Beginner - What Camera?
Discussion
First off, I apologise for what is probably 'Yet another what camera' thread. This is my first post in the forum, and I reckon it could become mildly addictive!
I'm off to New York in January, and have decided, after many years of consideration, to fulfil an ambition and buy a 'real' camera, and start getting into photography.
Now, I know absolutely zilch, nothing at all, when it comes to taking snaps. I want to spend £500 absolute max, ideally £350-£400, and would appreciate any advice and tips and suggestions you may have.
I'm not really going to be pursuing close ups, but rather landscaping and street type photography (busy city scenes ets). I hope that makes sense!
Here's hoping for a long and enjoyable stay on the forum.
Cheers in advance,
Matt
I'm off to New York in January, and have decided, after many years of consideration, to fulfil an ambition and buy a 'real' camera, and start getting into photography.
Now, I know absolutely zilch, nothing at all, when it comes to taking snaps. I want to spend £500 absolute max, ideally £350-£400, and would appreciate any advice and tips and suggestions you may have.
I'm not really going to be pursuing close ups, but rather landscaping and street type photography (busy city scenes ets). I hope that makes sense!
Here's hoping for a long and enjoyable stay on the forum.
Cheers in advance,
Matt
You could do far worse than a refurbished ex-display Canon 450D with 11 months warranty remaining for £369.
The 18-55 IS kit lens it comes with is very good as kit lenses go, and will cover most of your street photography & landscape needs. If you want something with a bit more reach, then something like this Tamron 70-300mm at £89 is also a perfectly acceptable starter lens, and at £89 second hand, would keep you safely inside your £500 upper limit.
Of course, you'll do exactly what I did - get addicted to the whole thing and end up flogging the lenses on Ebay to go for faster (and costlier) ones - but the good news is that if you buy second hand, in most cases, you'll get pretty much what you paid for it, and if sterling tanks against the Yen again, you might actually find yourself making a profit!
The 18-55 IS kit lens it comes with is very good as kit lenses go, and will cover most of your street photography & landscape needs. If you want something with a bit more reach, then something like this Tamron 70-300mm at £89 is also a perfectly acceptable starter lens, and at £89 second hand, would keep you safely inside your £500 upper limit.
Of course, you'll do exactly what I did - get addicted to the whole thing and end up flogging the lenses on Ebay to go for faster (and costlier) ones - but the good news is that if you buy second hand, in most cases, you'll get pretty much what you paid for it, and if sterling tanks against the Yen again, you might actually find yourself making a profit!
I have no opinion but it suddenly dawned on me that many people say exactly the same thing. Namely, 'I know nothing about photography but want to spend £500'.
The first part is entirely fair but why do people put budgets on it? It's like me saying 'I know nothing about mountain climbing but I want to spend £500 on kit'.
It might interesting to tackle it from the other side, ie 'This is what I want to photograph, what kit do I need to do it?' and derive the likely budget that way.
Just being philosophical
The first part is entirely fair but why do people put budgets on it? It's like me saying 'I know nothing about mountain climbing but I want to spend £500 on kit'.
It might interesting to tackle it from the other side, ie 'This is what I want to photograph, what kit do I need to do it?' and derive the likely budget that way.
Just being philosophical
Simpo Two said:
I have no opinion but it suddenly dawned on me that many people say exactly the same thing. Namely, 'I know nothing about photography but want to spend £500'.
The first part is entirely fair but why do people put budgets on it? It's like me saying 'I know nothing about mountain climbing but I want to spend £500 on kit'.
It might interesting to tackle it from the other side, ie 'This is what I want to photograph, what kit do I need to do it?' and derive the likely budget that way.
Just being philosophical
Because on PH, generally, there is a 'accept nothing less than the best' mentality. Meaning that if I didn't specify a budget, I'd end up with suggestions for £5000's worth of kit The first part is entirely fair but why do people put budgets on it? It's like me saying 'I know nothing about mountain climbing but I want to spend £500 on kit'.
It might interesting to tackle it from the other side, ie 'This is what I want to photograph, what kit do I need to do it?' and derive the likely budget that way.
Just being philosophical
Well, it seems for the budget, there's not much difference between all products. So, narrowing it down, and sticking with Nikon or Canon, it's going to be either the EOS450D or the D3000. Which would be better? There's some fairly decent started bundles with the likes of buyacamera.co.uk, digitalrev and argos.
Cheers chaps,
Matt
Cheers chaps,
Matt
Both the 450D and D3000 are now 'old' models which have be superseded however this just means greater bargains are to be had an you can still buy them new or factory refurbished which is just as good as it comes with the same warranty as far as i know.
Looking around if you were to buy brand new these models are within your budget:
canon 1000d - with 18-55 - currys - £332.49 using discount code
canon 450d - with 18-55 IS - currys - £469.99 using code
canon 500d - with 18-55 IS - currys - £488.79 using code
nikon d3000 - with 18-55 VR - currys - £331.55 using code
nikon d3100 - current model - around £500 and maybe more
nikon d5000 - current model - £464 - amazon with 18-55VR
most of these are available with a kit lens (18-55) which I found to be perfectly usable for starting out as it is what I started with, and to be honest an eye for photographs is more important.
bear in mind that you can get the canon 18-55 IS kit lens for £88 and the nikon 18-55 VR (same as IS) lens for £100 so you may be able to get a better price by purchasing the body and lens separately however as a rule kit prices are usually always cheaper.
a great site for making sure you get the best price which I have used is: www.camerapricebuster.co.uk
for memory cards most people go with sandisk.
buy them online and not from currys, argos etc if you buy your camera from there. reason being is that their prices are usually obscene
for camera bags i would recommend lowepro as would many others
i used a lowepro topload zoom mini with my d40 + 18-105 which fitted fine.
hope this helps and good luck with your purchase
Looking around if you were to buy brand new these models are within your budget:
canon 1000d - with 18-55 - currys - £332.49 using discount code
canon 450d - with 18-55 IS - currys - £469.99 using code
canon 500d - with 18-55 IS - currys - £488.79 using code
nikon d3000 - with 18-55 VR - currys - £331.55 using code
nikon d3100 - current model - around £500 and maybe more
nikon d5000 - current model - £464 - amazon with 18-55VR
most of these are available with a kit lens (18-55) which I found to be perfectly usable for starting out as it is what I started with, and to be honest an eye for photographs is more important.
bear in mind that you can get the canon 18-55 IS kit lens for £88 and the nikon 18-55 VR (same as IS) lens for £100 so you may be able to get a better price by purchasing the body and lens separately however as a rule kit prices are usually always cheaper.
a great site for making sure you get the best price which I have used is: www.camerapricebuster.co.uk
for memory cards most people go with sandisk.
buy them online and not from currys, argos etc if you buy your camera from there. reason being is that their prices are usually obscene
for camera bags i would recommend lowepro as would many others
i used a lowepro topload zoom mini with my d40 + 18-105 which fitted fine.
hope this helps and good luck with your purchase
cjm said:
Which is the smallest lowepro bags a 450D and 18-55is lens will fit in?
Whichever it is, don't buy it!Your photography will go one of two ways...
Either you'll end up never using the camera, in which case you'll resent paying for a bag for it, or you'll decide you like it and fairly quickly end up with another lens or two, or maybe an external flash, and resent paying for a bag which is now too small!
holtender_01 said:
for memory cards most people go with sandisk.
buy them online and not from currys, argos etc if you buy your camera from there. reason being is that their prices are usually obscene
Where do you get yours from? Stories of fakes flooding Ebay and the like somewhat concern me. I'd rather pay a couple of quid extra and not lose my shots!buy them online and not from currys, argos etc if you buy your camera from there. reason being is that their prices are usually obscene
Kermit power said:
cjm said:
Which is the smallest lowepro bags a 450D and 18-55is lens will fit in?
Whichever it is, don't buy it!Your photography will go one of two ways...
Either you'll end up never using the camera, in which case you'll resent paying for a bag for it, or you'll decide you like it and fairly quickly end up with another lens or two, or maybe an external flash, and resent paying for a bag which is now too small!
Looks like a lowepro topload zoom mini, is the smallest.
Edited by cjm on Tuesday 21st September 11:02
cjm said:
Kermit power said:
cjm said:
Which is the smallest lowepro bags a 450D and 18-55is lens will fit in?
Whichever it is, don't buy it!Your photography will go one of two ways...
Either you'll end up never using the camera, in which case you'll resent paying for a bag for it, or you'll decide you like it and fairly quickly end up with another lens or two, or maybe an external flash, and resent paying for a bag which is now too small!
Looks like a lowepro topload zoom mini, is the smallest.
There's not a huge difference in either cost or weight between the smallest bag and one a couple of sizes further up, so even if you only use the extra space for waterproofs, guidebooks or whatever for the short term, it's arguably a false economy to get the smallest one possible unless size is a real driver.
Kermit power said:
holtender_01 said:
for memory cards most people go with sandisk.
buy them online and not from currys, argos etc if you buy your camera from there. reason being is that their prices are usually obscene
Where do you get yours from? Stories of fakes flooding Ebay and the like somewhat concern me. I'd rather pay a couple of quid extra and not lose my shots!buy them online and not from currys, argos etc if you buy your camera from there. reason being is that their prices are usually obscene
I have got many sd cards and cf cards from: 7dayshop.com
Thanks for all the advice, i've ended up buying a D5000 for £464, with an 18-55mm lens. Will possibly purchase the Nikon 55-200mm lens at some point, but that can wait for now, looking forward to getting out there and experimenting.
I've purchased a book by Jeff Revell also, so hopefully can get the most out of the kit.
Thanks once again,
Matt
I've purchased a book by Jeff Revell also, so hopefully can get the most out of the kit.
Thanks once again,
Matt
It's a bit of a joke thing around here. Most know that Nikon and Canon are the market leaders for good reason. Many of us have been with the brand for so long it would be stupid of us to 'jump ship' as much of our equipment would be toast. There is little between them.
Having said that there was a huge leap from Canon to Nikon in 2008 when the D3 came out. Sensible people!
Having said that there was a huge leap from Canon to Nikon in 2008 when the D3 came out. Sensible people!
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