Beginner advice

[boatless]

I have been looking at getting a digital SLR camera. Any suggestions on which one would be a good choice for a beginner? I have been looking at the Nikon D80 and it seems to be a pretty good one. Any thoughts?

Thanks

[hsbob]

that a very good stARTING camera. get a 18-200mm lens to begin with.

[boatless]

Thanks for the advice. I just bought a D80.
Just gotta learn how to use it now

[hsbob]

take a look here. tom writes some nikon manual that are a little easier to understand then the nikon manual. look to the right and you'll see a list of cameras. click on the d80 and there's a exaple on the e-manual.

http://www.bythom.com/

look here as well
http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147645

pyro also has a marco help thread that good.

greg also has a article but i havent read it.

[Fandango]

After you choose your camera, buy a book on exposure ( I really liked "Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)"), then keep an index card with some of the basic exposure rules in your camera bag so you can pull it (things like Sunny 16 rule, etc) for reference, I found this to be really helpful and got a great shot of my son with blurred background because I happened to peak at the card a minute before the shot....then just keep on shooting

[hsbob]

three rules

1. shutter speed must be faster than 1/ [mm of lens] for shart focused pictures.

2. most lens are marked to show the focus range. as you open the lens toward the f2.8 apature the focus range get shorter. as you stop the len down towared the f11 the focu range gets longer.

3. use a off hi power flash indoors and bounce it off the ceiling for the best lited pictures.