions.

1 - Is there any reason I should consider the d70 or rebel xt over this
camera?

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.

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


Thanks,
Phil

PS: please pardon my cross post - I'm not certain which list is most
appropriate for these questions.


The quick answer: $399 (refurb) at www.beachcamera.com --- check out their
feedback at www.resellerratings.com (it is among the best of the camera
stores as of the date of this posting). Other reputable stores have it for
the same price (like www.normancamera.com).


  #16  
Old May 3rd 06, 04:44 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply


get the Olympus Evolt-500 kit.

I agree. Check out the E-500 before you make your purchase. I have
done my homework and this is the one I am getting.


I'll look into this. The only concern I've read of so far was that
there are some noise issues.

Given that the E-500 costs more, what sold you on it (over the nikon,
if that was in consideration)?

P
  #17  
Old May 3rd 06, 05:35 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply

(East Bay) Phil wrote:
get the Olympus Evolt-500 kit.

I agree. Check out the E-500 before you make your purchase. I have
done my homework and this is the one I am getting.


I'll look into this. The only concern I've read of so far was that
there are some noise issues.

Given that the E-500 costs more, what sold you on it (over the nikon,
if that was in consideration)?


I'd avoid the E-500 due to the noise issues. Also, there is no upgrade
path with Olympus, nor is there a good selection of lenses. With Nikon,
you have huge availability of lenses, both new, used, and third-party.
  #18  
Old May 3rd 06, 06:28 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply

I'd avoid the E-500 due to the noise issues. Also, there is no
upgrade path with Olympus, nor is there a good selection of lenses.
With Nikon, you have huge availability of lenses, both new, used, and
third-party.


In the course of investigating the Nikon, upgrade path has been
something I've begun to explore. I've read posts about the d70(s) vs
d50. I'm not experienced enough with the high-end to properly assess
feature differences. That said, if I'm looking at the d50 w/ 18-70 vs
the d70 w/ 18-70 at a similar price should I be looking to the d70?

I'm going to take a spin over the local camera shop today to get a feel
for both of these models.
  #19  
Old May 3rd 06, 06:30 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply

Slightly off-topic. Can someone with a nikon email me a raw image. I
use linux and would like to know if my system and photo gallery will
properly recognize their format.

Thanks!
Phil
  #20  
Old May 3rd 06, 06:53 PM posted to rec.photo.equipment.35mm,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital
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Default Question about buying a d50 cheaply

LabRat wrote
(in article ):

I have purchased 2 Canon dslr kits and a lens from BuyDig over the last 2
years and have never had any problems. My latest purchase, a Canon 17-40mm
L lens was ordered last wednesday and arrived three days later even though I
elected for the cheapest shipping. I highly reccomend them to anyone.
They have a refurbed 50D with 18-55mm kit lens for $489.


Well, I just ordered the Nikon 12-24mm from them (only place I
could find it in stock anyway). They were also a lower price
than most of the other places that had it on back-order. We'll
see how they do. :-)

Now if I could just find the 18-200mm VR, .... *sigh*


--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those
who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw





 




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