A Few Favorite Digital Cameras for Serious Beginners and Intermediate Users

Here, at the risk of starting some "equipment wars" among my photographer friends, are a few opinionated camera recommendations for students and others who want to take high-quality digital images. All of these cameras feature manual controls--critical for the control that can lead to high quality images--in addition to auto modes.

I have purposely eliminated from this list the ever-changing legions of point and shoot digital cameras, which vary widely in quality. There are just too many of them, plus their smaller sensors can be problematic in terms of quality.

All of these are DSLRs (digital SLRs), which means you can change the lenses and you view your image through a pentaprism at the top of the camera body. It also means, however, that you don't have a live LCD preview. All of these are camera bodies only; you must buy a separate lens. Lens/body kits are available, and if there is interest, I can list those as wel.

For better or worse, Canon and Nikon brands remain the most popular cameras, and hence they likely will be around for a while. These widely distributed brands offer maximum compatibility with third-party equipment offerings.

With any of the cameras listed here, you can "grow" with the system. Also, any of the cameras listed here will produce professional or near-pro quality images, although some publishers and agencies now stipulate files of at least 8 megapixels (of course, all this depends on end usage).

Since many camera manuals seem to be written in techno-babble, please also see the Magic Lantern book series that explains camera operation in plain English.

One last note: although these cameras all perform wonderfully, the most important tool is not the camera; rather, it's that funny gray matter between the ears. Avail yourself of great books, how-to classes and online resources. And don't forget that tripod.