hows this for a first time buy?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...6421879&sr=8-1
and what the heck does 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX mean?
this will be our first SLR camera. what else should i consider?

 

Seems pricey. I saw that price for the D40X this weekend w/ the 2 lenses. The D40 was 599 w/ 2 lenses. I dont remember which sales paper, but it was one of the usual weekend inserts.

 

what do you not understand in:

you mean the F/3.5-5.6 part or the 18-55MM? or the other part?

 

the F/3.5-5.6 part?
and i guess whatever ED II AF-S DX stands for?

 

let me ask you this, do you need a dslr?

 

F3.5-5.6= its the dept of field... meaning at 18MM the biggest aperture the lens will go is f3.5 and at 55MM the biggest would be f5.6. As the number goes up the apperture becomes small.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...h-of-field.htm

EDII= ED glass, Extra-low Dispersion it's a series of Nikon lenses
AF= auto focus
DX=lense made for Digital SLR

 

lookin into it as a hobby. im not satisfied with what my fuji x1 can do and i've been toying around with them at best buy.
so... maybe

thanks for the info!
any recommendations about this camera or any other as a starter?

 

i dont know much about the D40. The EDII lenses are good for the price.

If i was you, i would think about a higher body like the D70 used. That way you either get into the hobby and have a body that will follow you for many years, or you realise you dont use it will be easyer for you to sell it then the introductory body.

the body is not the expensive thing... it's the good quality lenses that kills the wallet

 

i see, then i would say go get a used canon xt or a used nikon d100.

you will save some money and also see if you want to continue the hobby.

 

D70 > D100

The flash system is better, it's faster and quieter but always depends what you are looking to do with the camera. It's lighter and more compact and 1 great thing that alot of peeps are overlooking is the fact that if you battery pack dies the D70 will let you use CR2 batteries. The resale value of the D70 is higher.



Goon if you are going this path the D70 vs D100 debate has always been BTW.