Christmas 2009 Buying Guide: top 10 D-SLRs for enthusiasts

Olympus E-620 plus 14-42mm kit lens

Guide price: £340 • 12.3MP • 4fps continuous shooting • Live view: yes • Movie mode: no

The Four Thirds format has come of age in the 12-megapixel E-620, a compact, light and precise D-SLR that combines great design with good image quality

Olympus’s E-620 is pitched mid-way between the E-450 and higher-end E-30 and E-3 models. It has the latest 12-megapixel Four Thirds sensor which seems to be both sharper and better at higher ISOs than the 10-megapixel sensor used in the E-450 and puts the E-620 directly on a par with other digital SLRs for picture quality. In fact, it’s better than some, because the 14-42mm kit lens you get with this camera produces low distortion, not much chromatic aberration and good edge-to-edge sharpness. The E-620 handles really nicely too. The controls have a light, precise feel and the same excellent interactive interface that you find on the E-450. This is a sophisticated camera which is also compact, light and easy to operate, and it’s important not to underestimate these things – the more you like your camera, the more you’re going to enjoy your photography. The E-620 has practical benefits too, including 4fps continuous shooting, a flip-out LCD display (useful in live view mode) and a built-in sensor-shift anti-shake system.

Get it because... It's compact and lightweight with a flip-out LCD display and live view
But bear in mind... It's a ‘minority’ format compared to other D-SLRs
Buy the Olympus E-620 digital camera plus 14-42mm kit len here: Jessops | Amazon UK | Simply Electronics

Nikon D90 plus 18-105mm VR kit lens

Guide price: £790 • 12.3MP • 4.5fps continuous shooting • Live view: yes • Movie mode: standard HD

It may be the oldest model in Nikon’s current ‘amateur’ line-up, but the D90 is an instant classic, thanks to its robust build, hand-on controls and great kit lens

If you just compare the specifications, it may be difficult to see what the Nikon D90 has to offer that the cheaper and newer D5000 doesn’t. After all, the D5000 has the same sensor and adds an articulating LCD display. The differences, though, are in the build quality, the handling and the controls – and also the kit lens. The D90 comes with Nikon’s excellent 18-105mm VR lens, which delivers excellent results and offers a much longer zoom range than the18-55mm VR lens supplied with the D5000. It’s the specifications of the body that sell most cameras, but it’s important not to overlook the lens, and this one is a peach. Where the D5000 is a very compact camera (too compact for some) with an interface designed for cautious novices rather than experienced enthusiasts, the D90 is designed for those who already know what they want to do and how to do it, and just want a camera that lets them get on with it. The plastic construction isn’t quite in the same league as the pro-spec D300/D300s models, but it’s still hefty and robust and feels like it should last forever.

Get it because... Image quality is top-notch, and there's an excellent 18-105mm VR kit lens available
But bear in mind... It's now the oldest ‘amateur’ camera in the Nikon range
Buy the Nikon D90 digital camera plus 18-105mm VR kit lens here: Jessops | Amazon UK | Simply Electronics

Canon EOS 50D with 17-85mm lens

Guide price: £1000 • 15.1MP • 6.3fps continuous shooting • Live view: yes • Movie mode: no

The 15-megapixel EOS 50D may have been upstaged by the new EOS 7D, but it’s still a tough, efficient and affordable camera with a lot to offer

It’s not clear yet whether the EOS 50D will eventually be replaced by the new EOS 7D, but it continues alongside for the time being and it’s a pretty attractive proposition. You get a 15-megapixel sensor, for a start, plus an excellent 6.3fps continuous shooting speed and a tough yet streamlined magnesium alloy body. The 50D costs a good deal more than the EOS 500D, and doesn’t even have a movie mode, but what makes it worth the extra is the design, robustness and build quality. Canon’s professional EOS SLRs have a unique layout which keeps the exterior clear and uncluttered yet offers fast and efficient operation. There’s a standard control dial on top of the grip and a second, larger control dial on the rear of the camera, and this second dial is used for many things, from menu navigation to EV compensation. Every button, dial and lever on this camera feels engineered to perfection. Other good points include an excellent 3-inch 920,000 pixel LCD and a handy live view mode.

Get it because... It has excellent build quality and design, a high resolution LCD and live view mode
But bear in mind... Its JPEG images aren't as crisp as its RAW files
Buy the Canon EOS 50D digital camera with 17-85mm lens here: Jessops | Amazon UK | Play

Pentax K-7 plus 18-55mm kit lens

Guide price: £1000 • 14.6MP • 5.2fps continuous shooting • Live view: yes • Movie mode: standard HD

Great body, shame about the lenses! If Pentax could slim down and spruce up its lens range, the K-7 might get the success it so richly deserves

The K-7 is Pentax’s top-of-the-range professional D-SLR, though its price also puts it well within the scope of keen amateurs. It uses a 14.6-megapixel APS-C sized sensor (Pentax doesn’t have any full-frame D-SLRs yet) and has a maximum continuous shooting speed of 5.2fps, which puts it on a par with similarly-priced cameras from Canon and Nikon. The body is made of stainless steel and magnesium alloys, and it has no fewer than 77 separate seals against moisture, dust and cold (Pentax claims it will work down to a temperature of -10 degrees centigrade). Pentax has upgraded its sensor-based SR (Shake Reduction) mechanism too, which was already the most effective on the market. Add in the live view, standard HD movie mode and the high-dynamic range functions also found in the K-x, and you’ve got an extremely good little camera. Its only weakness is Pentax’s lens range, which lacks the cohesiveness and in-depth quality of Canon’s and Nikon’s, together with a coarse and noisy autofocus system, at least with the supplied 18-55mm kit lens.

Get it because... You want vivid, saturated images and its high dynamic range functions
But bear in mind... It has a muddled lens range and noisy autofocus
Buy the Pentax K-7 digital camera plus 18-55mm kit lens here: Amazon UK | Play (body only) | Pixmania

Panasonic Lumix GH1 plus 14-140mm kit lens

Guide price: £1100 • 12.1MP • 3fps continuous shooting • Live view: yes • Movie mode: full HD

The 12-megapixel GH1 is a hybrid stills/full HD movie camera which still leads the field, despite newer rivals, thanks to its 10x kit lens and fast autofocus

The Panasonic GH1 has so much in common with the G1 that they can, really, be considered variants of the same camera. For stills photography, their features and performance are more or less the same, though Panasonic says the GH1 has dual ‘Venus’ image processors which improve noise reduction. The key difference, though, is that the GH1 incorporates a full HD movie mode. This is becoming common on other SLRs now, but Panasonic got there first and the GH1 still has certain key advantages. One is that sensor-based contrast-detection autofocus is much faster than the rest and allows effective real-time autofocus while you’re shooting. The other is that this camera comes with an excellent 10x optical zoom, and this is the kind of range you need for serious movie-making. If you buy a similar lens for rival digital SLRs, it will push the budget and the weight up considerably. Judged purely as a stills camera, the GH1 looks expensive, though the 10x zoom does offset that. Really, though, it’s a high-tech hybrid stills/movie camera that still has the edge over the rest.

Get it because... It offers a great 10x image-stabilised kit lens, plus full HD manual movies and fast live view AF
But bear in mind... It's no better than the much cheaper G1 for stills
Buy the Panasonic Lumix GH1 digital camera plus 14-140mm kit lens here: Jessops | Amazon UK | Play