I realize this thread pops up frequently, but I couldn't find the old ones where this topic was discussed before.

 

I'm excited but frustrated at the same time.  Photography is my big hobby.  If my photos don't look good, I'm not happy.  Additionally, I take a lot of photos at my job, so they need to be good so that clients are impressed or our marketing materials look good to win jobs.

 

I've used 3 digital camera since 2002.  It started with your typical point and shoot, to one of those in between point and shoot/looks like an DSLR kind of cameras and then finally a DSLR.  I've listed in order the cameras I've had

 

1.  Canon PowerShot S30.  Purchased in 2002

This camera was considered to be pretty high end at the time when digital quality still had to prove itself.  Though the photos were only 3 mp at the time, the images were crisp and the colors were extraordinary. 

 

No there is no post-processing!  I didn't do that in 2002, uploaded right to the internet from the camera.

 

Again, superb color and nice balance

 

2.  Canon PowerShot S2 1S.  Purchased in 2005

This camera was a step up in terms of resolution.  It also had more manual features and a better zoom.  Colors were almost just as good despite that I manually set them identical to the last powershot. 

 

 

Pretty good color and much sharper looking than the previous powershot

 

Nikon D40, purchased in 2007.

This camera has taken some really great shots.  They are always razor crisp and it performs well at night.  The camera has superb balance, especially when shooting in dark downtown canyons, it doesn't bleach out the sky.  But my biggest gripe has been color loss.  Images look good on the LCD screen, but come up bleached out.  I've tested it on various monitors, Macs and PCs, different operating systems, switching all the color profiles in photoshop (yes I've done my homework).  Still I think it's the camera

 

Even with the vibrance cranked up in photoshop, I still couldn't get this photo to pop. It was just too desaturated out of the camera.

 

Photos taken in RAW have yielded improved results, coupled with some photoshopping

 

A photo taken in jpeg format, but heavily photoshopped to increase the colors.

 

 

 

 

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So from what you see above, I like the vibrant colors I used to get from Canon's, but these cameras were not DSLRs or anything close to professional level

 

I like the kind of balance, crisp edges and good resolution I got from my Nikon, but the color is way too desaturated.

 

When I look at photos I've seen taken by Canon DSLR's they always seem to have rich color, but I can never tell if they've been post-processed or not.  But I've been more impressed overall with photo threads on other sites that were taken with Canons.  On the other hand, I'm comfortable using a Nikon and have invested in expensive lenses already.  So buying just a new camera body could get me something nice.

 

However, if I'm convinced to buy a Canon, I could just sell the lenses and with the money I have saved up, buy a pretty nice Canon camera.

 

My budget is up to $1999.00.  No more than that, unless there's a really good reason and I should wait.  I'm currently looking to buy a Nikon D7000, but only after hearing some opinions.

 

What are your thoughts.  What do you use?  What have you done to get good colors?  Is there possibly something wrong with my Nikon that I'm not getting desirable results?  Show me then!

 

This is big to me like buying a new car. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the quality of the shots I have seen you post, I am surprised you are only using a D40 - I guess it just goes to show what can be done with even entry level cameras.  I use D3000 and the more I use it the more I realize its limitations.  I don't know much about the color issues, but I was at Dodd last weekend and played with a D7000 for just a couple minutes and it seemed like a pretty awesome camera.  Compared to my camera, my interest in it would be the ISO range, auto bracketing, and internal motor (or whatever it's called).  The guy told me it is their top seller right now.  Also, Howard Stern uses a D7000.  Probably didn't help you too much, but I want to get one myself.