Advice needed on a new purchase

Rhodan

Rhodan

Rhodan

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Joined
11 Jul 2004
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407
I am wanting to buy my first DSLR after owning a couple of point and shoot cameras over the years.

I will be using it for family holidays, so that means taking some video as well, and also for wildlife photography, so I need a lens that can zoom, and lastly for taking photo's of cities when I'm traveling with my wife, so a wide angle lens I guess?

I was looking at the Canon 650D.

Any other recommendations for similar model Nikon / Sony cameras?

What lenses would you recommend?
 
Most people will tell you Nikon is you best bet for quality/value for money. Sony seem pretty decent but with a much smaller range of lenses.

I went with a 650d about 5-6 months ago and I definitely don't regret it :)
 
What I am thinking about is buying high quality lenses which I plan to keep for a long time, and just change the body when needed. Canon seems to be the best for this?

What type of lens and which specs would you recommend?
 
There is very little difference between the top range lenses by either of the big two (Nikon and Canon).

If you're going to spend big £,£££ on the top lenses you'll be very hard pushed to find the differences between the two.

For a decent (current) 70-200mm you're going to be looking at £1,500 from either manufacturer. The same again or perhaps slightly less for a top go-to lense such as the the 24-70mm both offer.

Personally If you're serious about starting out with a decent crop sensor DSLR then I'd look no further than a Nikon D7000.
Imo, for the money you can't get a better camera to get you on your way. Also, be aware that as you get bigger and better images from DSLR's these days you're going to increasingly need a bigger and better PC to deal with them. Especially if you shoot in RAW.
All the best.
 
I always been Sony, a390 and a580.

This mass of lens access has never stopped me getting any lenses I've required.

Yes there won't be as many second hand as the other 2 makes, but there is still loads, never had a problem.

When Sony body's are placed against their counterparts of other makes I've always found they've punched above their weight, the a580 blows nikons and canons mid weight versions clean out of the water. IT actually start to come close to one of the best all round camera on the market (d7000) on performance to value ratio / scores and reviews.
 
I reckon you'll probably need a couple of lenses.

Wildlife and zoom:
Depending on your budget, the Canon 70-200 F4 is a good choice. Feel it's undervalued due to the 2.8 being around, but it's still a solid lens. IF you can afford it stretch to the IS version though.

Alternatively, maybe look at the Sigma 120-400 for a true range zoom :)

The Sigma will probably be better for wildlife, due to the longer focal range, but the Canon could be used as a walk about at a push as well.

If you get the Sigma, I'd recommend a decent walk about lens. The Canon 18-135 could be a nice choice here.

It's not fantastically wide, but it might also cover you just about in the city.

The cheapest option would probably be the Canon 18-55 and 55-250.

It's a pretty common and solid choice, especially on crop cameras, and should, to be fair cover you for everything.

If you need something wider, than the Sigma 10-20, that has been recommended is supposed to be solid.

kd
 
I'd say, the Nikon is better for the price, but both have pros and cons. At this stage, IMO, it really comes down to what you would want to invest in from a lens system perspective.

(I chose the 6D)

kd
 
You seem to have narrowed down your choices, but before making your final decision, it's important to go to a shop/store & actually hold the cameras to see which feels most comfortable in your hand & go through the menus & features to see which you find easiest/most logical to use. (I prefer the Nikon layout, but others prefer Canon)
 
I bought my 650d with the new 18-135 STM lens kit which is fine for general purpose. I knew I wanted a macro lens so my next purchase was the 100mm 2.8L IS macro lens and I also got a bit bored and decided to order the 40mm STM lens. The downside to those two lenses was that they made me realise that the 18-135mm wasn't as sharp which was a bit annoying but it's still pretty good. Just need to know it's limitations! I can't expect to be able to crop in a lot and expect the same sharpness but for uncropped shots it looks good.

Since then I've also bought the 70-200mm F4L as it was cheap and this is super sharp if you can get decent shots (uber steady hands or tripod) and I've also just got my hands on the EF-S 10-22mm.

It's definitely worth identifying what you want but this is hard to do until you start walking around with your camera. I noticed quite early that I wanted more range sometimes which is why I went and bought the 70-200mm
 
Rhodan said:
If I was to up my budget and look at a Canon 6D or Nikon D600, what do you guys think of those?
Click to expand...

Specification wise they are fairly similar but the Nikon pulls ahead, has a slightly better sensor, and is cheaper.

On the Canon side I would look at picking up a second hand 5dMKII as an alternative, basically a 6D for a lot less cash.

On Nikon you could also look at a second hand D700, you gain a PRo-autofocus system and high speed buffer, the 12MP images are very clean and plenty of resolution for most things except Wildlife and landscape can help with higher pres sensor. If Wildlife was you thing I would look at Canon 7D or Nikon D7000, the D7000 has a much nicer sensor but is a little slower. Th greater pixel-density will give you more resolution over your subject matter (e.g. bird) than the FF sensors in the 12-24MP range.
Nothing can touch the Nikon D800 for a combination of wildlife and landscape since it offer high resolution in FF mode and the high pixel-density offers great resolution for wildlife.
 
If I was to buy a Canon 650D, I believe the lenses would not work on a FF body?

With Nikon, if I bought the D5200 for example, the lenses would work on a D600? Is this correct?
 
Yes they would in DX mode rather than FX mode, so you end up with a 12MP crop image rather than the full 24MP image
 
Similar to what Jinx said except DX/FX refers to Nikon. EF-S lenses would only work on crop sensor bodies whereas EF lenses will work on both crop and full frame sensor bodies.
 
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