This gallery is now linked to “How Not To Be Embarrased By Your DSLR“.
I am not a professional photographer ( yes, that’s obvious, isn’t it? ) and these are simply my amateur photos taken to compare a DSLR (my Canon EOS 500D) with a Point-n-Shoot (“PNS”), in this case my iPhone 5.
The EXIF data are shown below each photo. The photos were taken with the DSLR set at Shutter Priority to demonstrate my contention that high “Shutter Speed” is the beginner’s best friend.
I just pushed the shutter speed to at least 1/2xfocal length (1 divided by 2x focal length) to ensure that all my handheld shots will be reasonably sharp. The results are not meant for the professional’s eyes but rather they are to be viewed through the eyes of a beginner and see if they are acceptable “keepers”. At the same time, you should not be embarrassed when comparing your DSLR shots to the PNS (iPhone 5), but I must admit, there are a few where the iPhone shots may even be considered superior! You be the judge.
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I am not a Pro and not qualified to categorically declare which is the “best” entry level DSLR. However, in keeping with the spirit of this website, I can share my personal experience.
My first ever DSLR was the Canon 1000D (Rebel XS). I eagerly tried to learn from as many books as I could but my early efforts were really embarrassing, with occasional great shots which were really fluke shots. It got stolen a few months after I had it, and so it was too short a period to know whether I could eventually take good shots with it. I replaced it with a Canon 500D (Rebel T1i) which is the camera that I’m still using. Again, it was embarrassing, even more so this time what with the 500D looking much meaner than the 1000D. On top of that, I fixed a Tamron wide range 18-270mm lens and a battery pack, which made the camera look really great, but not my photos. Until I decided to stick to Shutter Priority and used the highest practical shutter speed. My pictures start looking good (not yet great) but I will not be embarrassed anymore. There you have it.
What camera do you recommend as best entry level DSLR? Thanks.