Entry level DSLR

[RobDickinson]

eltawater said:

I'd say they're really rather more nice to haves than reasons to dismiss entry level cameras

You could certainly live without em but even my ancient 350d had bracketing, and every canon with live view has exp simulation... as does every mirrorless etc

[craigjm]

alock said:

If your branch is anything like ours, then you might want to try somewhere else instead.

Our Jessops seems to be staffed by part time students with little interest/experience in photography.

Our local London Camera Exchange (not in London) is vastly more knowledgeable and offer real advice.

Don’t disagree with that. Just want to get hands on with the two so she can decide which she is more comfortable with

[Monty Python]

Don't ignore Sony DSLRs - they all have built-in image stabilization which is great for reducing camera shake. I'm on my second (still have an A100 stashed away somewhere).

There are also a lot of very good used stuff here:

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/used-dslrs/#esp_cate...

[craigjm]

Going to have a look at the Nikon D3400, Canon 1300D and the Sony A68.

Not looking at anything used because it’s a Christmas present

[RTB]

Monty Python said:

Don't ignore Sony DSLRs - they all have built-in image stabilization which is great for reducing camera shake. I'm on my second (still have an A100 stashed away somewhere).

There are also a lot of very good used stuff here:

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/used-dslrs/#esp_cate...

Got to agree with that. Some of the Sony stuff is very good. My 8 year old has my old A100 and he takes some cracking pictures with it.

[Monty Python]

One thing that may be of significance for a 15-yo is the weight - the A68 is the lightest at 610g while the Canon weighs in at 704g (body only). Something to bear in mind when carrying it around and using it.

[craigjm]

Monty Python said:

One thing that may be of significance for a 15-yo is the weight - the A68 is the lightest at 610g while the Canon weighs in at 704g (body only). Something to bear in mind when carrying it around and using it.

That’s a good point will make sure we cover that when she has all three units in front of her

[Monty Python]

One last thought - the Canon 1300D is not really a direct competitor to the other two - did you choose is as a lower cost option? If not, might I suggest the 750D as a closer competitor to the Nikon and Sony.

[Simpo Two]

craigjm said:

Monty Python said:

One thing that may be of significance for a 15-yo is the weight - the A68 is the lightest at 610g while the Canon weighs in at 704g (body only). Something to bear in mind when carrying it around and using it.

That’s a good point will make sure we cover that when she has all three units in front of her

Remember there's a neckstrap for whenever it's not actually in use.

[craigjm]

Monty Python said:

One last thought - the Canon 1300D is not really a direct competitor to the other two - did you choose is as a lower cost option? If not, might I suggest the 750D as a closer competitor to the Nikon and Sony.

That’s a good point. The 750d didn’t feature in my initial googling all the canon noise was about the 1300D

[toohuge]

Have you looked at WEX photography? There are some well priced D7000 & 7200 on there and these would make a good starter camera imo. Image quality is likely to be the same, but with an internal focus motor and a few other features - the upgrade process should be a little delayed.

Chris

[Monty Python]

toohuge said:

Have you looked at WEX photography? There are some well priced D7000 & 7200 on there and these would make a good starter camera imo. Image quality is likely to be the same, but with an internal focus motor and a few other features - the upgrade process should be a little delayed.

Chris

"Not looking at anything used because it’s a Christmas present "

[craigjm]

Monty Python said:

"Not looking at anything used because it’s a Christmas present "

Thank you couldn’t have put it better myself

[Weslake-Monza]

I've found the Birmingham Jessops to be very good with knowledgeable staff and sometimes they have Canon or Nikon sales staff in store that can answer product specific questions the other store staff might not be able to. My 15 yr old daughter hasn't found the weight of her 5200 to be an issue and has a s/h bag to carry it in and also a basic Manfrotto (?) monopod for when she needs it which is much less the case when she had a compact (image stabilisation I guess in the Nikon/lenses). I have a 7200 which was considerably more expensive than her 5200 but every now and then, even with her shorter lense, she takes a better photo than I do

[toohuge]

craigjm said:

Thank you couldn’t have put it better myself

Apologies - as you were.

[craigjm]

OK we are going to go got the Nikon D3400 so just looking around for deals now. Will probably go twin lens set up. Have seen the body with an 18-55 and 70-300. All the kits I have seen like this have the 18-55 as a Nikon lens with a VR lens which I understand is image stabilisation. The bundled 70-300 lens is often a Tamron lens that is DI LD. what is that? Is it the Tamron version of image stabilisation?

[flight147z]

craigjm said:

OK we are going to go got the Nikon D3400 so just looking around for deals now. Will probably go twin lens set up. Have seen the body with an 18-55 and 70-300. All the kits I have seen like this have the 18-55 as a Nikon lens with a VR lens which I understand is image stabilisation. The bundled 70-300 lens is often a Tamron lens that is DI LD. what is that? Is it the Tamron version of image stabilisation?

If that's the lens that retails for £90 on Amazon I wouldn't expect a lot. Even a "decent" kit lens retails for more than that - as far as I'm aware there aren't any decent telephotos in that price bracket especially with that range.

[craigjm]

I am expecting it to be as good as the price suggests. I’m sensible to recognise that it wouldn’t be as good as the Nikon equivalent which is £450. I was just wondering what the terminology meant because I think it would be annoying for instance to have image stabilisation on one lens and not on the other.

[flight147z]

craigjm said:

I am expecting it to be as good as the price suggests. I’m sensible to recognise that it wouldn’t be as good as the Nikon equivalent which is £450. I was just wondering what the terminology meant because I think it would be annoying for instance to have image stabilisation on one lens and not on the other.

"The designation “Di” (Digitally Integrated Design) marks a generation of lenses, which have been specially adapted to the higher requirements of digital SLR cameras (APS-C and full frame)."

"Low dispersion (LD) glass elements in a lens help reduce chromatic aberration; the tendency of light of different colors to come to different points of focus at the image plane. Chromatic aberration reduces the sharpness of an image, but glass with an extremely lowdispersion index, has less of a tendency to separate (defract) a ray of light into a rainbow of colors. This characteristic allows the lens designer to effectively compensate for chromatic aberration at the center of the field (on axis), a particular problem at long focal lengths (the telephoto end of the zoom range), and for lateral chromatic aberration (towards the edges of the field) that often occurs at short focal lengths (the wide-angle end of the zoom range)."

Nothing to get excited about. Unless you buy a very fast lens or don't mind using a tripod all the time I wouldn't bother with any non VR/IS long lens - save your cash for a better lens in the future.

Edited by flight147z on Tuesday 7th November 23:19

Edited by flight147z on Tuesday 7th November 23:19

[craigjm]

[quote]Nothing to get excited about. Unless you buy a very fast lens or don't mind using a tripod all the time I wouldn't bother with any non VR/IS long lens - save your cash for a better lens in the future/quote]

OK thanks. As I said at the top this isn’t for me it’s for my 15yo niece for Christmas. So it would appear the Tamron lens is the one you say is on Amazon for £90 so in a bundle it isn’t any cheaper. Would this be the Nikon equivalent with VR? From what I have read and you say then the extra £200 or so would be money well spent