ccsjay Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Hi I need to buy 1 really great slr camera for up to £400. It needs to be easy to use preferable with lense. Thanks.....
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Look at the lower end Sony Alpha's or Olympus E420/E450. Good deals on these very good SLR's. Queue Canikon fans...
K.C.Leblanc Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Is this new or second hand? £350 is about ground zero for a dSLR. A 'really great dSLR' will be easily twice your budget. That said even the entry level dSLRs are well regaurded. Bare in mind you should be looking at a companies entire range and also the price of lenses, if you upgrade you'll either need to replace all your lenses or stick with the same make. Hense why everyone will say stick to either Canon or Nikon.
ccsjay Posted January 20, 2010 Author Posted January 20, 2010 new guys school purchase so it has to be new. I mean we could stretch a little higher so let me know if there is anything slightly above budget
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Bare in mind you should be looking at a companies entire range and also the price of lenses, if you upgrade you'll either need to replace all your lenses or stick with the same make. Hense why everyone will say stick to either Canon or Nikon. Most camera makers have a good upgrade path as far as I can see, and lens prices are comparable. Can't see that going the Canon / Nikon route makes any difference, really. The best thing as always is to go to Jessops, Wilkinsons, even Currys and handle the cameras. Pick the one you feel the most comfortable with. There really is no such thing as a bad DSLR these days - they'll ALL produce very good results.
broc Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 (edited) Entry level DSLRs are still streets ahead of most compact digital cameras..... so any brand would do... as a one-off purchase. If it is to form the base of a 'system' then brand choice kicks in, with Canon and Nikon as the dominant suppliers of SLR systems in the marketplace. Both Canon & Nikon have a long pedigree & have a far greater choice of lenses and accessories, even with the latest Nikon DSLR I can still use a Nikon AF lens I bought in 1999 for a 35mm film SLR...... Your budget will buy an entry level DSLR camera and 'kit' lens. If you can/wish to stretch the budget, my advice would be skip the 'kit' lens & choose a better lens rather than buy a better DSLR body. Kit lenses are 'cheap & cheerful' but tend to be weak performers at extremes of focal length and aperture. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. That is why Nikon and Canon produce kit lenses for £80 and pro lenses for £2000 that have similar focal lengths...... Edited January 20, 2010 by broc
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 If it is to form the base of a 'system' then brand choice kicks in, with Canon and Nikon as the dominant suppliers of SLR systems in the marketplace. Both Canon & Nikon have a long pedigree & have a far greater choice of lenses and accessories, even with the latest Nikon DSLR I can still use a Nikon AF lens I bought in 1999 for a 35mm film SLR...... But then you'll find that (unless you're a pro and need that kind of kit) all SLR's will have a full range of lenses / flashes, etc, etc available from first and third party makers.
SteveBentley Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 I'm very happy with my Sony A200, although depending on who is using it in a school it's maybe a little plasticy and less well built than some of the more expensive cameras. As to the upgrade path on lenses, the Sonys are compatible with old Minolta AF lenses and I can't see them changing that in the future. Flickr's camera finder can be a useful tool, so you can get hold of real world photos taken with the camera you're proposing to buy and see what it can do Flickr: Camera Finder 1
SteveBentley Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Just a thought - what type of photography are you going to be doing with the SLR? And who will be doing it? If it's just point and shoot stuff by somebody who doesn't know how to get the best out of the camera and use it creatively, you might find a mid to top end bridge camera is a better purchase.
Guest theeldergeek Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Flickr's camera finder can be a useful tool, so you can get hold of real world photos taken with the camera you're proposing to buy and see what it can do Flickr: Camera Finder Useful tool, thanks!
neon Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Nikon d40 if I bought mine from jessops, excellent camera and so easy to get your head round, entry level dslr for the begginner and more able photographer!
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Just a thought - what type of photography are you going to be doing with the SLR? And who will be doing it? If it's just point and shoot stuff by somebody who doesn't know how to get the best out of the camera and use it creatively, you might find a mid to top end bridge camera is a better purchase. That's a good point. No removable lens, no dust, etc, etc. Fujifim Finepix S200EXR ?
ccsjay Posted January 20, 2010 Author Posted January 20, 2010 Thanks for all your help guys. I was more looking, to see if anyone had a suggestion of a particular camera that they are currently using in a school. If its a little beyond my budget thats fine. I want to hear how great your camera is??? thanks for all your help
mattx Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 You can pay what you like for the DSLR, it's the lens at the end of the day......
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Thanks for all your help guys. I was more looking, to see if anyone had a suggestion of a particular camera that they are currently using in a school. If its a little beyond my budget thats fine. I want to hear how great your camera is??? thanks for all your help Despite my habit of baiting Canon/Nikon users, I bought a Nikon D40 and a Fujifilm S5Pro (Nikon D200 based) for our school. Kids (particularly art students) love the D40 (the upgraded equiv these days is the Nikon D3000).
broc Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 The optics and sensor of an entry level DSLR will generally out-perform those of any compact camera, unless you are talking about high-end stuff like Canon G11, which is as expensive as a DSLR.... As I said earlier, if it's a one off purchase & not intended as part of a system, any brand would be worth considering.... Physical size, weight & handling would be a consideration especially if it was to be used by students. There would be no point in buying a Nikon D3S with F2.8 70-200 zoom as the kids wouldn't be able to lift it
RinSewand Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 All comes down to who's using it. If students - I'd suggest a 'fake' slr - along the lines of the Fuji Series. If you can trust the students, or it's for PR and teacher use then I'd go for an SLR. As everyone has said - it's the lens that matters, but for your budget you're probably going to end up with the stock one on whatever you buy, though most are pretty good. Pixel wise, I'd ignore the figure unless you're looking to do absolutely huge prints. There's little difference between Canon and Nikon aside from personal preference, Have a hunt round and see what you can find the best offer on and go with that, unless you personally will be using it a lot, then go and grab one of each and have a play with them in a store, they feel very different - for me the lower end Nikons feel hugely un-natural to hold, for one of my friends, my Canon feels far too small.... all personal preference. RwD
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 There's little difference between Canon and Nikon aside from personal preference, Have a hunt round and see what you can find the best offer on and go with that, unless you personally will be using it a lot, then go and grab one of each and have a play with them in a store, they feel very different - for me the lower end Nikons feel hugely un-natural to hold, for one of my friends, my Canon feels far too small.... all personal preference. RwD Not forgetting Sony, Pentax, Olympus... OK, I'll stop now
pauljonze Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 I recommend Nikon, they have the best lenses and have a great pedigree. I use a D40 and find it suitable for a variety of different types of photography - anything from low light level to sports photography. If you want to be creative or experiment with different types of photography make sure you have manual overide for the exposure AND focus as there are sometimes situations where the camera will struggle to get a decent exposure or proper focus.
RinSewand Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 Not forgetting Sony, Pentax, Olympus... OK, I'll stop now Heh sorry - that was mainly addressed at the Canikon arguements... But I agree - by the sounds of it, for what the OP wants, any budget SLR will do the job fine. RwD
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 I recommend Nikon, they have the best lenses and have a great pedigree. I use a D40 and find it suitable for a variety of different types of photography - anything from low light level to sports photography. If you want to be creative or experiment with different types of photography make sure you have manual overide for the exposure AND focus as there are sometimes situations where the camera will struggle to get a decent exposure or proper focus. All SLR's will allow manual overide for everything. Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Pentax lenses are all very good. Kit lens on the Nikon's a bit plasticky, though.
ccsjay Posted January 20, 2010 Author Posted January 20, 2010 this is great im hearing a lot of fantastic things about the nikon d3000 im now thinking that may be my answer with a 18 - 55mm lense. Does any of you fantastic chaps have any good or bad things to say about that.
westleya Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 this is great im hearing a lot of fantastic things about the nikon d3000 im now thinking that may be my answer with a 18 - 55mm lense. Does any of you fantastic chaps have any good or bad things to say about that. 'Tis good stuff. Have read some nice reviews for this one.
broc Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 You can get an insight into many(mainly Canon & Nikon) DSLRs & lenses here... KenRockwell.com
cookie_monster Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 (edited) It's worth remembering that if you go the Sony route (good budget SLRs) that Minolta lenses are also compatible. (Hope that hasn't already been covered) http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/index.asp Edited January 20, 2010 by cookie_monster
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