Spec me a decent entry level SLR Camera please

Darkst4r · 16 Mar 2012 at 16:26

I'm looking at getting myself a decent SLR camera, mainly for wildlife photography, a bit of macro and some general stuff like family pictures etc.

I've been looking at the Canon EOS 500d and the Sony Alpha A55vl.

Now I know hardly anything about SLR camera's so was hoping someone could give me the lowdown and some advice on any of these cameras or suggest something better for around the same price range.

My budget is around the £500 mark but I understand additional lenses will probably be a must for going from macro to long distance wildlife photography.

Any help or pointers would be great

D.P. · 16 Mar 2012 at 16:36

Nikon D5100 has a great sensor and a very good body and is 500 for the body.

AHarvey · 16 Mar 2012 at 17:10

D.P. said:
Nikon D5100 has a great sensor and a very good body and is 500 for the body.

kind of pointless getting just a body though.

Best bet, go second hand, get an older camera+lenses cheap and build from there. Nothing limiting you to entry level then either.

Darkst4r · 16 Mar 2012 at 17:40

AHarvey said:
kind of pointless getting just a body though.

Best bet, go second hand, get an older camera+lenses cheap and build from there. Nothing limiting you to entry level then either.

Thing is I still have no idea what I'm looking for now, let alone past models. I'm still in the same boat as far as value and quality for money is concerned, decent makes etc.

Darkst4r · 16 Mar 2012 at 17:42

D.P. said:
Nikon D5100 has a great sensor and a very good body and is 500 for the body.

£500 is my budget for a package including lense. Definitely not prepared to spend £500 on a body and then go 200 quid over budget to get something I can use.

D.P. · 16 Mar 2012 at 18:16

AHarvey said:
kind of pointless getting just a body though.

Best bet, go second hand, get an older camera+lenses cheap and build from there. Nothing limiting you to entry level then either.

I understood that the OP had a budget of 500 for a camera body and realized lenses will be more.

D.P. · 16 Mar 2012 at 18:21

Darkst4r said:
£500 is my budget for a package including lense. Definitely not prepared to spend £500 on a body and then go 200 quid over budget to get something I can use.

Make certain you actually want or can afford a DSLR setup.

You can expect that the camera body is about 1/5th of the cost of a basic well rounded camera setup. Make sure you include budget for a decent tripod and head, especially if you want to do wildlife and macro work. A tripod alone will seriously eat into your budget. Then you will want to buy a bag, memory cards, maybe some filters. And don't forget software costs.

Second hand is probably your only option if you do want to go the DSLR route.
Have a look for a Nikon D90 with 18-105 kit lens. This wont do macro or wildlife without buying more lenses. The Nikon 70-300 VR goes well with the D90 for wildlife on a budget, about 420 quid for the 70-300 VR lens.

Perhaps have a look at bridge cameras.

funguST · 16 Mar 2012 at 21:23

i'm almost ready to click buy it now on a 500d refurbed from fleabay, £329 with a lens, 1 year warranty etc.

ShakenNstirred · 17 Mar 2012 at 17:13

i went to the D5100 kit a few months ago

fendi · 17 Mar 2012 at 20:09

There is a Nikon D3100 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens £399.95 at the moment online. Should be able to get some cashback too. Might be worth a look at some reviews.

funguST · 19 Mar 2012 at 21:42

fendi said:
There is a Nikon D3100 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens £399.95 at the moment online. Should be able to get some cashback too. Might be worth a look at some reviews.

That deal is seriously tempting, see what i feel like in the morning. Might nip out and grab one heh.

Just out of interest, what class of sd card would be best for one of these? class 10 and 6 seem to get mentioned quite abit in the forums.

v0n · 20 Mar 2012 at 00:16

a55, a65 if you can stretch the budget. Excellent for casual shooter, very easy to live with, decent handling, good built in options (incl. Auto HDR, panorama), very good video quality with unique options, best in that price range for constant focus shooting, great choice of used minolta glass when on budget, option to upgrade to Zeiss when necessary.