Camera for a beginner!

Captain

Captain

Captain

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Can someone recommend a camera for beginners? I'd like to get some shots of my bike during the day/night, I'd also like them to be a high res as they'll be viewed on a 4K TV etc.

I've looked at DSLR cameras but the range is huge and i'm completely lost. Don't even ask about different lenses as i have absolutely no idea why one is better than the other.

I'll also be taking pictures of moving traffic and would like some good light trails and hopefully a few of my bike too.

Not sure what prices they range from so no budget atm.

Cheers. :)
 
Don't have a budget right now as i don't know the market prices, nothing too fancy as i won't need most options just as long as it does what i said in the OP.
 
Clov!s said:
Yeah I'm hoping to get some flyby shots, you know the types where the main object is in focus and the background is blurred?
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You just need to pan with the subject, and at night it would be very difficult for many many reasons and would require some top notch focusing system….or you can pre-focus and do it manually.

Most important thing is you need a tripod for the traffic and manual controls. Almost all cameras these does way more than 4k photos so don't worry about that part.
 
Cheers.

So in terms of an actual camera, what do you suggest? Should I buy an average camera and buy a good lens or buy a camera with a lens included?
 
Clov!s said:
Cheers.

So in terms of an actual camera, what do you suggest? Should I buy an average camera and buy a good lens or buy a camera with a lens included?
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Depends how serious you want to get. To be PERFECTLY honest, a small mirrorless camera these days, especially if you don't mind used, are VERY cheap. Because the technology in these moves on so fast, new models comes out faster than you can blink, people move them on a lot, the bodies will tumble in price like crazy, just pick up something 3-5 year old and it will be perfectly usable. I would say if you pick the right camera, most of them have not moved on that much in tech in the past 3 years. There hasn't been that much advancement to warrant, at least a beginner getting a £1,000 of the current model over say a £300 one used. For example, I would suggest getting a Fuji X-T1 over the new X-T2.

Sure, the screen is higher res, the sensor is higher res, the auto focus is faster etc but for the things you are taking, traffic in the dark, save that £700 and get a nice lens. Use the dials to learn the settings and relationships between the 3 critical aspects (Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO). Then when you are done, sell it for £250 and upgrade. Most of the depreciation has been done so you won't lose much money when you sell it.
 
Im happy to buy used, I see lenses for sale quite often on the MM, do all Nikon/Canon lenses fit all cameras?

Will a newer Nikon lens work with an older camera?
 
Clov!s said:
Im happy to buy used, I see lenses for sale quite often on the MM, do all Nikon/Canon lenses fit all cameras?

Will a newer Nikon lens work with an older camera?
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Define older camera.
In any case, any Nikon AF-S autofocus lens will focus correctly with any Nikon DSLR.

Obviously if the camera is so old it only supports manual focus then an aiutofocus lens wont be able to use autofocus, but you can still mount it on the old camera. That is the main difference between Canon and nikon. Nikon kept backwards compatibility but Canon changed mounts so old lenses don't work with new cameras and vice versa. With Nikon you can swap old and new lenses and cameras over, the functionality only dependent on the specifics of the lens and camera.
 
Would you say this is a good deal for a starting camera? Am i able to do light trails etc with this camera?

Canon EOS 1300D Kit with 18-55mm III Lens Digital SLR Camera - Black - £249.

It has £50 off at the moment and has a lens included.
 
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Hi if you just after taking pictures I and you just learning photography i can recommend used canon 50d, 6.5fps well build. Pair it with 18-55 stm lens and that should do for starters =]
 
peterhc said:
Hi if you just after taking pictures I and you just learning photography i can recommend used canon 50d, 6.5fps well build. Pair it with 18-55 stm lens and that should do for starters =]
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Looking online though, it will cost me more to buy a second hand 50D and a separate lens rather than buying a complete package?
 
Clov!s said:
Looking online though, it will cost me more to buy a second hand 50D and a separate lens rather than buying a complete package?
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Have a look on ebay lots of auction of camera with lens as a package, but before you buy have a good read and watch few YT videos :)
 
Raymond Lin said:
Depends how serious you want to get. To be PERFECTLY honest, a small mirrorless camera these days, especially if you don't mind used, are VERY cheap. Because the technology in these moves on so fast, new models comes out faster than you can blink, people move them on a lot, the bodies will tumble in price like crazy, just pick up something 3-5 year old and it will be perfectly usable. I would say if you pick the right camera, most of them have not moved on that much in tech in the past 3 years.
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Basically biggest advance has been in video recording capabilities.


a1ex2001 said:
Canon anything EOS will work on any digital SLR
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Actually to be precise some lenses made for APS-C bodies are seriously "incompatible" with 35mm sensor bodies because those lenses protrude deeper into camera.
(smaller mirror of APS-C bodies allows that, but mirror of 35mm sensor body will hit to rear of the lens)
 
Clov!s said:
Would you say this is a good deal for a starting camera? Am i able to do light trails etc with this camera?

Canon EOS 1300D Kit with 18-55mm III Lens Digital SLR Camera - Black - £249.

It has £50 off at the moment and has a lens included.
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For traditional method that would work like any camera in which you can use long exposures or bulb mode.
But for easy taking of light trails Olympus would have nice feature over others:
Newer Olympus cameras also have "Live Composite" which stacks shorter exposures taking brightest pixel value from individual photos to final combination to avoid overexposure of sky/bright areas.
 
EsaT said:
Basically biggest advance has been in video recording capabilities.


Actually to be precise some lenses made for APS-C bodies are seriously "incompatible" with 35mm sensor bodies because those lenses protrude deeper into camera.
(smaller mirror of APS-C bodies allows that, but mirror of 35mm sensor body will hit to rear of the lens)
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True should have been clearer and Canon EF lens will fit any Canon EOS Digital SLR while EF-S lenses will only fit crop sensor bodies fortunately no danger of damaging your full frame body as they won't accept EF-S lenses
 
I've just got back from picking up a brand new Canon 1300D with a lens for £299 (Had a £30 off voucher for Argos). :)

NbYkSQ6.jpg
 
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