Help on buying first DSLR!

Razor-BladE

Razor-BladE

Razor-BladE

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So i was considering the D40 a couple of weeks ago.. now it's too late :( Shoulda just bought it when it was £280..
But now i'm stuck between the choice of the Sony A200 and the Nikon D60.

This will be my first DSLR (going from an Canon IXUS 75), so i'm pretty unknowledgeable with cameras.. I know a little bit about ISO, shutter speed, aperture.. nothing on exposure, white balance etc the list goes on..

As being my first DSLR, i'm wondering whether the price difference (£280 for A200, and £380 for D60), is worth buying the D60, or would i not see a significant difference between the 2?
With the new Nikon DSLR's coming out soon.. do you think the D60 will drop in price?
And do you think the new D3000 is worth considering or too much (£500) for a first DSLR?

Also i hear that the choice of lens and accessories for Nikon camera is wider than for Sony cameras.. is this true? Or will it not matter?
I doubt i'll be buying much for the camera for the moment.. filters, tripod, bag, the usual. Maybe another lens later on.. but nothing apart from that i don't think.

The camera will be used for pretty much everything.. landscapes, portraits, i personally like to take macro shots (atm). So what do you think?

What 'essentials' do you think i should get with the camera?
Memory card, bag, UV filter?, tripod? Any others?

Also what books, website are good to read for beginners?
I'll be getting Understanding Exposures because everyone seems to be recommending that one.
 
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website for the basics

http://www.morguefile.com/docs/Classroom

various tutorials on the basic elements of photography.

As for buying the camera itself, have you tried out any of the ones you're looking at in the shops? No point in getting something that you find cumbersome to handle.

If you've already got a basic idea of what a camera does (aperture, shutter speed, iso etc) then things like exposure (providing you've got aperture and shutter speed sorted) will be no problem. Also you can set different modes either fully automatic (crap) aperture priority / shutter priority (semi automatic imo) or fully manual so you control everything. you wont have to jump straight in if you dont want to but reading up on things will help you understand the functions and capabilities of your new camera.

Canon / Nikon are the industry standards so obviously yes, there will be more lenses available than other brands but i wouldn't rule out the likes of sony cos what I've seen there are a few folk in here who have recently bought ones and like them very much.

EDIT :

kit to get alongside the camera, stable tripod for a start which may mean spending £100+ so you dont have to upgrade at a later date when you find a zoom lens is too heavy for it. as for filters, ND filters / circular polarisers will help for landscapes, also try and get a lens hood rather than a UV filter as it will cut the glare out and not compromise the IQ of the image.
 
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One thing I'd advise is to try and handle the cameras in a shop to see if they feel comfy in hand.
I'd have a think about what your long term goal is, e.g. wildlife or landscapes or portraits, then see which system has lenses which match what you need.

However any of the main systems should do what you need. Personally I shoot Pentax, OK, so it doesn't have as many lenses available as say Canon or Nikon but it does what I need - I'll probably be upgrading from my K100D to something like a Pentax K20D towards the end of the year. One good thing about Pentax (and I think Sony?) is that the image stabilisation is inside the camera body so every lens will be stabalised, even an obscure russian lens from ebay.

I'd really recommend a decent tripod.

Have fun!
 
imo for what you get the Sony is far better value than the Nikon (it's the same Sony sensor in the Nikon) but if it doesn't feel comfortable to you & the Nikon does then get the Nikon. The 1 that you will use the most is the 1 that feels most natural to you.
As they both use the same sensor you can imagine that IQ between them is very similar.

As the D60 doesn't have an in-body focus motor but relies on in-lens there are actually more lenses that will fit the Sony & work fully (incl. AF) than for the Nikon.
 
Cheers for the link Derek.
And yeah i'll deff go in a shop and try them out first then.
£100+ for a tripod?
For the filters.. how much would i be looking to spend on them? I know it's pretty much you buy what you get with cameras and accessories but will like £10-£20 ones do? And which brands are the better ones?
And i'll look into hoods :)
 
I'm just suggesting things that I've gone for so it may be overkill to begin with. there are cheaper alternatives on the tripod front which are just as effective (some redsnapper tripods are recommended here) but the one I got recently was the Manfrotto 190XPROB Pro Tripod along with the Manfrotto 804RC2 head around £150.

As for the filters, I've generally just bought the famous high street shop branded CP filters and they work fine. Got a Hoya IR filter as well but prices obviously vary (£30 for CP, £50 for IR) not sure if theres a link out there to compare the quality of filters. No doubt if there is someone can post it :)
 
Well i went and tried the D60, 1000D and 450D. In terms of how comfortable it is the D60 comes out on top, then the 450D and finally the 1000D.
However, the sales guy was pretty much sold on for Canon.. i'll admit he was biased because he had a 450D and now a 50D (he said he does sport and weddings), but i was leaning more towards the Canon anyway.. and there's more range of lenses and all of the lenses will fit onto the 1000D. He said the VR on Nikon's aren't as good as the IS, and that dust can actually get inside where the VR process takes place or something like that and the Canon's don't have this problem?

Although i'll be using this camera mainly, my other family members will also be using it when they go out or when we go on holiday etc, and they'll just be 'pointing and shooting' so settings will be on auto, so wouldn't the Canon which has 7 focal points be better over the 3 that the D60 has?

Although the D60 was more comfortable than the 1000D, the 1000D wasn't uncomfortable so i'm not sure..
What are your thoughts?

I'm excluding the 450D because the advantages over the 1000D aren't that significant to justify £90 more.
Oh and he said the 1000D is gonna be discontinued?

And regarding the tripod.. my dad has an old one, so i'll see if that fits and if it's any good before i buy one.

Any recommendations on a carry case?
 
...There seems to be a large number of Canonites on here, who obviously like Canon stuff (and may sway you towards one ;)) but I don't recall any mentioning that IS is better than VR and that VR lets in dust. In fact I don't think I've heard anyone say that!

As for a bag: For one body, one lens, flash unit and a few accessories I went with a Lowepro Stealth Reporter aw100. Well made, plenty of storage, hidden rain hood, decent strap etc etc. Suits me :)
 
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1000d v 450d

Main differences...

1000d v 450d

fixed low pass filter v fixed low pass + self cleaning unit (good for dust)

7 point AF v 9 point AF + extra sensitivity at f2.8

No spot v spot metering (this one is a massive difference for me, I use spot LOTS)

viewfinder info much more comprehensive on the 450D

2.5 v 3.0 LCD

3FPS v 3.5FPS winder

Spot was the big difference for me....

cheers
 
For me i don't think that the differences are worth it.

Just read up on spot metering; i think i understand it..
You can choose whatever part to set the exposure so that the brightness or whatever is set to how the user whats the photo to be like?
Without this it just uses the centre to set the exposure?

Do many people use this?
I read that a way to do this if a camera doesn't have spot metering, is to zoom in on the bit that you want to 'spot', lock the exposure and then zoom out and take the picture.
 
Razor-BladE said:
For me i don't think that the differences are worth it.

Just read up on spot metering; i think i understand it..
You can choose whatever part to set the exposure so that the brightness or whatever is set to how the user whats the photo to be like?
Without this it just uses the centre to set the exposure?

Do many people use this?
I read that a way to do this if a camera doesn't have spot metering, is to zoom in on the bit that you want to 'spot', lock the exposure and then zoom out and take the picture.
Click to expand...

I use spot a lot, much faster, simpler, single stage process.

check out :-
dp review and comparison
 
hmm more differences than I thought...

No IR support
Plastic grip
No detect to turn off the screen on the back when taking a photo
megapixels (not that it makes a massive difference)
smaller viewfinder (.81 v .87)
continuous shooting in RAW (only 1.5fps)

and many more...

have a good read of the review..
 
Thanks a lot for the thorough review :) Tis a good read. (Still reading!)
a lot to think about now haha. Though i think it's coming down to the price mainly..
 
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My dad and i have decided it's gonna be the 1000D because it's a still a really good camera even though there are many small disadvantages over it than the 450D. Going from a P&S camera, we're gonna have so much more freedom with whichever DSLR we get, and it's £80 cheaper than the 450D. Reading through a lot of reviews/comparisons, i think the 1000D is better recommended over the D60.
So saying that, NO ONE try and persuade me to go to the D60/450D now. Lol. It'll just confuse me even more :P

So onto accessories..
I already mentioned that i already have an old tripod so i'll see if that's any good before thinking of buying a new one.

I'll be getting 2 x 4gb SanDisk Ultra II SDHC cards - that should be enough for now right? Should i shoot JPEG, RAW or both? Basic or fine JPEG?

I'll be getting the Lowepro Nova Mini Shoulder Bag - that'll do me for now.

With a lens hood, you can't use a filter at the same time can you?
So i'll be getting a CP filter - Would the Hama Circular Polarizer Filter 58mm (Coated Both Sides) for £20 be ok? Any other recommendations?
But should i get the Hoya 58mm UV Filter or the EW-60C Hood - both £13
Where's the best place to get filters?

Worth getting a remote control switch? For the 1000D it's the RS-60E3 right? Any of the third party ones work? Or get a canon one? And where can i get that from?

Do i need any lens cleaning stuff or things like that? If so, can someone point me in the right direction for them? One of these lens cleaning pens?

Anything else i missed?

Thanks.
 
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R-B: Get rid of that competitor link before a mod sees it!!

What about that famous river or well known e somthing or other auction site ;)!

I'm also guessing your looking at the kit lens, a heads up that on another site named after a greek city have a 450d with two lens for that extra bit of flexibility at a shade under £500. IMO the best thing is to get the camera, a decent sized card and possibly a set of a few filters & get used to the camera, then shell out for whatever you decide you need as and when.
 
I would've thought the link is alright though because it's not exactly for computer parts and whatnot, i'm buying a DSLR which OcUK don't sell. ?

Ah i said don't tempt me for the 450D lol. Possibly PM me with a link?
 
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Ah damn! Haha.

I think i'm pretty much set..
1000D with kit lens IS
Lowepro Bag
2x4GB SDHC Cards
Hama Lens Cleaning Pen
Hoya UV HCM Filter
Hoya CP Filter

Edit: I'm well considering the 450D again.. :/
LOL. You know i think i might just go for it. Only £75 more which i'll pay for (Dad's paying rest :p) and you get many more features and so will be more "future proof" (used lightly), and it'll save the hassle of me thinking 'what if'. The only thing is how do you think the 450D is compared to the D3000 that's gonna come out?

I've bought all the accessories.. just need to buy the main unit now.
 
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