Help with SLR choice for a beginner please

[chim_girl]

Wonder if any of you could help me please. I am a complete beginner but would like to try my hand at photography. If I find that I enjoy it and actually use the equipment I plan to by something like the Canon 300D in a few months time. I like digital but don't want to spend ~£1000 on a new hobby just yet! In the meantime I have have a budget of £250 to £300 to play with.

The following camera's would seem to fit the bill :-

Nikon F55 comes with Nikon 28-100 Lens &
Nikon 70-300 Lens - Cost £239.00

Canon Eos300 with Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II, Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III - Cost £289.00

Just to complicate matters I've also been offered a secondhand Nikon F55 with Nikon 70-300 Lens for £145.00

I was leaning towards the Canon on the basis that I could part-ex the body and smaller lens when I buy something better. As far as I understand the 300D has the same EF fitting so I could use the other lens in the future.

So, do you have any wise words. Am I on the right tracks with my choices?

Thanks

[stevieb]

I have the Canon 300 SLR and the Digital equivilant, ITs makes it a bit cheaper as you can swap the lenses from camera to camera.

its really upto you personal prefrence over the make of the cam and your budget as budget slr's there is no real performance difference with them... IMO

steve

[stevieb]

But if you want to see you results instantly then you could buy the s/h Cam and buy a Compact Digital Cam Canon Powershot A70 or similar.

As said before i have the Canon Digital and SLR plus a A70 for point and Click, and also a Backup Minolta Dynax 5.

I v.rarely use the Film cameras now as the DigitalSLR offeres the quality i need for all the pics i get processed.

[Pies]

TBH if your going to get a Digital camera in few months and the SLR is only for short term practice i wouldn't bother getting the SLR.

If you work out the costs a roll of 35mm film is going to cost (including developing) £5+.

How many pics are you going to take 20 50 100 1000 ?

Then there is the time taken to develop the film,i realise it can be done in 1hr/24hr but are you going to keep popping into the developers ?

IMHO you would be better of getting a cheaper digital camera i the first place £300 (you will spend more on the SLR inc film etc)is still a pretty good tool and play with that for a while.

There are minimal running costs with a digi camera and you would be comparing like with like,if you don't like it sell it on ebay for very little loss.

[chim_girl]

Thanks, I currently have a 3.2 mega pixel digital camera with zoom. The results are okay for a point and click camera but I really want something to take wildlife pics with, it's just not up to the job. I'd love to go straight into the Canon 300D but just can't justify the expense right away.

[Pies]

This is the quality of digi camera thats available complete manual override etc,you migt find something slightly cheaper that does all you need

www.camerashop.co.uk/cameras/buy_page.php?cameraID=129

[stevieb]

Pies said:

This is the quality of digi camera thats available complete manual override etc,you migt find something slightly cheaper that does all you need www.camerashop.co.uk/cameras/buy_page.php?cameraID=129

Sony Dsc-v1

One of the best small digi cams i have used

steve

PS what kind of wildlife pics do you take???

Steve

[chim_girl]

Oh Pies you should be in sales! Very good point and something I hadn't considered. I hate taking films to be processed, that was one of the reason got a point and click digital camera. I also have a pretty good PC and more Photoshop type software that I care to mention!

So, with your help I have now decided to cut to the chase and look for a 300D, if I don't use it I'll sell it on ebay. If I lose a few hundred quid in the process it isn't going to be the end of the world.

Right, where is my credit card.

Do any of you have any recommended websites?

Do you know if Jessops are still doing pricematch....(I'm now thinking that I could have one in my mits before the end of the day! )

[stevieb]

chim_girl said:

Oh Pies you should be in sales! Very good point and something I hadn't considered. I hate taking films to be processed, that was one of the reason got a point and click digital camera. I also have a pretty good PC and more Photoshop type software that I care to mention! So, with your help I have now decided to cut to the chase and look for a 300D, if I don't use it I'll sell it on ebay. If I lose a few hundred quid in the process it isn't going to be the end of the world. Right, where is my credit card. Do any of you have any recommended websites? Do you know if Jessops are still doing pricematch....(I'm now thinking that I could have one in my mits before the end of the day! )

Jessops still do price match but have refused to me anyway to do a price match with internet prices

steve

[Pies]

Best ring jessops up but IIRC they still do pricematch :_

[zetec]

I bought one of these yesterday. Jessops and Photo Optix are now selling for £599 and you get £100 cashback from Nikon if you buy before the end of the year.


www.fotosense.co.uk/nikon_5700_offers.html

It has an 8x zoom (eqivalent to 35 to 280mm) 5 mp and can be used as a simple point and shoot or it has manual overides on just about anything.

Edited for a link that didn't stretch the page
>> Edited by zetec on Sunday 28th December 11:12

>> Edited by zetec on Sunday 28th December 11:14

[chim_girl]

stevieb said:

PS what kind of wildlife pics do you take??? Steve

I live in a semi rural area, so far I haven't taken much other than the usual; birds, squirrels, horses, cows, sheep etc. The main problem I've had is being unable to get sufficient detail to make the picture interesting. At the moment the zoom on my camera will not get close enough, I end up with things looking like insignificant blobs in a huge landscape!

I also dislike the fact that I have to compose the picture on an LCD, it just doesn't 'feel' right!

[stevieb]

Heres a couple of the pics i took recently


A Rather angry Tiger



A Rather Placid robyn



Got a few a some monkeys swinging through the air somewhere

steve


>> Edited by stevieb on Sunday 28th December 11:38

[srider]

chim_girl said:

Oh Pies you should be in sales! Very good point and something I hadn't considered. I hate taking films to be processed, that was one of the reason got a point and click digital camera. I also have a pretty good PC and more Photoshop type software that I care to mention! So, with your help I have now decided to cut to the chase and look for a 300D, if I don't use it I'll sell it on ebay. If I lose a few hundred quid in the process it isn't going to be the end of the world. Right, where is my credit card. Do any of you have any recommended websites? Do you know if Jessops are still doing pricematch....(I'm now thinking that I could have one in my mits before the end of the day! )

try these :-

www.parkcameras.com/
www.mifsuds.com/
www.warehouseexpress.com/

Jessops will pricematch Park at a push, they may add the delivery too though. If they say it's not within 10 miles of the store, point out it's within 10 miles of several of their other branches, really annoys them if they're squirming out of it

The 300D should make a great 1st SLR, it's much easier to learn the fundamentals and hone your technique with digital. Unusually, the 18-55 "kit" lens is resonably good, but it only works with the 300D, no other EOS cameras.

>> Edited by srider on Sunday 28th December 11:49

[chim_girl]

That's the kind of thing I want to do. At the moment I'd have to put on a bird costume and hide in the tree to get a close-up pic of a Robin!

What camera were you using?

[srider]

chim_girl said:

stevieb said: PS what kind of wildlife pics do you take??? Steve I live in a semi rural area, so far I haven't taken much other than the usual; birds, squirrels, horses, cows, sheep etc. The main problem I've had is being unable to get sufficient detail to make the picture interesting. At the moment the zoom on my camera will not get close enough, I end up with things looking like insignificant blobs in a huge landscape! I also dislike the fact that I have to compose the picture on an LCD, it just doesn't 'feel' right!

If you do get a 300D, a 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM would do nicely for this type of shot. It's not the quickest or sharpest lens, but it offers a lot for the money.

[chim_girl]

srider said:

The 300D should make a great 1st SLR, it's much easier to learn the fundamentals and hone your technique with digital. Unusually, the 18-55 "kit" lens is resonably good, but it only works with the 300D, no other EOS cameras.

Thanks for the links

Are you sure that the lenses are specific only to the 300D? I've read a couple of reviews (by members of the public not magazines) that suggest that Canon EF lenses should work. As you can tell, I'm not an expert!!! I liked the idea that I could buy secondhand lenses to experiment with.

[stevieb]

chim_girl said:

That's the kind of thing I want to do. At the moment I'd have to put on a bird costume and hide in the tree to get a close-up pic of a Robin! What camera were you using?

I took that using a canon powershot a70 3.2 mp point and click.. robyn was 4ft away from me.

[luca brazzi]

All Canon EF mount lenses will fit. The special lens that you can buy at the same time as the camera (EF18-55mm) will only fit the 300D. Its worth getting as the extra cost is peanuts in comparison and gives you an 18mm lens for great wide angle. And if your budget stretches to a 75-300...fantastic, as the camera increases the focal length by 1.6 making it a whopping lens, which so long as you've a decent tripod, and a not very quick moving target should be great.

Well done for choosing the digi-slr option....took your time though...I remember you were debating this weeks ago I knew then that you'd get one.

All the best
LB

And Amazon are still selling them for £799 incl. lens, so print and take to Jessops, although before Xmas, Jessops were out of stock and I had to find an independant.

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000C9VZN/qid=1072613744/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-5692443-2030023

[chim_girl]

luca brazzi said:

Well done for choosing the digi-slr option....took your time though...I remember you were debating this weeks ago I knew then that you'd get one.

It was only last Saturday!