Moving from digicam to DSLR - advice please

monkeysmith

monkeysmith

monkeysmith

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Hi,

Have been a long time photography fan, years ago had a old film slr, was only a cheap one, and was 2nd or 3rd hand, but enjoyed it, till the lens broke. Then moved onto a small digi cam. Was 2MP I think and cost loads. Now have a Fujifilm Finepix F11. Went for this camera as it offered me manual controls, somethin I wanted but couldn't afford a DSLR at the time.

I'm starting to get pictures printed large, mainly for myself. Like the canvas prints. I want to move up another step and hoping to get a DSLR, but have no idea which one.

Max budget is 500, but for that I'd want a kit, maybe lens or two. I want something that hopefully will last me a good few years. Are full frame camera available at the cost? Is there any point having them?

I'm not really sure what features I want, for one I'd like the live preview on the LCD screen.

Can anyone suggest a good starter camera. Want a decent MP, above 10?

Thanks, all help appreciated.

Richard
 
You can get a Canon 450D with 18-55mm kit lens for £470. Sounds like it'd fit your requirements nicely; has live view and is 12.2MP (not that this should be too important to you) and fits in your budget.

Do be aware, however, that you'll want to get more lenses so that you can make the most of your camera. Ultimately, lenses are the biggest investment when it comes to SLRs, not the body itself, and if you want to get into photography properly you'll end up spending far more than £500 on them.

And no, you're not going to get a full frame body for under £1000 so forget about that :)
 
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8-10MP is big enough for any print size you're feasibly going to print at. Unless you're planning on making billboards or viewing poster-sized prints from 3 inches away, anyway.
 
Is asking which is better - Nikon or Canon like asking PC or Mac kinda question?

Only ask as couple of Nikons D40 and D60 popping up around same kinda price bracket.
 
Well, the resolutions of all modern DSLRs are going to be roughly the same at around 10-12MP (with the exception of some pro cameras) and there are far more important considerations when it comes to such cameras.

Ultimately the only thing the sensor's resolution affects is the size of the images that the camera produces, not the actual quality of the image itself. The image quality (IQ) is affected mainly by the sensor and the lens.

monkeysmith said:
Is asking which is better - Nikon or Canon like asking PC or Mac kinda question?

Only ask as couple of Nikons D40 and D60 popping up around same kinda price bracket.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's just a question of personal taste really. The 450D is better than the D40 and D60 though.
 
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Nikon's and Canon's consumer models are effectively staggered--none of them really directly compete.

D300 > 40D > D80 > 450D > D60
 
monkeysmith said:
I'm not really sure what features I want, for one I'd like the live preview on the LCD screen.

Can anyone suggest a good starter camera. Want a decent MP, above 10?
Click to expand...

Sony's implementation of LiveView is quite different from CaNikon's but is probably more like what you are used to from your Fuji.
Worth at least checking out the A300 (10Mp) & A350 (14Mp).
 
robmiller said:
Nikon's and Canon's consumer models are effectively staggered--none of them really directly compete.

D300 > 40D > D80 > 450D > D60
Click to expand...

Theres also the Canon EOS1000D which fits in somewhere between D60 and the 450D, and the D40 which sits below the D60. Theres also the Sony A200 at £270 which is a bargain.
The canons are a step up in features and a bit more expensive. Depends on your budget really, once youve factored in the extras, like memory cards, spare batteries, flash, bag etc. The feel of a camera in your hands is also quite important , recommend holding these in a camera shop and one of them you might like the feel of better than the others if it comes down to that.

edit: also check out olympus cameras, they have gd implementation of live view, canons systme is a bit clunky, whilst Nikons dont do live view until you reach the higher end models.
 
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