"Cheap" Entry Level DSLR

[Antony101]

I was looking at getting a good digital camera and thought I may as well go the whole way and get an entry level DSLR. I know a few people that own them and take good photos so could get some help from them.

I know Canon is a good brand or is meant to be. Is the EOS 1100D a good option?

Any advise is appreciated and I don't want to spend an absolute fortune.

 

[-Ad-]

What's you're budget, we can then help.

Consider 2nd hand kit after getting dvice from people on here. Some older kit 2nd hand will be better than buying a cheap new kit.

 

[Antony101]

Around about the price of the EOS 1100D would be my budget.

£250ish preferred. I know it's not much but it's all I have spare atm.

 

[K.C. Leblanc]

The Nikon D3100 is also well worth a look.

Used Nikon wise you'd be looking at a D80 which is fairly dated. If you spend a bit more a D90 is however a good option.

 

[Antony101]

The price would also have to include a lens.

 

[Number_25]

I managed to grab a Canon 30D for around £110, grab a second hand 35-75mm lens from a well known auction website and bobs your uncle, you got yourself a nice setup.

 

[shifty_uk]

D3100 is an awesome camera if you can find a deal around your price range.

 

[Antony101]

I know someone with a D3100 and he managed to get some of his photos onto the official Nikon page with it.

First "I don't have a clue" question, what do different lenses do? Are they mainly for different distances and light levels?

Would the Nikon D3100 be a better choice than the EOS 1100D if I could find one?

 

[Phal]

Different lenses for different distances/light levels and how much you want to fit into the picture. The standard beginner lens of something around 18-55mm is usually a good place to start followed by something with more range like the 55-250mm for Canon or whatever the equivalent is for Nikon.

D3100 is probably going to be better than the 1100D yes or you can look for second hand 550d that could scrap into your budget? Worth having a look in a shop to see which one you prefer the look/feel of.

Worth having a look in the MM section too here on the forums

 

[Robzere31]

I brought a secondhand D3100 last year to get into photography a little more after using my phone for years.
It's a great camera to start with for a beginner, it will automate as much of the settings as you want it to but as your skills develop, you can take control of more of them.

The standard 18-55 lens is a good all rounder, but I've also got a 70-300 lens as will as a fixed 50mm.
If your on a budget, like me you can get great deals in the MM on second hand lenses, I've brought pretty much my whole kit second hand, apart from a battery which I picked up from E–bay.

 

[K.C. Leblanc]

First "I don't have a clue" question, what do different lenses do? Are they mainly for different distances and light levels?

This as well as quality and autofocus speed. Nikon and Canon also put image stabilisation in the lens not the camera. Not all lenses have it (and it's not really needed in many situations).

Your bog standard kit lens is an 18-55mm f3.5-5.6.

18-55 is the zoom range with 18 being widest (zoomed out) and 55 the most telephoto (zoomed in). This is a good basic range. If you wanted to shoot stuff a long way away you would need to either complement the kit lens with something like a 50-200 or 70-300 or replace it with an 18-200.

The f number is how wide the lens opens, the lower the number the wider the aperture. Now here's the slightly confusing bit. The kit lens is f3.5-5.6. This doesn't mean f3.5 is the widest the f5.6 is the narrowest. What is means is f3.5 is the widest aperture you can select when the zoom is at 18mm and f5.6 is the widest when the zoom is set to 55mm. Higher end lenses (like for instance the 17-50 f2.8) have a constance maximum aperture that doesn't change when you zoom.

As you widen the aperture the depth of field become smaller. This means the area in focus is shallower.

You also get what are know as prime lenses, these don't have any zoom adjustment, they're a fixed focal length. They also generally have wider maximum apertures then a zoom lens. 50mm f1.8 or 35mm f1.8 are fairly common prime lenses.

The different camera manufacturers have their own lens mounts, so a Canon lens won't fit on a Nikon camera. There are also some lens compatibility considerations especially on Nikon cameras. If you're thinking of buying a lens and camera separately I would recommending asking us if they'll work together.

There are also some other lens manufacturers, Sigma, Tamron & Tokina. They make different version of their lenses to fit different makes of camera. Quality wise these lenses are usually fine although there is the odd stinker and of course the cheaper lenses will be lower quality.

 

[Antony101]

Thinking of grabbing the D3100 with kit lens next week. £300ish on Amazon.

Can be gotten much cheaper second hand on eBay but I hate buying things off there.

 

[K.C. Leblanc]

Thinking of grabbing the D3100 with kit lens next week. £300ish on Amazon.

Can be gotten much cheaper second hand on eBay but I hate buying things off there.

Nikon have cashback on the D3100 but you need to buy it today or tomorrow.

 

[Antony101]

Nikon have cashback on the D3100 but you need to buy it today or tomorrow.

Don't have the money for it till next week. Noticed the cash back offer though.

 

[domthecondom]

my sister is happy with D3100

 

[Antony101]

Thinking of putting the extra £90 forward for the D3200.

Thoughts?

 

[martynpd]

i would say pay the extra and get the 3200.

you get the ability the crop your images really well.

better sensor for low light.

the screen on the back is 4x the resolution of the previous one.

much better auto focus system.

for an extra 90 quid i would say its worth having the upgrades

 

[Antony101]

I will not be editing any images on the go, they will all be checked but left for examination later at home on my PC.

I'm assuming it will not include a memory card? Recommendations?

I've heard file sizes are large for the D3200 so may need something large. However I will be sticking the images straight onto my PC after.

 

[martynpd]

well no, nobody edits pictures at the event, i meant if you take a poor photo and you want to crop it to make it look better you have that flexibility with a 24megapixel to big crops.

as a far as memory goes i believe a 8-16gig card will be enough. Most people use scan disk, but any card will do really as long as its an SD card.

forgot to mention that the 3200 takes video and has video auto focus.

you wont get crops as far as this quite because im using a d800e with 36megapixels but not far off, but thats the idea.

 

[martynpd]

the kit lens will serve you well to learn how to use the camera, however Nikon offer a decent range of DX (crop frame ) lenses for when your ready to move on.
there's no denying the fact that the kit lens is a piece of plastic, but you don't need a expensive lens for good pictures.

get some experience on the basic principals, then you can consider getting better glass. Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G is Ideal for advancing on your skills.

anyway learn to use raw and shoot files and post process your images with lightroom or capture NX, this will really make your images seem premium.


SanDisk 16GB Extreme HD Video SDHC UHS-I Card £10
Sandisk 32GB 45MB/S SD Extreme Video Memory Card £25

here are some before and afters after i have corrected the levels in lightroom