FOGEY 5 Digital SLR Cameras
The Fogey 5 are the best five products in their class by virtue of expert and consumer review from at least 10 respected and authoritative websites.
Canon EOS 500D
A year old now (and superceded by the 550D) but far and away Tech Fogey’s number one DSLR by virtue of both expert and consumer reviews and sales. It’s well-priced – a 500D with an 18-55mm lens kit can be picked up for around £600 – light, compact and easy to use. The stats: 15.1 megapixel sensor, 1080p ‘Full HD’ video mode and a 3-inch pin-sharp LCD screen so you can see accurately whether what you’ve taken is in focus and properly exposed. It’s also unfeasibly good in low light conditions. You’d be hard-pressed to get a better DSLR for the money. In the US it’s known as the Rebel T1i.
Around £600 or less. More info here
Buy Canon EOS 500D (incl. EF-S 18-55 mm IS Lens Kit)
Nikon D5000
Attentive readers will notice a duopoly developing in this Fogey Five. It’s the Canon-Nikon show. First up from Nikon is the entry-level D5000. If anything it’s even better value than the EOS 500D; with lens kit it can be had for under £600. But before you all rush out and splash the cash be aware that the D5000 with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens has been subject to a product recall – the lens doesn’t thread properly onto the body. Around half such camera/lens combos are affected but if you bought a starter kit you wouldn’t get that lens and heavens knows Nikon makes plenty of other lenses. But there’s also an electrical issue whereby the camera won’t turn on – also cue for a recall. And the opinion of Nikon guru Ken Rockwell (www.kenrockwell.com) which is to buy the cheaper D40 or trade up to the D90 (see below). So if you think it’s difficult to make the right decision when buying a camera, or anything come to that, you’d be right. And Tech Fogey feels your pain because we’re feeling it too. So much so that even though it’s only early I need a drink. Back again. Incidentally, to the uninitiated the idea of buying a camera without a lens might seem like buying a car without wheels, but the orthodoxy of posh cameras dictates that body and lenses are sooooo much down to personal preference that you, the well-informed expert consumer, must to be able to choose. But here’s a thought – flog a camera with a lens included and if I don’t like that lens I may well buy another. Which means you will have sold two lenses instead of one. And no, it isn’t cheaper to buy lens and body separately. Don’t be silly. Is it worth mentioning that it has a 12.3 megapixel sensor and an articulated LCD screen so you can take pics round a corner or over the top of a wall?
Around £600 or less. More info here
Buy Nikon D5000 (with 18-55 mm VR Lens Kit)
Canon EOS 7D
A professional-level camera? But, at around £1,300 with lens kit, not that expensive for such top-end p
araphernalia. Consequently and just so real pro-snappers don’t feel slighted and/or cheap, a word has been coined to describe the hybrid nether region cameras such as the EOS 7D occupy. Sick bag at the ready…. prosumer. Marketing serfs tenured to large multi-national corporations will find such etymological guff commonplace but it makes us Fogies slightly queasy. There’s a learning for you. Barf. The EOS 7D, then: 18 megapixel sensor, Full HD 1080p video recording, 8 frames-per-second shooting and built like a brick shit-house. Some reviewers have had quibbles but that’s what happens when you set the standard – perfection is expected.
Around £1,300. More info here
Buy Canon EOS 7D (with EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Kit)
Nikon D90
Launched in late 2008, the D90 was the first DSLR to shoot video in any sort of HD; in this case 720p. Now such cameras 
shoot 1080p Full HD. Would you notice the difference? As with 720p versus 1080p in TVs; probably not. The video quality and frames-per-second rate is so good on this and the Canon 7D that footage shot with either could happily be shown on TV. Are you a news journalist? No. So if you want to shoot movies get a camcorder. For the average prosumer there’s only so much value that can be added to what is essentially a stills camera. How much the addition of HD video brings to the party is something to debate over a half of shandy and bag of pork scratchings. In any case, the D90 will only shoot 5 minutes of video at a time to prevent heat built up and self-immolation. Stats: 12 million megapixel resolution, ‘live view’ LCD screen (unlike compact cameras, not all DSLRs show what you’re shooting as you’re shooting it on the rear LCD screen but the D90 does), accurate and responsive auto-focus and face-detection. None of this may sound like much to shout about these days but the quantity of 5-star customer reviews on Amazon alone suggests a bunch of very happy snappy bunnies.
Around £850. More info here
Buy Nikon D90 (with 18-105 VR lens kit)
Canon EOS 450D
In the US the 450D is known as the ‘Rebel XSi’. Grrr. But what, precisely, are we rebelling against (and don’t say ‘what have you got?’). To confuse ex
pectations even more, in Japan it’s known as the EOS Kiss X2. Angry young cameras getting all pouty. Launched in early 2008 and now superseded by the EOS 500D (above), why would you buy this when there’s something apparently better and for not much more money? Well, there are factors therein that hold good for many products and that will appeal to the penurious Fogey:
- New products can have teething problems that only become apparent over time.
- In order to help create a demand for the latest model, the model replaced is discounted to deplete stocks and ‘persuade’ buyers to go for the newer model.
And some longer-term problems do seem to be affecting the 450D. Click here to read more from an on-going thread on those issues on Amazon.com (not .co.uk).
That said, at time of writing, on Amazon.com, of 633 customer reviews, 496 were 5-star and 96 were 4-star. Overwhelmingly positive, then. The basics are: 12.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, SD memory cards as opposed to the larger and less user-friendly Compact Flash cards, a bigger – 3-inch – and brighter LCD screen, lightweight at just 475g, more rubberized grips for better handling, a processor lifted from Canon’s pro models and good battery life. Unlike the 500D it doesn’t shoot video but so what?
Used only from £320. More info here
Buy Canon EOS 450D (with EF-S 18-55mm IS f/3.5-5.6 non USM Lens Kit)
