Recommend me a slr camera
Discussion
Given that Canon and Nikon are the market leaders and the most often recommended, the candidates in the sub £500 price range would be the Nikon D3200 or D5100 (what I have), and the Canon 550D or perhaps 600D if the budget is slightly flexible. The recently superceded Nikon D3100 (by the D3200) has dropped to around £350 which seems good value if you want to save some money, probably a better choice than the equivalent priced Canon 1100D although all are good cameras. All the above will generally come with an 18-55mm kit lens although you might get one of the cheaper bodies with a couple of lenses for your budget if you shop around and if thats what you want.
There's also the second hand route which may be worth looking into for slightly older bodies from higher up the model range (at the time), although second hand prices are quite strong and when I was looking there wasnt anything on the secondhand market that really trumped a new D5100 in terms of image quality and features.
As Mark says though, have a play in a shop and see what feels right, I was slightly favouring the Canon 600D before going shopping but preferred the feel and menus etc of the Nikon.
There's also the second hand route which may be worth looking into for slightly older bodies from higher up the model range (at the time), although second hand prices are quite strong and when I was looking there wasnt anything on the secondhand market that really trumped a new D5100 in terms of image quality and features.
As Mark says though, have a play in a shop and see what feels right, I was slightly favouring the Canon 600D before going shopping but preferred the feel and menus etc of the Nikon.
Edited by LocoBlade on Friday 17th August 22:33
I vote against the Canikon route too. Just go and test them in the shop and see what feels best to you.
They'll try to sell you what they have deals on or intend for you to come back and buy another lens because the kit one is disappointing. Just something to bear in mind - try to remain unbiased. Sony make great cameras btw.
They'll try to sell you what they have deals on or intend for you to come back and buy another lens because the kit one is disappointing. Just something to bear in mind - try to remain unbiased. Sony make great cameras btw.
You can get a Canon 600D with a good specification kit lens from the Canon Outlet on eBay within your budget. I bought one a couple of months ago and there is no indication that I have found that it has been previously used for anything at all.
It may be possible to get the equivlent Nikon for much the same price. I have no idea about Sony and others.
The Canons are, officially, 'Refurbished' but still come with a full 12 months manufacturer guarantee.
I have bought several items from the Outlet over the years and all have looked like new, other than the packaging which may seem a bit tatty.
I have one pocket camera that seems to have a dead pixel on the sensor but you have to look hard to find it and in real life you would only see it in very extreme circumstances on an unprocessed RAW file. This might be classed as "B" stock but at the price it's excellent value anyway.
We had one other pocket camera that failed in warranty after about 4 months. It was repaired by an authorised service centre and returned within 4 days at no cost.
I have no connection with the Outlet and freely admit that I may have been exceptionally lucky. That said I bought a flash unit from them late last year and judging by the amount of dust that covered the box I doubt anyone had handled it, before packing and sending to me, since if left the factory! A good sign I thought ...
It may be possible to get the equivlent Nikon for much the same price. I have no idea about Sony and others.
The Canons are, officially, 'Refurbished' but still come with a full 12 months manufacturer guarantee.
I have bought several items from the Outlet over the years and all have looked like new, other than the packaging which may seem a bit tatty.
I have one pocket camera that seems to have a dead pixel on the sensor but you have to look hard to find it and in real life you would only see it in very extreme circumstances on an unprocessed RAW file. This might be classed as "B" stock but at the price it's excellent value anyway.
We had one other pocket camera that failed in warranty after about 4 months. It was repaired by an authorised service centre and returned within 4 days at no cost.
I have no connection with the Outlet and freely admit that I may have been exceptionally lucky. That said I bought a flash unit from them late last year and judging by the amount of dust that covered the box I doubt anyone had handled it, before packing and sending to me, since if left the factory! A good sign I thought ...
Sony inherited Minolta so there is a pretty large range of compatible lenses, many of which should be available second hand at decent prices.
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/index.asp for the lens database.
Having said that Canikon obviously gives the greatest range of options.
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/index.asp for the lens database.
Having said that Canikon obviously gives the greatest range of options.
Flippancy apart, the thing about camera gear, is that once you start getting into it and collecting a bunch of lenses, you may well be able to use said kit for the rest of your life. Unlike cars where you can jump from a Ford to a Ferrari, you kinda' get locked into a brand in photography as it's not cross compatible. If I sold all my Nikon kit now to jump ship to Canon I'd lose many thousands of pounds. The market leaders are Canon/Nikon and there is nobody out there that can see this changing for the foreseeable. This is the ONLY reason I recommend Canon/Nikon over Sony or any other brand. 99% of good photography is down to the photographer, and all modern DSLRs in good hands will take good pics.
In MHO of course
In MHO of course
Edited by GetCarter on Saturday 18th August 14:22
Ian355 said:
Hi all.I would like to buy myself my first digital slr camera but not sure what one. I have £450 budget.any help would be appreciated
What are you going to be taking photos of? A decent zoom will set you back a couple of hundred £ too so if you want to take pictures at race meets, airshows, birds, etc. then you'll need to add that on...Ian355 said:
Hi all.I would like to buy myself my first digital slr camera but not sure what one. I have £450 budget.any help would be appreciated
Buy whatever your friends have. There really isn't a bad SLR on the market these days. But if you buy whatever your friends have, it makes it really easy to talk through problems, and also easier to swap lenses if you go down the route of buying more glass. That's the great thing about my friends, they borrow my lenses, I borrow theirs. And if you're the first, buy Canon obviously.
GetCarter said:
Flippancy apart, the thing about camera gear, is that once you start getting into it and collecting a bunch of lenses, you may well be able to use said kit for the rest of your life. Unlike cars where you can jump from a Ford to a Ferrari, you kinda' get locked into a brand in photography as it's not cross compatible. If I sold all my Nikon kit now to jump ship to Canon I'd lose many thousands of pounds. The market leaders are Canon/Nikon and there is nobody out there that can see this changing for the foreseeable. This is the ONLY reason I recommend Canon/Nikon over Sony or any other brand. 99% of good photography is down to the photographer, and all modern DSLRs in good hands will take good pics.
In MHO of course
All valid points but only if you're a starter photographer who goes onto become a [hateful-term] pro-sumer. In MHO of course
Edited by GetCarter on Saturday 18th August 14:22
If you're the type of person who buys an SLR and never progresses beyond the kit lens, then it really doesn't matter what you buy. In that case, whatever feels best in your hand, and has the best usability for you, are arguably the most important deciding factors.
rhinochopig said:
GetCarter said:
Flippancy apart, the thing about camera gear, is that once you start getting into it and collecting a bunch of lenses, you may well be able to use said kit for the rest of your life. Unlike cars where you can jump from a Ford to a Ferrari, you kinda' get locked into a brand in photography as it's not cross compatible. If I sold all my Nikon kit now to jump ship to Canon I'd lose many thousands of pounds. The market leaders are Canon/Nikon and there is nobody out there that can see this changing for the foreseeable. This is the ONLY reason I recommend Canon/Nikon over Sony or any other brand. 99% of good photography is down to the photographer, and all modern DSLRs in good hands will take good pics.
In MHO of course
All valid points but only if you're a starter photographer who goes onto become a [hateful-term] pro-sumer. In MHO of course
Edited by GetCarter on Saturday 18th August 14:22
If you're the type of person who buys an SLR and never progresses beyond the kit lens, then it really doesn't matter what you buy. In that case, whatever feels best in your hand, and has the best usability for you, are arguably the most important deciding factors.
GetCarter said:
rhinochopig said:
GetCarter said:
Flippancy apart, the thing about camera gear, is that once you start getting into it and collecting a bunch of lenses, you may well be able to use said kit for the rest of your life. Unlike cars where you can jump from a Ford to a Ferrari, you kinda' get locked into a brand in photography as it's not cross compatible. If I sold all my Nikon kit now to jump ship to Canon I'd lose many thousands of pounds. The market leaders are Canon/Nikon and there is nobody out there that can see this changing for the foreseeable. This is the ONLY reason I recommend Canon/Nikon over Sony or any other brand. 99% of good photography is down to the photographer, and all modern DSLRs in good hands will take good pics.
In MHO of course
All valid points but only if you're a starter photographer who goes onto become a [hateful-term] pro-sumer. In MHO of course
Edited by GetCarter on Saturday 18th August 14:22
If you're the type of person who buys an SLR and never progresses beyond the kit lens, then it really doesn't matter what you buy. In that case, whatever feels best in your hand, and has the best usability for you, are arguably the most important deciding factors.
I guess it feels like the 'safe' choice, but I'd probably argue it's just a more flexible route
Thanks everyone. Ended up buying a canon eos1100d and invested in a 50mm lens, case, sd card and filter.been playing around with it and getting good results. Didn't like the sonys as they had LCD view finders that looked odd when looking at the subject. Again thanks very much for all your help and views.
Ian355 said:
Thanks everyone. Ended up buying a canon eos1100d and invested in a 50mm lens, case, sd card and filter.been playing around with it and getting good results. Didn't like the sonys as they had LCD view finders that looked odd when looking at the subject. Again thanks very much for all your help and views.
Congrats on the new kit Is the 50mm the Canon 50mm f1.8?
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