Thinking of getting a DSLR - Help please!!

James07

James07

James07

Soldato
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West Yorkshire
Right, many of you will know that last year i tried getting a camera, started saving a few times but things kept poping up.

Well i now have 2 jobs, things seem to be going well and i have quite a lot of spare cash from my second job coming in. Although this months wage has already gone (on my car) next months will be free.

Soooooo, im spending it on a DSLR!!!! FINALLY!!

I wanted a Canon 400D to start with but theres now better cameras and i may even look at the Nikon D40x? I know quite a lot of people now who are into photography and i realllly realllly want to get into this.

So, what do you people think i should be looking at? My price range will be around £350 max but i want to be looking more at £300 range.

Where can i get cameras apart from the main store thats in most towns and the popular auction site, anywhere else i could do with looking at?

cheers :)
 
James07 said:
Where can i get cameras apart from the main store thats in most towns and the popular auction site, anywhere else i could do with looking at?
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Nowhere that anyone will be able to tell you on here ...

Budget seems pretty good for a 400D or equivalent. Don't know why you're ruling out the bay, really. Look out for some refurbs from Canon for some good buys. Refurb 400D is around £260, giving you lots to spend on bits and bobs / 50 1.8 / whatever.
 
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A.N.Other said:
Nowhere that anyone will be able to tell you on here ...

Budget seems pretty good for a 400D or equivalent. Don't know why you're ruling out the bay, really. Look out for some refurbs from Canon and things for some good buys. Refurb 400D is around £260, giving you lots to spend on bits and bobs / 50 1.8 / whatever.
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I tried the Canon refurb thing but it didnt work..

I dont know what to do, stay on with the Canon idea or change to Nikon..
 
James07 said:
I tried the Canon refurb thing but it didnt work..

I dont know what to do, stay on with the Canon idea or change to Nikon..
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What didn't work?

Have you tried out the cameras? It doesn't really matter what camera you have, as it's the person behind it that really makes a difference. Find the camera that you think has the best UI and feel in your hand.
 
James07 said:
I wanted a Canon 400D to start with but theres now better cameras and i may even look at the Nikon D40x?
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I wouldn't as it was replaced by the D60 (& even then imo the D60 isn't particularly competitive compared to competing bodies from other manufacturers). The D90 on the other hand is a diferent kettle of fish.
It's also worth looking at Olympus, Pentax & Sony as they are all good & all have their own little pros & cons.
 
1000D, it sits between the 400D and 450D.

for that budget, you won't beat it. infact theres one mint condition one for sale in MM atm for £250 all in.
 
fonzee said:
1000D, it sits between the 400D and 450D.

for that budget, you won't beat it. infact theres one mint condition one for sale in MM atm for £250 all in.
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Not necessarily. In some areas it does, but in some in others it doesn't. The xxxxD isn't meant to compete directly with the xxxD line.
 
Take a look at the Pentax K-m.

Built in shake reduction, 10mp CCD sensor, compatible with every pentax k mount lens ever made, and comes with a kit 18-55 lens which is very good for £299. If you got it before the end of the month, then you'd get £30 cashback from Pentax too.

It's not a 'fashionable' brand Pentax, but people who dismiss them for that are missing out on some great cameras. Check out some reviews and see what they are saying. For the money, and for a new camera, then it's very hard to beat.

You shouldn't discount a decent used camera of any type though. There are lots of big shops dealing in 2nd hand gear if you search around.
 
Canon 1000D is a good price as is the Nikon D60, as for the Pentax, go to Ebay, search under Camera Lenses and use Canon as a search term, take note of the number of results and then use Pentax as a search term, last time I looked there was about 15% of the amount of Canon gear.
The Pentaxes, other than this are fantastic cameras as are Sony's.
 
Nobody has mentioned yet, but the lower end Nikon's are slightly limited on lenses as the camera body doesn't have an AF motor - you need to buy lenses with an AF motor integrated, unless you'll be happy with only having manual focus. The equivalently priced Canon's have the AF motor within the body, meaning you have slightly more choice with lenses.

If I were you, I'd save a little bit more and go fo a 450D (around £450 new with the cashback offer), or else the 1000D would be a good bet. You could also look at the Sony a200 or a300.
 
Guzzidom said:
...go to Ebay, search under Camera Lenses and use Canon as a search term, take note of the number of results and then use Pentax as a search term, last time I looked there was about 15% of the amount of Canon gear.
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That's bound to happen, because look at Canon's market penetration compared to Pentax?!

There are some cracking Pentax lenses about (and I know all the other manufacturers have them too!), and what they lack in quantity they make up for in quality.

And this from a current Nikon user... :D
 
Namistai said:
The equivalently priced Canon's have the AF motor within the body, meaning you have slightly more choice with lenses.
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The motors are in the lenses with Canon gear. I guess you could say that is an advantage of some high end Nikkon cameras as the lenses can work out cheaper. But its simpler on the Canon side as it doesn't matter what camera you use.
 
Namistai said:
Nobody has mentioned yet, but the lower end Nikon's are slightly limited on lenses as the camera body doesn't have an AF motor - you need to buy lenses with an AF motor integrated, unless you'll be happy with only having manual focus. The equivalently priced Canon's have the AF motor within the body, meaning you have slightly more choice with lenses.

If I were you, I'd save a little bit more and go fo a 450D (around £450 new with the cashback offer), or else the 1000D would be a good bet. You could also look at the Sony a200 or a300.
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Nikon AF-S lenses are commonplace and cheap these days, so I wouldn't be put off by that on its own.

What would put me off is the D40's 6.1MP and the fact that it's a generation behind the rest of the entry level stuff from Canon/Pentax/Sony etc.

The Pentax K-m also has in body shake reduction (so all your lenses are IS/VR), it has an in-body motor for the older lenses, a 10.2MP sensor, and also built in dust removal. The in body SR is a great feature, and saves you buying the IS/VR system over and over again.

But, as others have said, any current DSLR will be a good one. You just need to get down to some shops and have a play! :)
 
Seriously, you can't buy on price and spec. Get hold of the Canon and Nikon options in person and see you they feel. I can't stand the entry level Canon's myself, they feel too small in my hands and I miss the twin control dials on the Nikon. You may feel exactly the opposite but you really need to decide after trying them.

Pentax et al do make some fantastic camera's but I wouldn't go there for lack of lenses, sure what they have is good but the range is small by comparison, it's a shame but you'll be using the same lenses long after you've moved on to a newer body so lens choice has to be high on your list.

I'd say, if you like the handling, the Canon is a good entry level choice with great choice of lens and you can see here the results people achieve with them (and I'm saying this as a committed nikon user). I'm less sure of the low end Nikon, as said the lack of an AF motor bugs me a bit.

Basically my advice is stick with one of the big two brands and then choose the camera which you find most natural to handle, at the base level specs aren't the be all and end all.
 
bigredshark said:
Pentax et al do make some fantastic camera's but I wouldn't go there for lack of lenses, sure what they have is good but the range is small by comparison, it's a shame but you'll be using the same lenses long after you've moved on to a newer body so lens choice has to be high on your list.
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Olympus & Panasonic are a possible exception as there are certainly fewer 4/3 mount lenses available but re. Pentax & Sony
a) they have the main consumer requirements covered (even before you consider 3rd parties like Tamron, Tokina & Sigma). Only in exotic lenses like TS/PC & ultra telephotos are you toiling.
b) they only need 1/2 as many lenses in their range as they don't have to do IS & non-IS versions, they are all stabilised when fitted.
 
BUFF said:
Olympus & Panasonic are a possible exception as there are certainly fewer 4/3 mount lenses available but re. Pentax & Sony
a) they have the main consumer requirements covered (even before you consider 3rd parties like Tamron, Tokina & Sigma). Only in exotic lenses like TS/PC & ultra telephotos are you toiling.
b) they only need 1/2 as many lenses in their range as they don't have to do IS & non-IS versions, they are all stabilised when fitted.
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You could argue it all day long at the end of the day, my best way of putting it is...if I needed to hire something fancy like a 300mm prime next weekend to shoot something, I'd have no trouble getting a Canon or Nikon, I'd struggle for an Olympus.

My advice is look at Canon and Nikon but it's only my advice, if you like the Pentax then look at it, just do so with your eyes open I guess.
 
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