photography/digital camera gurus?

I used to have (well, likely still do, but at parents' residence)  a nice old film olympus slr  , that I loved, but obviously don't currently use.

Currently we have 2 point and shoots (one realllly old) and have been considering stepping into dslr, especially since we're spending more time out in parks/etc here than we did in Pittsburgh.  Surprisingly saw some (to my mind) pretty price-affordable bundles for some nikon 10-12 mp models at worst buy.   Anyone here have a d3000 or d5000 and have opinions, in particular the nikon brand lenses?    (Yes, I know there are some big camera review sites out there, I don't have the time to wade through the info there as much as I would like to)   



*supplement note*
I kind of am interested in the worst buy route simply because they will probably still be in business in 3-4 years so the service plan might make sense. I don't trust anyone else (brick and mortar) to be open in 3-4 years nearly as much.

I bought Miss Blader a Sony alpha350 a couple of years ago.  She's a budding (& accomplished) photographer, with several awards.  Our intention was to give her a robust entry-level dslr as an upgrade from her point and shoot.

I don't have all the calculations laying around anymore, but Nikons were definitely in the mix.   The bottom line is at that time the Sony offered a significantly better and more dense imaging sensor than the Nikon, at roughly the same price points.  I think it was ~14 mpx, not sure. 

We also got her a Sony 18-70mm zoom, f in the 3 range iirc.  Lens+camera cost in the $800 range, maybe?  can't remember exactly.

Anyhoo, I see the d3000 is at 10 mpx, and the d5000 is at 12. I'd rec the latter of the two on the basis of the sensor alone, and look at Sony to see if you can do even better in that price range.

She has had absolutely zero problems with the Sony, and she has it with her all.of.the.time.





 

I can't imagine that you are not aware of B&H photo out of NYC, but I will post anyway as suggestion for you to use.  http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

You will get the best advice from their salespeople.  You will get the best equipment from this place.

Adorama is another you should check into.

As to service contracts,  don't know if they have them for sale.  However, I do know that worst buy or similar places will provide service contracts on items that they do not sell because they are money makers for them.  I wouldn't let the service contract issue determine where to buy the product.

Wife and I are avid photographers.  In her former life prior to me, she was pro at it.   Then she discovered me and decided it would be more fun for her to enjoy photography.

We have Nikons predigital and beyond.  We continue to upgrade to new digital dslr's when we tire of the cameras we have.  Presently use the Nikon D300 and the Nikon D200.  Wife uses the D300 and I use the D200.  D300 has Nikkor wide angle and D200 uses the Nikkor telephoto.

Good friend of ours uses Canon and we vacation a lot together.  They live in Anchorage.  He is always frustrated with his Canon and Canon lens'.  He always prefers the shots that either wife or I take.  He ends up switching lens and we will compare shots pre processing and post processing and he admits that our shots are always of better quality.  Don't know if it is because of his lack of knowledge on camera useage or because of the equipment.  He admits that his telephoto does not take the same shot that I take.

LMAO!

after switching to the 55-200

reviews seem to be right, it's easy to use so far, powerful sharp lens, but in high contrast low light ISO there is some noise. 

LOL

Nice .  Use it for some pictures on the golf course.   

   I hope you make it a point to find some time to play this year.