Digital SLR - used

[ad551]

I've just got back from Italy and enjoyed myself taking lots of (rubbish) photographs with my Fujifilm bridge camera. I'm now feeling slightly restricted by it, and the LCD screen on the back has broken.

I've just bought a flat and am supposed to be redecorating it so money is a bit tight at the moment so I was looking at buying a used DSLR camera. I was looking to spend around £250 including a lens but I'm not sure whether this is too low, just right or (unlikely) too high.

I've had a look around on eBay - is something like this any good: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am... or should I be aiming for a newer model? I'd be doing a mixture of photography really but mainly outdoors stuff and I'd like to play around with night photography. Any advice on what is best to buy at this price point is very welcome!

[Dogsey]

The Nikon D50 is a good camera and although I don't know much about that lens (someone who has or has had one will be along in a moment I'm sure) that seems like a pretty good deal.

The other camera I'd be looking out for at similar money would be the Canon 350D, similar age and spec to the D50, just Canon's offering.

Either will do you fine until you decide you want to spend more on your new hobby.

HTH.

[Simpo Two]

I think that would be a good starter kit. People were surprised when Nikon discontinued the D50 and replaced it with the D40. Remember the great thing about DSLR kits is that you can buy and sell bits as you outgrow them.

[rfn]

I just bought a Canon 450D + 18-55IS lens on eBay - refurbished model from Canon with 12 months warranty for c. £300 - if you can stretch your budget a little I'd suggest something like that?

[ad551]

Cheers for the opinions so far - I wish I'd put a better thread title as it looks like I'm trying to sell something at the moment!

I think it does look like a good starter kit, but the thing I guess I'm nervous about is the age of the camera and the fact things might begin to go wrong.

Thanks for the tip about the Canon outlet - I've just looked at that on eBay and found this which looks interesting - the 1000D seems to get good reviews. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EOS-1000D-EF-18-55-Ref...

I don't want to start a Canon/Nikon war () but which would take better photos in most peoples opinion - the D50 or the 1000D?

Another question: how 'versatile' is an 18-55 lens?

[MisterT]

I would go for a Nikon D40 with 18-55 kit lens, it's a good SLR starting point and it maybe all you'll ever want or need. Its lighter/smaller than the D50 and has an RGB histogram for checking exposure levels, and, I think, a bigger LCD screen. I've taken some great shots with my D40 the image quality is great.

I took these on a trip to Malaysia, both handleld with the 18-55 lens, the camera auto-chose 1250 ISO for the first and 1600 ISO for the second shot

[Dogsey]

Personally I think the D40 was a step back from the D50, in particular the loss of focus points and built in focus drive. I also prefer the larger size of the D50, it just feels more like a real camera and less like a toy.

As for which lens to get, well it depends largely on what you want to photograph. For landscapes you generally want wide angle (10-20mm), for portraits you'll want mid-lengths (50-100mm), for motorsport or wildlife you want longer lengths (200-300mm+).

I don't know the Canon 1000D but I'd rather go for a slightly old higher spec camera rather than a newer lower spec one. The Canon range gets higher the less digits it has -lower end to high xxxxD - xxxD - xxD - xD. There is nothing really to choose between either Canon or Nikon ranges.

[LongQ]

rfn said:

I just bought a Canon 450D + 18-55IS lens on eBay - refurbished model from Canon with 12 months warranty for c. £300 - if you can stretch your budget a little I'd suggest something like that?

I bought a 400D from this source about 3 years ago. Looked new to me other than the original box was a bit damaged on one corner. 30k frames later and the camera is still fine. The lens too but I mostly use other lenses so I won't include that in the 30k frames observation.

I have bought a few other items from the the same source and all have been good. One Ixus developed a fault after about 9 months - turned out to be a loose connection in the lens mechanism. Fixed under warranty with a 2 working day turnaround, much to my surprise and pleasure.

[Yellabelly]

You really need to handle the various cameras, they all feel different and it then comes down to what you feel comfortable with. Go to your local camera shop and handle a few of their used examples, like for like there is little difference in performance between Nikon and Canon. They also have the largest range of OEM and third party lenses but don't discount Pentax, Olympus or Sony they all produce good images but as you progress you may feel restricted by the lack of lenses compared to the two main providers. If you can stretch to it either a Nikon D70 or 70s or Canon 20D or 30D are good spec cameras and well worth consideration.

Good luck but beware ....it can be a very addictive....and bloody expensive hobby!

YB

[LongQ]

Yellabelly said:

Good luck but beware ....it can be a very addictive....and bloody expensive hobby!

YB

Yep - but it beats watching paint dry .....

[Simpo Two]

LongQ said:

Yep - but it beats watching paint dry .....

Yep, you can photograph it drying

[onomatopoeia]

Yellabelly said:

They also have the largest range of OEM and third party lenses but don't discount Pentax, Olympus or Sony they all produce good images but as you progress you may feel restricted by the lack of lenses compared to the two main providers.

In the case of Sony, the restrictions tend to be when someone is looking at spending 5k+ on a lens as certain focal length / aperture combinations are not available either new or used. It doesn't sound like the OP will be buying a 400/2.8 or 200/2 soon though.

At £250 including lens there is little to choose between any of the DSLR manufacturers, other than personal preference and what the user finds feels best in their hands.

From the Sony range, the (now replaced) A200/300/350 s/h with a s/h kit lens would be in budget and feel like proper cameras (IMO the new 230/330/380 are too small). The 18-55 kit lens is reportedly rather better than the 18-70. Alternatively, Wilkinson cameras are doing the A450 + kit lens new for £299 at the moment and that's a step up from the entry level bodies - no live view though, so you can't use it like a compact.

[dibbly dobbler]

If you go for Canon and want an 18-55 you can have mine. Cost = 0p, pick up only (Edinburgh)

[TimmyWimmyWoo]

I got a 2nd hand Canon 20D as my first DSLR 3 years ago. It's worth about £200 now but stick some decent glass on it and it'll pretty much hold its own against anything newer, as long as you're not shooting in low light. It's 'only' got 8mp but that doesn't matter unless you're blowing the images up…

[davidd]

I've had three cameras and a printer from the canon outlet and they have all been as new and worked perfectly.

If you can, wander into a camera shop or visit your local camera club and try a few out.

D

[Speed addicted]

I bought my 500D from www.mpbphotographic.co.uk, with an 18-055 and 75-300mm lenses I saves about £150-200 from buying new. The camera body was ex-display and was as new.
The 18-55 is the lense I use most, I've got a 10-20 for landscapes and the 75-300 for wildlife type stuff. When I come to upgrade the kit lense I'll go for something like an 18-75 as that would cover most of my needs.

[tinman0]

ad551 said:

I don't want to start a Canon/Nikon war () but which would take better photos in most peoples opinion - the D50 or the 1000D?

Another question: how 'versatile' is an 18-55 lens?

1000D is perfectly acceptable. No idea about the D50 though.

18-55 again is an all round good performer. Won't win any awards, but perfectly good lens to start with.

[Dr Jekyll]

Naive question here, but do you need camera specific software to get pictures out of the camera onto your PC? Or do you just get Photoshop or something and make sure you have a cable that fits.

[tinman0]

Dr Jekyll said:

Naive question here, but do you need camera specific software to get pictures out of the camera onto your PC? Or do you just get Photoshop or something and make sure you have a cable that fits.

Either remove the memory card and put it in a reader and it'll appear as a new drive on the machine, or plug the cable directly into the camera and the PC and Mac should just see it, either in software or as a drive again. Usually it's pretty straight forward.

[RobDickinson]

Dr Jekyll said:

Naive question here, but do you need camera specific software to get pictures out of the camera onto your PC? Or do you just get Photoshop or something and make sure you have a cable that fits.

With a modern windows you can pick what you want to happen, either a direct read off the caud automaticaly or launch an app like picasa/lightroom or whatever you have installed that imports.

I just let windows import them into a dated/titled folder.