Help with picking a DSLR

vanandjuanunited · 25 Mar 2015 at 13:35

Slightly cheaper at the some of the usual "grey import" dealers also

NeverWinter · 25 Mar 2015 at 13:36

Cheers guys, I'll mention all of this to her.

D.P. · 25 Mar 2015 at 13:42

As others have said, all entry level DSLRs are more than good enough for beginners. Nikon's do have better sensor's than Canon but in the hands of a beginner it makes little to no difference.
As a begginerr I would pick either Canon or Nikon based on what feels right in the hand. For me 12 years ago nikon was just way more intuitive, everything was natural and fingers fell in the right places, dials turned in the corrrect direction, lenses mounted as I exected, canon was all backwards in comparison. Others will have the complete opposite experience.

The only thing I would check is the wife really wants a DSLR and not just a high end compact or a mirror-less camera. Does she want to take multiple lenses with here and swap them over to get the shot she wants? Will she be taking a tripod and set of filters on a countryside walk? Does she want to be able to fit it in her handbag? Does she want to spend time at the computer editing or wants good out of camera photos? Will she be printing very big, or is this mostly for Facebook and flickr, with a few 6 by 4 prints? Does she have money to invest in a camera system (lenses, flashes, filters, tripods, batteries), or does the upfornt cost need to cover most bases?

Uncle_Gravy · 26 Mar 2015 at 10:03

So just bought the D5300 from Rev for £400, never bought from them but are well known apparantly so fingers crossed.

Steve M · 27 Mar 2015 at 14:04

Uncle_Gravy said:
So just bought the D5300 from Rev for £400, never bought from them but are well known apparantly so fingers crossed.

Nice one. Very, very decent camera for the money

JonnyGeee · 30 Mar 2015 at 16:52

I swapped my d3100 for a d5200 about a month ago. Traded mine in for £145 and had the d5200 for an extra £65.

Really happy with it so far but haven't been out to use it much. Lot better then my previous 5200, screen I Fi do a bit of pain having to twist it out. Would have rather had a normal screen as I don't use it at funny angles.

Uncle_Gravy · 7 Apr 2015 at 18:05

Finally got my D5300, took two weeks.

Can't wait to start buying things for it

What do I need besides spare batteries, 64gb memory card and a bag?

Steve M · 7 Apr 2015 at 20:05

Kit lens is fine to start off with. You'll need the 35mm f1.8 lens though. The kit lens simply doesn't do the camera justice.

NeverWinter · 7 Apr 2015 at 21:31

Thought I'd give an update, she bought a new 100D. She's very happy with it and took quite a few pictures whilst we were down in St Ives.

Uncle_Gravy · 7 Apr 2015 at 23:42

NeverWinter said:
Thought I'd give an update, she bought a new 100D. She's very happy with it and took quite a few pictures whilst we were down in St Ives.

Nice.

I'll be doing quite a bit of video shooting for a mate and his youtube Channel, So I was recommended the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G, as my mate likes the whole blurred background effect.

Deehjay · 8 Apr 2015 at 19:30

Steve M said:
Yep, brand new with the kit lens for under £400.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2616...1=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

How's the kit lens with this camera? I'm also a beginner looking for my first DSLR and this seems like a pretty good deal.

Is this the same one? - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nikon-D53...452?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c960b046c

Steve M · 9 Apr 2015 at 08:11

Kit lens is more than decent to start of with. Once you master it you'll probably want a better lens to take advantage of the superb sensor.

K.C. Leblanc · 9 Apr 2015 at 10:21

Uncle_Gravy said:
Finally got my D5300, took two weeks.

Can't wait to start buying things for it What do I need besides spare batteries, 64gb memory card and a bag?

Unless you plan to do loads of video you could get away with much smaller cards. I shoot RAW and rarely manage to fill up an 8 GB card. Spend a little extra on Sandisk or Lexar cards. I've found both to be bomb proof. Make sure you have spare cards so if you don't have time to download them you can put the card in a safe place and us another.

Also from day one put some thought into how you're going to keep your pics organised on your computer. Its much easier then having to fix a mess later.

Deehjay · 9 Apr 2015 at 13:06

Steve M said:
Kit lens is more than decent to start of with. Once you master it you'll probably want a better lens to take advantage of the superb sensor.

Do you know what the £30 difference between the one you linked and the one I found is?

Steve M · 9 Apr 2015 at 13:26

No. It's the same camera. Different seller. £368 new delivered is a great price.

D.P. · 9 Apr 2015 at 14:51

K.C. Leblanc said:
Unless you plan to do loads of video you could get away with much smaller cards. I shoot RAW and rarely manage to fill up an 8 GB card. Spend a little extra on Sandisk or Lexar cards. I've found both to be bomb proof. Make sure you have spare cards so if you don't have time to download them you can put the card in a safe place and us another.

Also from day one put some thought into how you're going to keep your pics organised on your computer. Its much easier then having to fix a mess later.

Agreed, even with the 36MP files form my D800 I don't use more than a 32GB card and I'm typically happy with 16GB cards.

With a 24MP sensor 16GB would be plenty. It is not like they are big and heavy to carry around spares.You pay a lot more for big cards, they are much more risky, and they actually tend to be a little slower than the smaller cards (although probably not noticeable).

i've had several cards fail in the past so would never want to use big cards.

Uncle_Gravy · 9 Apr 2015 at 16:01

I will be shooting videos with it.

Akagi · 9 Apr 2015 at 16:08

My D3200 is a good little thing, but the screen is annoyingly low resolution, reviewing photos directly from the camera really is pointless. Probably good that you got a slightly better one.