What's the cheapest "professional" camera I should

I was thinking about buying a "professional" quality digital camera but I am on a limited budget of $800. Do you think I can get anything good for the money?

I bought a 8.0 Megapixel SLR from Olympus for about that price a year or so ago. Checkout http://shopper.cnet.com/

In Professional i assume you mean a Single Lens Reflex (SLR)?

If you are spending around $800 on a camera and assuming i'm right in thinking you mean SLR by the "Professional" look then the best you might get could be the...

Nikon D70 (Body only)

or perhaps the...

Canon EOS 400d (Body Only)

Now, i have two Canon cameras. One of the cameras is the 350d (which is the older version to the 400d) and i love it. I've used the 400d before and think it is a pretty good camera to use. The quality of the shots are better than the Nikon D70 and generally i would say they are better cameras.

When i say Body only i mean that the camera is without the lens. As you'll no doubt know the lens is sort of important and is required before you can use the camera, as is the Compact Flash card you'll need for the camera. You can get a semi reasonable lens and your CF card for a much cheaper price online than if you were to buy the package deal where you get the lens and camera combined.

I live in the UK and purchased my Canon EOS 350d last November for £300. This was just the body, however the rest of the equipment didn't cost much more and ultimately i ended up saving a huge chunk of money just buying it in bits rather than going for a package deal from a retailer. You should look at Ebay, if you go for a Canon check out the Canon shop. The cameras and equipment from the Canon Shop have all been refurbished before sale...i can promise you that every person i know that has bought and item from them has not had any problem weeks or months along the line.

You can check out some of the items on that Canon shop here.

I hope this information helps you.

the real photographer can take the professinal pictures by any camera, cheap or expensive. u should take more attention at photography. wish u succed!

I'm calling your bluff ... take my 3.2 mp camera that I've got with no shake reduction and no tripod and take me a proper photo in bad lighting conditions then I'll believe you ...

Well if you want professional then cannon 8 m.px is the best ...

Photography is like an iceberg, as is everything else in life. Megapixels is just the tip, but below are all the little things that keep the iceberg floating until the iceberg melts and the camera is superseded by another. You can't just buy a camera based on megapixels.

I personally prefer the Canon brand, and as SB said the EOS 350D and 400D are excellent. Don't just go and buy the first thing you see though ... shop around ... look at other brands ... talk to someone in the shop who knows what they're talking about.

Good luck

I don't think it's really fair to compare the D70 with the 400d, they are from two different generations. Better to compare the Canon 400d with the Nikon d40x. At this level I'd give the edge to Canon, but still buy Nikon because I like their higher end lineup better (d300 and d3) and would prefer to only buy my lenses once.

My recommendation would be to get an SLR kit (body & lense) of some kind (Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc) for around $550. Nikon's D40 is 6mp, same as the D70, or you could bump up to the D40x by Nikon and get 10mp with the same features otherwise. I know the entry level Canon's are comparable and also a fine choice. My advice would be to go to a store and play the floor models and find the one you like best.

To me, the battle between those 2 are a lot like AMD vs Intel, or Chevy vs Ford -- it all comes down to personal preference either way.

Cameras are made differently on purpose, much like cars, and fit differently for everyone. Personally, I'm a Nikon guy and always will be. But I know plenty of very good photographers who use Canon.

I currently shoot Canon because the price was right, but I plan to switch to Nikon as soon as I can save enough for a d300 + 24-70 lens. Both Canon and Nikon can be used to get great images, but I prefer to shoot with available light only and I think the d300 and d3 blow away the competition on the Canon side when it comes to high iso noise levels. Those Nikkor lenses are really nice too.

I have had a Fujifilm FinePix S5200 for over a year now. The macro is limited(if there is a small insect, the image is fuzzy), the zoom is only 10 optical(4.1 digital), but overall, I like it. I don't know if it is an SLR but it doesn't say it is. I focus most shots on nature: scenic views, insects, fruit, shinies. Weep.

I got the FinePix under $300. They have some bargains(getting accessories and wHatnots) sometimes. Check the updated models, too. I don't know if this would be a satisfactory model. I take a lot of low resolution images to scroll through them for "video" effect. Got to love the wHatnots weep:D

Being that this was not a high end model, that's some feedback on Fujifilm. Anyone use a 'better' model Fujifilm? I've seen 8.0 megapixels and different ones with 12 optical. ISO I didn't look at. This is too bad for those dark night shots, but I like the modes of photography that you can switch through easily. There is a natural light one that negates the flash and sometimes this improves the lighting conditions. I haven't practiced too much with the aperature priority modes or other advanced settings but I overall like the features I have used.
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