Decent second hand camera or stick with Smartphone?

[Richtea1970]

Hi,
I've been spending a lot of time on the coast over the last year or so and am forever taking pics of the coastline.
So mainly landscape shots but occasionally I see a bird or a basking seal, and can't really get close enough with a smartphone zoom. I'm looking to start a new hobby and have a fair bit of freetime so am thinking about a beginners camera and learn a bit more about taking a decent picture.
Don't want to spend too much (£200ish) and will probably get something used but is there a go to beginners camera? I presume a couple of different lenses for landscape and some sort of zoom for wildlife?
Any hints/tips?
Many thanks

[djsmith74]

Richtea1970 said:

Hi,
I've been spending a lot of time on the coast over the last year or so and am forever taking pics of the coastline.
So mainly landscape shots but occasionally I see a bird or a basking seal, and can't really get close enough with a smartphone zoom. I'm looking to start a new hobby and have a fair bit of freetime so am thinking about a beginners camera and learn a bit more about taking a decent picture.
Don't want to spend too much (£200ish) and will probably get something used but is there a go to beginners camera? I presume a couple of different lenses for landscape and some sort of zoom for wildlife?
Any hints/tips?
Many thanks

TBH, for £200 you're looking at something that's a few years old so I think you perhaps need to manage your expectations as to what you are going to get for the money. Having said that, I had a quick look on eBay, and was surprised as to what you can get for around £200. This, for example....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/327382037264?itmmeta=01...

And then over on MPB, you can get this....

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/nikon-d90/sku-42...

With this lens....

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/nikon-af-s-dx-ni...

Granted, I've just picked the D90 at random. But, it's quite an interesting challenge this - get the best camera/lens combo for £200'ish!.....

[Beetnik]

A bit of change from your £200 here:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/panasonic-lumix-...

[Richtea1970]

Thanks both.

What advantages/disadvantages would having a body/lens combo Vs the all in one quoted above?

Also I forgot I actually had a old Nikon in the drawer. It's a Nikon Coolpix S9900, with a 30x zoom. Looks as thought that could be worth £100 or so so may need able to up the budget a bit?

[djsmith74]

Richtea1970 said:

Thanks both.

What advantages/disadvantages would having a body/lens combo Vs the all in one quoted above?

Also I forgot I actually had a old Nikon in the drawer. It's a Nikon Coolpix S9900, with a 30x zoom. Looks as thought that could be worth £100 or so so may need able to up the budget a bit?

Having a separate body/lens combo will give you more flexibility, which will come into play if your fledgling photography hobby takes off. You can cherry-pick lenses for certain situations, i.e. primes for low-light street shooting, fast wide angle lenses for astrophotography, macro lenses for nature, etc. And, depending on what body you go for and the age of the model, chances are it will offer more capability than an all-in-one solution. That doesn't mean to say that the all-in-one solution will give you sub-standard photos, but the lens/body combo will certainly give you more flexibility.

[Richtea1970]

I'm looking at a Nikon D7000 potentially now, as seems to be recommended as a good quality starter kit. Any thoughts on that?
Then I would presume a 'normal' lense and a high telephoto lens for any wildlife stuff?

[djsmith74]

Richtea1970 said:

I'm looking at a Nikon D7000 potentially now, as seems to be recommended as a good quality starter kit. Any thoughts on that?
Then I would presume a 'normal' lense and a high telephoto lens for any wildlife stuff?

Whilst I'm not an expert on Nikon DSLRs (I'm an Olympus M4/3 user), you should be absolutely fine with something like the D7000 as, looking at the spec sheet, its a very capable camera. In terms of lenses, you will probably get more bang for your buck if you pick up lenses from the likes of Sigma, as they offer very decent glass without paying a premium for a Nikon name.

The MPB website is out of action at the moment, as they're doing upgrades, but when it's back online I'll have a look through and see what Sigma & Tamron lenses you can pick up. FYI - MPB is a decent place to pick up 2nd hand gear, as they check through all the kit they have and they come with a 12month warranty.

One thing I will say, is that if you are moving from a smartphone to something like a D7000, then be prepared for a learning curve!. However, once you've got the basics nailed, then you can start to explore the 'exposure triangle' to get the most out of the camera.

[djsmith74]

MPB is back up, so i had a quick look. I suspect people will be along to offer alternatives, but these look like decent additions to the D7000 body....

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/sigma-17-50mm-f-...

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/sigma-70-300mm-f...