Looking for some camera buying advice for a beginner
Discussion
I'm looking at getting started in photography and looking to pick up a used bargain from the old ebay. Looking at <£400 or so. I'll be mainly taking landscape scenic pictures and a few pictures of cars (thinking at car shows/meets). Done a little bit of research and something along the lines of a Nikon D3300 or D5200 seems like a good bet for myself but is there any other options out there that i've missed that would be a good used buy for a beginner and worth a look?
Secondly, is it a better idea to buy just the camera body and then hand pick a lens that would best fit my needs, or just go for a bundle with camera, standard kit lens, bags, caps, changers etc... all thrown in? And if I were to go for the former, what would be a good versatile lens for my expected use stated above? I hear primes have better quality but is the improvement noticeable and worth sacrificing some versatility for?
Thanks all.
Secondly, is it a better idea to buy just the camera body and then hand pick a lens that would best fit my needs, or just go for a bundle with camera, standard kit lens, bags, caps, changers etc... all thrown in? And if I were to go for the former, what would be a good versatile lens for my expected use stated above? I hear primes have better quality but is the improvement noticeable and worth sacrificing some versatility for?
Thanks all.
Some varying advice here. I very much appreciate all of it and it definitely gives me some things to think about.
The idea of getting a cheap and old unit to learn with. I like this a lot... mainly because it costs me the least money! But it does make a lot of sense, and when i get the hand of it all and want an upgrade, i can just buy a new body and keep the lenses. I'm assuming if I were to get a D300, the lenses are the same as the ones used on the D3x00, D5x00 and D7x00?
The mirrorless idea is quite appealing though. I presume that's the way cameras of the future will go? So more and more lens choice in the future. Might not be a bad idea to go that route, also they're smaller which is always handy but costs more (looked at the a6000 and the Olympus e10 thingy).
I like to mess around with things. I won't be leaving the camera on auto, i'll be changing settings left right and centre and experimenting. DSLR the better option in this regard maybe?
I know very little about all this, so just looking to take in as much advice as possible before I part with my cash. At the moment i'm liking both options, but the first option which brman suggests makes the most sense to my mind.
The idea of getting a cheap and old unit to learn with. I like this a lot... mainly because it costs me the least money! But it does make a lot of sense, and when i get the hand of it all and want an upgrade, i can just buy a new body and keep the lenses. I'm assuming if I were to get a D300, the lenses are the same as the ones used on the D3x00, D5x00 and D7x00?
The mirrorless idea is quite appealing though. I presume that's the way cameras of the future will go? So more and more lens choice in the future. Might not be a bad idea to go that route, also they're smaller which is always handy but costs more (looked at the a6000 and the Olympus e10 thingy).
I like to mess around with things. I won't be leaving the camera on auto, i'll be changing settings left right and centre and experimenting. DSLR the better option in this regard maybe?
I know very little about all this, so just looking to take in as much advice as possible before I part with my cash. At the moment i'm liking both options, but the first option which brman suggests makes the most sense to my mind.
I think i'm pretty much sold on the idea of an old DSLR. General conscientious seems to be don't spend too much, and that all comes from your experiences so I'd be stupid not to listen. D300 looks like a nice and inexpensive used purchase with plenty of features to get accustomed to.
I'm going to take a trip down to the camera shop and have a look at a few DSLR's and mirrorless units just to get a gauge of how comfortable they both are. Done a bit more research on mirrorless after a few comments here and it seems apart from the obvious size and weight difference, the only major difference these days is EVF vs optical and shorter battery life.
Thanks for all the advice.
I'm going to take a trip down to the camera shop and have a look at a few DSLR's and mirrorless units just to get a gauge of how comfortable they both are. Done a bit more research on mirrorless after a few comments here and it seems apart from the obvious size and weight difference, the only major difference these days is EVF vs optical and shorter battery life.
Thanks for all the advice.
Thanks for even more advice. I definitely feel ready to jump into this now.
I'm sold on the D300. I like the fact it has lots of settings for me to mess with, that is exactly what I want. Mirrorless are nice and all but I can't justify the extra outlay. In fact I actually marginally prefer the grip and feel of the DSLR.
There's a D300 on wex for £175, condition grade 7 and 53,000 actuations. Seems like decent value to me?
I'm also following some on ebay, including one with just over 150,000 actuations. I understand Nikon rated these cameras to 150,000 shutter actuations, so is it worth bidding on highly used models if you can get them for a good price? Or are they pointless and the shutter is about to fail.
I'm sold on the D300. I like the fact it has lots of settings for me to mess with, that is exactly what I want. Mirrorless are nice and all but I can't justify the extra outlay. In fact I actually marginally prefer the grip and feel of the DSLR.
There's a D300 on wex for £175, condition grade 7 and 53,000 actuations. Seems like decent value to me?
I'm also following some on ebay, including one with just over 150,000 actuations. I understand Nikon rated these cameras to 150,000 shutter actuations, so is it worth bidding on highly used models if you can get them for a good price? Or are they pointless and the shutter is about to fail.
Edited by Turbojuice on Thursday 25th January 18:46
Finally managed to acquire a good D300. Comes with all the stuff (strap, caps, battery, charger, cf cards etc...) and <40k actuations for £170. Now on to getting a good lens.
Singled out a few possibilities. These are:
Nikon AF-S 18-105 F3.5-5.6G ED VR - £70-110
Nikon AF-S 18-140 F3.5-5.6G ED VR - £140-170
Sigma EX OS HSM C 17-70 F2.8-4 - £190-220
Out of those three, the 18-105 Nikon seems to be the best for me, simply because it's the cheapest and covers a good focal length range.
Anyone have any thoughts on these lenses or have any recommendations of their own? Thanks.
Singled out a few possibilities. These are:
Nikon AF-S 18-105 F3.5-5.6G ED VR - £70-110
Nikon AF-S 18-140 F3.5-5.6G ED VR - £140-170
Sigma EX OS HSM C 17-70 F2.8-4 - £190-220
Out of those three, the 18-105 Nikon seems to be the best for me, simply because it's the cheapest and covers a good focal length range.
Anyone have any thoughts on these lenses or have any recommendations of their own? Thanks.
Brilliant, thanks for the help.
@toohuge i'll probably look at getting a cheap prime in the not too distant future, but for my very first lens i think a zoom is probably better so i can get to grips with it all.
By the way. anyone who has dealt with MPB know what sort of condition lens I should be looking at? There's loads of lenses on there, ranging from heavily used and well used to good and excellent. Obviously the heavily and well used ones are the cheapest, but are they any decent enough or should i spend extra to get a better condition one? As an example, the 18-105 can be had for £64 as a "heavily used" unit, £89 as "well used" and £114 as "good".
@toohuge i'll probably look at getting a cheap prime in the not too distant future, but for my very first lens i think a zoom is probably better so i can get to grips with it all.
By the way. anyone who has dealt with MPB know what sort of condition lens I should be looking at? There's loads of lenses on there, ranging from heavily used and well used to good and excellent. Obviously the heavily and well used ones are the cheapest, but are they any decent enough or should i spend extra to get a better condition one? As an example, the 18-105 can be had for £64 as a "heavily used" unit, £89 as "well used" and £114 as "good".
Edited by Turbojuice on Friday 2nd March 14:37
After playing around with my d300 and the 18-105 nikkor for a couple weeks I can see why this was recommended. The d300 gives you all the advanced adjustments you get on the full fat cameras but in cropped format. This paired with the dx lens and I have a pretty advanced and flexible piece of kit for a novice for about 250 quid all in.
This combo definitely is an ideal learning platform, so many thanks for the advice given. Despite the vast amount of adjustments present on the d300 I've found it very easy to become accustomed to.
Next on the list is a cheap tripod to try some long exposure shots, also maybe a macro lens if I can get a half decent used one for cheap.
This combo definitely is an ideal learning platform, so many thanks for the advice given. Despite the vast amount of adjustments present on the d300 I've found it very easy to become accustomed to.
Next on the list is a cheap tripod to try some long exposure shots, also maybe a macro lens if I can get a half decent used one for cheap.
Simpo Two said:
Good to hear you tried the D300 and are getting on with it. You are, in one sense, future-proofed because it will be a long time before you run off the end of its capabilities. If it came with a manual I recommend you try to read it all, because there are things you won't find/understand just by poking and hoping. In particular go through all the custom menus so you can configure the camera/controls exactly how you like them.
I give you about a year before the 18-105 goes on eBay and you embark on the Fast Glass quest
Luckily for me it did indeed come with a full manual. As you say, you can only find out so much from just taking random shots. I haven't read it all yet, but most of it at least.I give you about a year before the 18-105 goes on eBay and you embark on the Fast Glass quest
I started looking at f1.4's and 1.8's within the first week of ownership! Was looking at an old 50mm f1.8 Nikon lens for about £70, might be worth a play. The 60mm Tamron f2 macro also looks mighty tempting, but that's quite a bit more expensive so that can wait until i'm much more accustomed to the camera.
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