5 Entry Level DSLR Camera Kits

Camera Kits under $800 by Bob Atkins

In this article I’m going to take a look at an entry level DSLR from each of the 5 main players in the DSLR field: Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Sony. In each case, it’s possible to purchase the camera body, a wide angle zoom and a telephoto zoom for well under $900, in fact you can probably get all of them for under $800 if you shop carefully. The five DSLRs I’ve selected are the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi, the Nikon D60, the Olympus E-520, the Pentax K200D and the Sony Alpha A350.

For more advice on choosing a camera, take a look at my article on Factors to Consider when Choosing a Digital SLR Camera.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (EOS 450D)

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (EOS 450D)

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi falls between the cheaper and less fully featured Digital Rebel XS and XTi and the more expensive EOS 40D. It’s Canon’s best “entry level” DSLR with many of the features of the more expensive EOS 40D/50D such as Highlight Tone Priority, Auto Lighting Optimization, a 14-bit A/D converter, a spot meter, Live View with live focus. 9 AF zones and a full set of auto, semi-auto and manual exposure modes. The sensor is a 12MP CMOS unit with dust removal, and it has a higher pixel count than the 10MP EOS 40D. Image quality is excellent and the camera operational speed is fast. It’s capable of shooting over 50 full quality JPEGs at 3 fps. Though it has the second highest pixel count of the group, high ISO noise is still well controlled.

Canon offers two low-cost Image Stabilized lenses to suit the Rebel XSi. The XSi can be purchased as a Canon Digital Rebel XSi (black), 18-55mm kit, $585 (review), and the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS, $255 (review), can be added. There’s currently a $100 “instant rebate” if the EF-S 55-250 is purchased at the same time as an XSi body or kit.

Nikon D60

Nikon D60

The Nikon D60 falls between the less expensive D40 and the more expensive D90. It adds a number of features over those found in the D40, such as a 10MP sensor (the D40 is 6MP), active D-Lighting, an ISO 100 setting, and a faster continuous shooting rate. The D60 features active dust reduction which includes an image sensor cleaning system with airflow control. With a reasonably fast memory card, the D60 can continuously capture high quality JPEGs at 2.6 fps without filling the image buffer and slowing down. The number of images is limited only by the card capacity. Limitations of the D60 include the fact that non-AF-S/AF-I lenses are manual focus only since there is no focusing motor in the D60 body. There are also only 3 AF zones, which is a smaller number than most of the competition (though for many users, 3 will be enough). The D60 does not have any Live View capability.

The Nikon D60 is available in two kits: Nikon D60, 18-55mm VR kit, and the Nikon D60, 18-55mm VR and 55-200mm kit. A stabilized version of the 55-200 is also available separately: Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR, $225.

Olympus E-520

Olympus E-520

The Olympus E-520 uses a Four Thirds format sensor, which means that the aspect ratio is 4:3 (rather than the more usual 3:2 of other DSLRs) and the sensor is physically smaller, resulting in a “digital focal length multiplier” of 2x rather than the 1.5x/1.6x of APS-C crop sensor DSLRs. The smaller sensor does allow the E-520 to be the lightest camera in this group, though it’s only about 1oz lighter than the next heavier camera. The E-520 is small, but not really any smaller than several of the other cameras described here. One very nice feature of the Olympus E-520 is that the camera body has image stabilization built in. The sensor moves to compensate for camera shake. This means that you don’t need to use lenses with built-in optical stabilization. Any lens you mount on the E-520 becomes part of an image stabilized system.

The E-520 is available with a kit lens Olympus Evolt E-520, 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit, $449 (review), and a telephoto zoom can be purchased separately Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 ED, $139.

Pentax K200D

Pentax K200D

The Pentax K200D is unique in this group in that it’s the only camera of the five that offers full weather sealing. However, this isn’t quite as useful as it might be since none of the inexpensive Pentax lenses is weather sealed. Only 6 of their more expensive DA Star lenses match the weather sealing of the K200D body. Like the Olympus E-520, the Pentax K200D has image stabilization built into the camera body via a sensor shift system. Again this means that any lens mounted on the K200D becomes part of an image stabilized system. One rather disappointing aspect of the K200D is the small buffer size, good for only 4 JPEG images at 2.5 fps. Like the Nikon D60, the K200D also lacks any Live View capability.

The K200D can be purchased as a kit Pentax K200D, 18-55mm kit, and an inexpensive telephoto zoom is also available Pentax DA 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED, $250 (review).

Sony Alpha A350

Sony A350

The Sony Alpha A350 has the highest pixel count of the 5 cameras described here at 14MP, almost as many as the new 15MP Canon EOS 50D. It’s also the only camera which has an LCD which can swing out and tilt, a very useful feature when shooting in Live View mode. In addition to that, the A350 also has image stabilization in the camera body via sensor shift, meaning you don’t have to use stabilized lenses. Of all the cameras in this group, the A350 probably has the best Live View interface, so if you like to shoot that way, bear that in mind. On the other hand for conventional use, the A350 has the smallest viewfinder screen of any of the 5 cameras described here. A downside of having the highest pixel count in this group is the fact that the A350 also probably has the highest noise levels once the ISO setting goes above 400. The larger file size is also probably a contributing factor to somewhat slower than average operation of the A350.

The A350 can be purchased as a kit Sony Alpha A350, 18-70mm kit (review) and an inexpensive telephoto zoom is also available Sony 55-200/4-5.6, $229

Which Camera is Best?

That’s always the most difficult question to answer. Basically, all these cameras are much better than any P&S digicam and below ISO 400 they all yield pretty good, low noise images. If you were to ask my own personal biased view, I’d say that the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi probably has the best overall features and performance, but I wouldn’t rule out any of the others, most of which have at least one feature that the XSi lacks.

The Pentax K200D, Olympus E-520 and Sony A350 all have image stabilization built into the body. If you’re just going to buy and use the kit lenses, this isn’t a big deal since the Canon and Nikon kit lenses have image stabilization built in. However, if you want to use a fast normal prime lens on these cameras for example, then you can’t get image stabilization with either the Canon Digital Rebel XSi or the Nikon D60.

The tilt and swivel LCD of the Sony A350 might be an important factor for anyone who intends to use Live View a lot. I don’t, so it’s not important for me, but it might be for you. The full weatherproofing of the Pentax K200D could be an important factor for anyone who shoots outdoors in bad weather (nature and sports photographers for example), though remember that the kit lenses aren’t weather sealed, so you’d need a more expensive lens for a fully sealed system.

Brief Specifications of the Canon Digital Rebel XSi, Nikon D60, Olympus E-520, Pentax K200D and Sony A350

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