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Buyer's Guide 2024: Digital SLRs

Regardless of your budget or skill level, there’s a D-SLR that’s right for you

By Mike Stensvold

Page 4 of 8

ENTRY-LEVEL MODELS

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. Canon’s first D-SLR with a self-cleaning sensor unit, the XTi features a 10.1-megapixel Canon CMOS image sensor, a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, 0.2-second startup, 3 fps shooting, Picture Styles (which offer presets and broad manual control over color, contrast and sharpening), and compatibility with more than 60 Canon EF and EF-S lenses. The sensor’s focal-length factor is 1.6x. Estimated Street Price: $685.

Nikon D40X. Nikon’s smallest D-SLR, the D40X features 10.2 megapixels, 0.18-second startup, 3 fps shooting, a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, eight Digital Vari-Programs (which at the twist of a dial set the camera for photographing popular subjects such as portraits, landscapes, action, close-ups and more), in-camera image-optimization and editing capabilities, and compatibility with a wide range of Nikon lenses. Like its little brother D40, this camera doesn’t incorporate a focusing motor, so autofocusing is provided only with lenses that have focusing motors (Nikon AF-S and AF-I). The sensor’s focal-length factor is 1.5x. Estimated Street Price: $640.

Nikon D80. On the cusp between an entry-level and a mid-range D-SLR, the D80 features 10.2 megapixels, 12-bit RAW images, color independent analog pre-conditioning (done before A/D conversion for better color and tones), 0.18-second startup, 3 fps shooting, up to 2,700 shots per battery charge, in-camera editing, 2.5-inch LCD monitor, seven Digital Vari-Programs, in-camera slideshows with transitions and more. It has an integrated AF motor, providing autofocus with all current AF-Nikkor lenses. The sensor’s focal-length factor is 1.5x. Estimated Street Price: $880.

Olympus EVOLT E-410. The very compact Olympus E-410 provides 10 megapixels, an easy-to-use live-view LCD monitor mode, a Supersonic Wave Filter that removes dust from the image sensor (a feature of all Olympus D-SLR cameras), a TruePic III image processor for high image quality, 3 fps shooting and more. The live-view feature is especially handy for high- and low-angle shooting, close-up work and underwater shooting (with an optional housing). As with all Four Thirds System cameras, the sensor’s focal-length factor is 2x. Estimated Street Price: $699.

Olympus EVOLT E-510. Featuring a slightly larger body than the E-410, the E-510 shares that model’s fine features and adds built-in sensor-shift image stabilization that works with all lenses. Like all Four Thirds System cameras, the E-510 can use all Four Thirds System lenses regardless of manufacturer. Olympus offers zooms from 7-14mm to 90-250mm and fixed-focal-length lenses from 8mm fisheye to 300mm super-tele; with the image sensor’s 2x magnification factor, this provides focal lengths equivalent to 14mm through 600mm on a 35mm SLR. Estimated Street Price: $799.

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