Posting the expert advice of my friend Somak on the things to consider for Digital SLRs -
Assuming you’ll mainly focus on still images, you need to really consider few things like (this is general gyan and may not related to the cameras you are eyeing now) –
1.Auto Focus – most will have, but remember this is the mode you’ll be taking most of your photos in, so this better be good. The number of AF points will vary from Camera to Camera. Remember that this is the property of the Camera body (sensor) and not the lens. So you will remain with the number till you remain with the camera. Therefore higher the number the better. A camera with 20 AF points is way better than one with 15 AF Points. In general a difference of more than 5 AF Points should definitely contribute to your decision making, with 15 AF Points very good and anything above 25 is too much to handle J. AF points are required for those crisp clear images you must be planning to take. You would definitely need to be able to choose what you want to focus on while shooting at a speed (spontaneous shooting) which mostly you will.
2. Resolution – Anything above 10MP is good enough and anything above 12MP is no brainer photography. Most DSLR cameras will definitely have more than 10MP. This is required to bring in the crisp ness of the image. Your images won’t look good if you don’t have a good MP value in your camera.
3.The LCD Panel on your Camera and a good View Finder. Remember that when you are out shooting you won’t have a laptop/desktop to immediately check your photos. By design photos are of ‘moments’ and they don’t repeat. And it’s heart-breaking to come back home and figure out that you have screwed up on focus/composition or whatever. So the view finder should be able to guide you and the LCD panel should be able to show you the photo with immediate effect (including zooming into the photo) and with high resolution. So that you at least have a fighting chance to recover the moment for a second try. This is very important especially for subject photography which will be a substantial part of the photos you take.
Note: Also check that your camera has a Diopter Adjustment Control. It corrects the optical viewfinder to match your eyesight. This is required for both of us as we wear specs. But this should be in most cameras.
4.Lens: Lens compatibility is at par on both models and most of the lenses are awesome! J. Take a lens with range of 28-140 or 18-105mm. which roughly estimates to 5X optical zoom. You should be good. This is like not too less nor too big. Start with this and you can graduate to Telephotos later.
5.Sensor size – Again these are standard but DX on Nikon is very good. But still the lesser the crop factor the better the camera is! Because since we mostly take landscapes the lesser the crop factor the better…right!
6.ISO Range (the larger the better). But also check how much noise you are getting in higher ISOs, higher ISO alone doesn’t make sense. This is essential in low light/night photography which you definitely will. So read the reviews and figure out which camera gives lesser noise in higher ISOs.
7.Flash mode – flicker mode and red eye reduction mode is a must. And you’ll obviously have the standard exposures. But remember Nikon has better reviews at flash and exposure modes.
8.Image stabilization which Nikon calls VR and Canon calls IS.
9.SD Cards – If you want to do HD photography then SDHC support (High Speed SD cards). For normal photographs SD is just fine.
10.Image editing option inside the camera, like color balancing etc. This is more of a good to have feature and is very subjective. But some basic imaging should be there. You’ll need it occasionally.
Other than this everything you see in sites/brochures are pure marketing gimmick and mostly not very useful for us. But again give importance to your own judgment.
Some very good links (although you must be doing lots of studies already! J):
1. Always read reviews from www.dpreview.com
2. A good buying guide: http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/best-digital-slr-camera.html
