Novice - which camera please

[Captain Volvo]

Hi, advice please. Could you please offer opinions on which is the best digital SLR around for about £500-£600 it would need to come with a "standard" lens for that but have the ability to take a wide range of others. I don't want to limit myself early on by buying a rubbish body.

Is the budget too small - I can't get much more past the wife!

Thanks in advance.

[beano500]

Ah - "the best"?

Well, "best" would mean different things to different people.

For starters, if you're going to expand, the best set of choices will be to go for Canon or Nikon - there's such a huge choice of lenses and accessories.

Now, are we talking brand new, or secondhand? Some brilliant s/h bargains around - you could get a professional body for that price - mind it would be the weight of a dozen bricks and might not be what you want

Then, what would you like to take pictures of, and what will you want to do with the results - website or huge posters.

Are you brand new to dSLR and photography or do you have experience and work in particular ways?

Course, my secondhand kit would have been ideal - I'm just selling some stuff and have split the whole lot into individual bits on Fleabay!

[Greendubber]

I purchased my first DSLR a few weeks ago and went for a Canon EOS 400D. Its fairly simple to use at first if you read the book etc. Getting to grips with all the settings now and getting some good results. Fantastic bit of kit in my opinion. The kit lens is alright to get started on but I went for a 70-200mm as well.....now I want another lens!.

You could kit yourself out fairly well with you budget if you opted for the EOS400D. You could get the body, kit lens, decent bag, card and another lens if you look about.

Good luck with it, however expect it to rule your life for a while!.

Also, go and have a look in a shop and have a try with some to see what you like the feel of.

[sidaorb]

Have a look at either Mifsuds website, got some cracking s/h bargains;

Canon 10D £199
Canon 28-135mm IS £219
A bag
Some cards
And a little change

And you might have enough for a battery grip

Edited by sidaorb on Tuesday 11th March 20:31

[Captain Volvo]

Thanks for the answers so far. Let me help myself a little more by being more specific.

I have a new baby son (well, 7 months ago but our feet have just about touched the ground now) and we, as a family, went to a well known chain of professional photographers and had a session. On Sunday I left their studio with an order for 2 (yes two) pictures and with my wallet 4-figures lighter... Yes I know I've probably been fleeced so please don't remind me!

I want the camera to take family pics so I can get them professionaly printed (somewhere) and save a bit of cash. £500-600 represents the cost of one picture from the studio so there must be savings to be made somewhere!

I also do a bit of walking so the ability to take decent scenery shots would be good too.

I like the idea of buying lenses - I tend to get silly with new toys and love gadgets.

[beano500]

Captain Volvo said:

I have a new baby son (well, 7 months ago but our feet have just about touched the ground now)

...and...

I like the idea of buying lenses - I tend to get silly with new toys and love gadgets.

Well, you need a Nikon then! Then you can do this:




Admitedly that's not a camera body within your budget, but my lens-buying habits stretched to a very unassuming little 45mm like this:



Cute - isn't he?? The LENS, I mean not the little brat!

[Simpo Two]

Captain Volvo said:

we, as a family, went to a well known chain of professional photographers and had a session. On Sunday I left their studio with an order for 2 (yes two) pictures and with my wallet 4-figures lighter...

Bloody hell, I charge £75 an hour and give you the images on disk!

Captain Volvo said:

I want the camera to take family pics so I can get them professionaly printed (somewhere) and save a bit of cash. £500-600 represents the cost of one picture from the studio so there must be savings to be made somewhere!

To be fair there's a lot more to studio/portrait photography than buying a camera. If you want to match Venture etc then you'll need a studio, lighting, modifiers, backgrounds and a decent knowledge of Photoshop. Even if you buy all the gear, it doesn't mean you'll get the results you envisage.

[flat-planedCrank]

Captain Volvo said:

Hi, advice please. Could you please offer opinions on which is the best digital SLR around for about £500-£600 it would need to come with a "standard" lens for that but have the ability to take a wide range of others. I don't want to limit myself early on by buying a rubbish body.

Is the budget too small - I can't get much more past the wife!

Thanks in advance.

Another vote for taking the Canon / Nikon route
The multitude of lenses available for these mounts make this an easy choice imo (from Canon / Nikon themselves, then for both - Sigma, Tamron, Tonika, etc..)


I'd strongly suggest you get down to the local camera store and have a proper look after you check online for the models you are looking at. It will tell you if you want a pro-sumer (urgh, horrible word ) level camera, or prefer the feel of a more pro-body metal chassis camera.


For reviews i'd check - dpreview

For prices i'd check - warehouse express



For your budget, i'd guess:

Canon - 400D / 450D, (or perhaps a 2nd hand 30D / 20D if you want a metal body)

Nikon - D60 / D40x, (or perhaps D80 its £500 body-only, so thats only £100 to find a lens. Perhaps 2nd hand ?)


I'd check the reviews for the different camera's to check for the particular quirks between the cameras




Hope this helps, if you have any q's then there are loads of people on this forum to advise and argue over the points


Cheers.

[Elderly]

A friend of mine has just bought this for £475:

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/359-400T/

Lovely small body with sensor cleaning and image stabilization,
and two zoom lenses.

[andynoquantum]

If you're looking at the Nikon D40, do take some time to have a look over the D80 as well. I got a D40 over Xmas and New Year then promptly went out and bought a D80, which is much better

[toohuge]

A friend of mine got himself a Sony alpha 100 or something like that and the results are very encouraging. But i would go for a canon or Nikon as there is a wide variety of lenses etc and loads of support available from the pistonheads crew.

I would avoid buying a pro body for the first time, i treated myself to a second hand Nikon D1x as a starting camera and well lets say, i am no match for it...

[Ordinary Bloke]

Canon or Nikon DSLR. The lens is more important than the camera.

Start with an EOS 300/350/400/450D then later buy an f2.8 lens (Tamron f2.8 28-75 is good). Or get the Nikon equivalent.

Look what the professionals use (it's never Sony!)

Have fun.

[flat-planedCrank]

andynoquantum said:

If you're looking at the Nikon D40, do take some time to have a look over the D80 as well. I got a D40 over Xmas and New Year then promptly went out and bought a D80, which is much better

I'd agree with this though it is considerably more money of course


As has been mentioned a number of times on this forum, the d40 / d40x (and now I believe, the d60) have some limitations that may or may not be a deciding factor..

• They will only autofocus with AF-S or AF-I lenses (or 3rd party lenses with their own focusing motor)
• No bracketing (exposure / white balance)
• No DOF preview
• No mirror lock-up

The Nikon D80 and Canon 400D / 450D do not have these limitations.

Like i said, these may or may not be an issue, but they are something to be aware of

If you got a d40(x) / d60 now, then a bunch of lenses, you could always upgrade the body at a later date. Camera body's don't hold their value like lenses do, just check ebay for the prices of older models


Cheers.

Edited by flat-planedCrank on Tuesday 11th March 23:54

[Zad]

Just so folks are aware, now the Eos 450d is just about in the shops, the 400d's price has somewhat dropped:

"Canon 400d body and 18/55 lens kit SLR 10.1mp £317.11 @ Currys Delivered Online only"
http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/155926/canon-400d-b...

Okay, so the 'kit' zoom isn't brilliant, but at that price you are effectively getting the lens free anyway.