Question for the TUAW readers: Mac Digital Camera Recommendations

I am planning on picking up a Canon 20D soon based on using a friends. Also thinking about getting a Canon S70 as well.

C.K., you mentioned lighting conditions... you should check out the SB-800 from Nikon. It supports wireless flash-syncing so you can have your camera and speedlight at different spots. It also sports an excellent wireless commander feature. Meaning you can be at the flash and have the camera take a picture; as well you can use the flash to control other SB-800s or SB-600s. So, you could have as many as five or more flashes with different intensities going in different directions and adding different dimensions to your lighting set-up. And all from the same camera. That is one of the coolest feature of the D70/D70s cameras and the SB-800/600 speedlights. Nikkor and Canon both make *excellent* lenses and it would be very difficult to choose a winner. You commented your wife already had Canon lenses, so to that end it might be more beneficial to stick with the Canon. However, since you menionted lighting conditions, I though you would be interested in hearing about the Nikon speedlights. Hopefully you are having fun with your searching and deliberation; that was one of my favourite parts - trumped only by the experience of opening the camera's box! =aron=

Just to answer some of the questions about what I am intending to do with the camera: I'm interested in doing nice regular photographs mostly for online and for submission alongside with some of the articles I write. For the most part, the Canon Powershot G1, which I've had for some time works nicely for these purposes. However, I also am interested in doing some high-res stop motion. Taking high res macro shots of puppets I've built and then moving slightly, then taking another shot, etc., and pulling them into something like iMovie HD or FCP to animate them. So good macro capabilities and a nice Macro lens are a must, as well as a good lighting set up that can be consistantly maintained. Also, I am an artist (was an art and english dual major in college) and want a good camera for both taking quality pictures of my work and for creating new art through samples from pictures, etc. So that's why I'm looking into this; I've been wanting to upgrade to a nice DSLR for a while. My wife has a Canon Rebel, so we already have a few lenses for it; so maybe I should go the XT route... Still, my main interest is the macro, and I've heard really good things about the Nikon macro lenses... Anyone with experience with Canon macro work?

As has already been commented the key to any good digital camera is the lense. I have a Canon EOS300D which has worked very well, especially with my Canon Lenses and Extension Tubes. A lot really depends on what you want to do with the images at the end of the day. Are you wanting to print, view on a screen, etc....

Another thing: if you want to get a Canon, Dell is a good place to buy - they always have specials or coupons (check www.techbargains.com).

First of all, don't waste your money on any of the so-called "prosumer" cameras. They have the price of pro cameras and the same tiny sensors of pocket digicams that produce horrendous noise ("static") beyond ISO 200, i.e. useless for anything but shooting in bright sunlight. They are also as bulky as the Rebel Xt or D50. Avoid the Olympus 4/3 system - it's long term viability is uncertain, and its sensor is half the size of the other manufacturers, which means you need twice as much light to get the same image quality. The Canon 20D/Rebel XT and the Nikon D70s/D50 (and to a lesser extent the Pentax *ist-D/Ds and the Minolta Maxxum 7D) are all excellent cameras, with very little real-world performance differences between them. Buying from the market leaders Canon or Nikon is probably safer in the long run. If I were to switch from my current Canon 10D, I would get the lightest, cheapest camera (Rebel XT or D50) and spend the money instead on good lenses, which don't depreciate as quickly as DSLR bodies. DSLRs are significantly heavier than film bodies because they are so densely packed with electronics, and by the end of a day lugging one around, the weight is definitely an issue.

I'm a huge fan of my Nikon D70, but you won't go wrong with the Canon 20D, either. Get both of them in your hands and see which one makes most sense to you. Both take outstanding photos and neither will disappoint you in the least. The great thing about having two great choices is that you can't make a bad selection.

I swear, this is my last post on the matter... For those that are interested, Nikon has (as of today) officially released the new D70 firmware which will bring it to the same performance as the D70s (excluding the new screen size) Enjoy, -Aron!

Ok, writer "Michael" is absolutely wrong. The D70 will autofocus *ANY* Nikon/Nikkor lens that supports autofocus. If the lens is a manual focus lens, then the camera cannot focus it (duh!); however, any lens that is AF can be focused. I agree with what Justin said... The kit lens on the D70/D70s is a *tad* limiting for someone with a wider array of lenses, but as a first/kit lens, it can't be beat. It has an excellent range and is very fast. I don't find the 18-70mm range that limiting... If you consider that most lenses are only really good at doing one thing, then the 18-70DX that comes in the Nikon kit is a great bang for the buck. The elements are very sharp, details crisp, and very low barreling. Multiple photographers have reviewed the lens and recommend getting it because of its good versatility. As always, just have fun! -Aron!

Do not be fooled by the statement that Nikon works with all f mount lenses -- works, but not well would be more accurate since older lenses do not have the features or the linkages to use newer features. Older ones do not have auto-focus or auto-metering. That said, you can not go wrong with a camera from any of the major makers -- Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta (I refuse to add the K word), or Pentax. For most it comes down to Canon or Nikon -- I am a Canon bigot. I have used cameras from all of them over the years, cutting my teeth on Nikormats, Minolta Srt 101s, and others. I went Canon in the auto-focus years, and still use them. My next purchase is a Rebel XT -- there's a reason Canon has dominated the Pro SLR arena since the early 90's -- more money, and better technology.