Cheap DSLR, £150 max.

mjones1 · 15 Nov 2015 at 03:38

Hello,

I'm a noob when it comes to cameras and I'm looking to spend £150 max including the lens on the second hand market but the lower the better.

My usage will mainly be taking photos of clothing in natural light since I wish to start archiving what I buy and sell. My secondary but far less important use would be taking some casual photos around London at night.

I had a little look around and the Canon 350D seems quite ideal for my usage but could please recommend and point me in the correct direction?

Thanks

a1ex2001 · 15 Nov 2015 at 07:12

I would steer clear of the 350d while it was remarkably cheap on release it is seriously dated now and things like the tiny screen would drive me mad! Plus you should be able to pick up something much better in budget personally I would be looking to go 40d with kit lens they are bargains on eBay and forums and would make a great starting point.

MichaelAwkward · 15 Nov 2015 at 10:11

Yeah, the 350D is quite old now. You can do better for £150.

You can get a 450D for around £100 and then spend the £50 on a used lens such as the kit 18-55 or a suitable prime.

Also consider the Nikon D3100 for not much more.

markhaines · 15 Nov 2015 at 10:35

Should be able to pick up a Nikon D80 for about £100 and then a Nikon 50mm f1.8 prime to go with it for £50. The D80 is a tidy camera and exposes all the manual controls you need as you start to play around more whilst the 50mm prime is tack sharp and ridiculously good value. The D80 has the built in focussing motor which means you can use a much wider range of lenses as you look to add more later on. The main things that separate it from newer equivalent models is a) no video (who cares) b) less good low light performance c) slightly smaller screen

mjones1 · 15 Nov 2015 at 10:50

Thanks guys for all of the help, I will have a deeper look into all of the suggestions.

mjones1 · 15 Nov 2015 at 15:56

Should be fine linking to this site I hope, http://www.cashgenerator.co.uk/prod...-with-efs-17-85mm-1-4-5-6-is-usm-lens-ww11416 Is this any good? I could pick it up from store and easily return it if there are any issues and maybe get a few things thrown in.

Thanks.

a1ex2001 · 15 Nov 2015 at 18:18

That's not actually a terrible price although I'm not a fan of the 17-85mm usm I actually thing the standard 18-55mm is kit lens is better.

There is currently a 40d in the classified section of talk photography asking price 120 which you maybe able to negotiate down a little giving you enough money to source a second hand walk about lens.

I would ignore anyone saying get a body and 50mm f1.8 as your only lens as in a crop I found it far to limiting.

mjones1 · 16 Nov 2015 at 10:18

Thanks for the advice yet again, I will keep a look out for the above kit.