Great SLR for under $1,000

My goal was to get into the digital SLR world for under $1,000 bucks, after weeks of research and visits to Best Buy, I found the answer with the Nikon D80.  Here's why.

I picked up Sony, Nikon and Cannon, and immediately you can feel the quality and weight that the Nikon has. it just feels like a pro camera. Now the optics I can't tell you about, because I only have the Nikon\Nikor lens that came with the D80. But on line reviews, put them at the top, and I can believe it.  The photo quality potential is very high from dark areas to bright areas.

You will be paying a little more for this 10Mp camera, but only you can decide if it's worth the few hundred premium. At 3 frames per second and the optional Speedflash, taking fast moving pictures is just so much fun.  It freezes the action of my kids playing soccer or diving into the pool.

It has a fully automatic option, so that's my safety net.  The lens are also fully automatic and have vibration reduction but can also be set to manual and off.  It has a built in flash, but your subject has to be within 10 feet indoors. YOU MUST get the SB 600 speedflash to take quilty and fast action shots indoors, or in low light outdoors.

Nikon is like the BMW of Camera's so there is alot of Youtube support as well as books available for this model. Beware, if you have more money to spend, some of the higher Nikon SLRs don't have any automatic setting... everything is MANUAL!

The only gripe I have is that you have to look through the view finder to take the picture.  This model does not use the LCD to take the shot, but only to review the shot. I think this is a trade off i could live with. The flash barley works well, and has only a 1\200 flash speed, compared to the SB600 speedflash 1\4000+ range.

The results are spectacular, the 18-200mm lens gives you a ton of range... from wide close ups to super zoom, i would say up to 30 yards.  And because it's 10Mp image, you can zoom in and crop on the PC and just make the shot look so professional.

There are about 4 levels that Nikon sells. this is the 3rd tier.  So if you want PRO models look for the Tier2 D300 or the tier1 D3, the lowest tier4 being the D40.

** Update

You can use the camera according to your skill level.  There is a fully automatic mode, which takes awesome photos, it makes you look like a pro.  It has and in between mode, (P,A,S) which kind of automates certain areas, like Shutter Speed or Aperture , while letting you adjust the other areas.  Then it has a fully Manual Mode, which if you don't focus right, will present blurry pictures, under exposed pictures, or you will just get a black image because the aperture was set incorrect......  But don't be intimidated by this, that's what the fully Automatic options are for.  They do everything for you.

If you want super fast shutter speeds it will only work outdoors unless you buy the Speedflash option for indoor shots.  The built in flash is not capable of 3 shots per second.

There are just so many options for this camera, that i would recommend any Nikon camera.  Like i said, the BMW of camera's, but you will pay the premium.