Looking for my first DSLR

Scon

Scon

Scon

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27 Mar 2010
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I've been looking out for a good DSLR to take on holiday with me this year so I can take some decent photos and then hopefully get more involved in photography once I get back, it's something I've wanted to do for a while now.

I've got a fairly limited budget of £330, I haven't really got a good idea of what I want, at the moment I'm just looking at £300-£330 cameras that get decent reviews, here's what I have found so far.


Canon EOS 1100D w/ 18-55mm IS Lens
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/80183/show.html

And with a bit of a stretch budget wise I could probably get a Nikon D3000
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-D3000...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343119609&sr=1-4

Would you recommend looking at 2nd hand cameras, in the MM for example?
 
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i would look at 2nd hand for now,getting into photography can be hit and miss.

i had a dslr (sony a100) and sold it because i lost interest in photo's and purchased a point and shoot camera (panasonic)

boy did i miss the dslr,i cant receomend a good camera enough,i know mine is not that new compared to other (i got another a100) but takes cracking shots and love it.

once i master a dslr ill upgrade later on.

mine cost me £160 with lowepro slingshot,with your budget you could maybe get a few more lense's or a tripod ect.

just my 2p's worth :)
 
Scon said:
I've seen this on the MM - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18424759 reviews seem decent and the price is much more appealing :) Only drawbacks I can see are the wear and tear, does it look like a decent buy?
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The 350D is pretty old now, I bought mine just over six years ago. A lot of the wear and tear he describes is mainly down the construction of the materials used, mine too had the grip area erode away to show the shiny plastic underneath it, so thats pretty common.

Its up to you how much money you have to play with, but I'd probably see if you can stretch a little further for a second hand camera which is a bit more recent.
 
I can't get on eBay at work but if the EOS 50d is in budget then that is definitely worth considering...always check the amount of shutter actuations though.
 
McGraw said:
I can't get on eBay at work but if the EOS 50d is in budget then that is definitely worth considering...always check the amount of shutter actuations though.
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Yeah I've seen people posting the number of actuations, anything to look out for? What's a number decent for a 1/2/3 year old camera? Does it really make that much difference?
 
Yeah I saw it! but I wanted to get some other bits and bobs with it as well.
Like a bag, 35mm, and a tripod. Came up cheaper altogether. Got some freebies too :D

But if we check the price in one month later it will be even cheaper! that is how tech prices go :)
 
My Canon 1100d bought from another forum just arrived, taken a few pics and everything seems ok. Is there anything I should be checking to make sure I've got a camera described as "New, but opened and tested".

Also, what's the best way to preview RAW pictures without having to view them all individually in PS?
 
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Scon said:
My Canon 1100d bought from another forum just arrived, taken a few pics and everything seems ok. Is there anything I should be checking to make sure I've got a camera described as "New, but opened and tested".

Also, what's the best way to preview RAW pictures without having to view them all individually in PS?
Click to expand...

I've used Irfanview with the plugin to quickly view RAW files but the quality seems lower when used for simple converts to JPG.

Gimp is supposed to be good and is free but I'm not sure if any additional work is required to get it working with RAW files.

I've been playing with Lightroom for the last few weeks and it's easy enough to get used to and seems fairly efficient for reviewing lots of files.
 
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