Advice on what camera would suit my needs Please

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mell

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Hi everyone
Im new to the forum and to photography - ive had a simple point and shoot camera for a few years and am now ready i think to move up to a better camera, i want to be able to take wildlife pictures that dont look like im a million miles away from the subject and action pictures im a dog walker so would like to be able to catch action shots of the dogs running and chasing instead of the blurry ones i get at the moment, ive read lots of reviews and looked on forums reading opinions and im still none the wiser, i have up to £500 to spend. Thanks in advance for any advice:)
 
For your budget mell you won't go wrong with Canon, Nikon, Olympus or Fuji. All of them make good cameras and it will be down to which fits your hands the best and which menu system suits you. For wildlife, your problem is going to be the length of lens you can afford on your budget, they can get rather pricey!

For good pics of dogs I'd probably recommend something in the 70-200mm range. I've got both Canon and Sigma 70-200s and the Sigma might just come into range if you bought second hand. Other than that one there are 75-300 EF-S in the Canon range but I'm not sure when it comes to Nikon.

Go for a camera that gives you some decent frames per second (4-5) for the dogs too.
Have a good look at some second hand gear here :)
 
The usual advice is to pop along to Jessops or somewhere like that and then try all the different cameras in your price range, without being talked into buying anything ;)

Then come back here and tell us which ones you liked the feel of best, after which those who own cameras from each of the different brands will do the best to persuade you that the camera that they own is the one to buy :lol:

Alternatively, if you have a Sainsbury's near by pop in and see if the have any of the £199 Canon 400D + 18-55mm kits available. If they do then buy that - it's a bargain :)
 
Go to your local camera shop, and have a play with the range - to be honest, any DSLR body/lens kit in your price range will be an excellent start for you.

Everyone here will chime in with recommendations, normally based on what camera system they have, but the one piece of advice that crops up over and over again is "go try them!"
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, i have had a hold of a couple of cameras just to see whats comfortable and i do like the canons so maybe another trip to jessops is in order to find the right one, after a search online it seems sainsburys are sold out all over the place but il give my local stores a call tomorrow ya never know i might get lucky!
 
£500 is a good budget for the camera but won't cover the lenses too. The 70-200 lenses start at £400 and go up to around £1000. For wildlife something longer will be needed and you're looking at possible another £750 for that.

Might be worth checking the For Sale section here or on ebay, especially for lenses. Bargains can be found but normally the good stuff holds its price well.
 
I got a Canon 450D with kit lens and a Tamron 70-300mm for just under £600 from Jessops. The Tamron isn't the best lens in the world, but it will give you a good reach for your needs.
 
mell said:
Thanks for the advice everyone, i have had a hold of a couple of cameras just to see whats comfortable and i do like the canons so maybe another trip to jessops is in order to find the right one, after a search online it seems sainsburys are sold out all over the place but il give my local stores a call tomorrow ya never know i might get lucky!
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I don't think the 400Ds were on Sainsbury's website and only some stores are stocking them - up here none of the stores in the Glasgow area were to get them, just the one big store over Edinburgh way :bat:
 
Amazon have the canon 400D for £375.99 including the 18-55mm lens and they also have the canon EOS 1000D for £349.99 also with the 18-55mm lens do you think they are a good price? and is the 1000D any better or worse then the 400D . I live in bromley so am hoping the local sainsburys will have some 400Ds but if not might give amazon a go.
 
Thanks ive had a look on ebay at canon outlet and they have quite a few canon 400Ds going for roughly £250 so not bad, tried all the sainsburys around me but none have it so i think ebay will be the way to go.
 
At currys at the moment, they are doing the Olympus E410 twin lens kit (which is a 14-42mm and a 40-150mm) for £299, which leaves you change to invest in some nice accessories an extra lens.
 
Thanks that gives me a couple more to add to my list, i need to be able to take shots of dog agility and flyball too.
 
My fiancee is in exactly the same position as you... although its more with her if she cant beat me... then she is going to join me... and has found she loved photography too... although before she jumped to the SLR I made sure she could produce creative images with a compact... i guess i wanted to make sure she had an eye and a pashion for it before she spent £450 on a DSLR. After a bit of the usual weeks reading reviews she opted for the Canon EOS 450D. Ive used it a bit in the last week too and I'm very impressed... The things I really loved where the bright big display/ review screen on the back... def better than the one on my 5D and also its small light weight nature... which will be great for you... as its def suited beter to a womans hand... I found it a little small... It's packed with all the creative features you will need. She got it with the 18 - 55mm standard canon zoom... then ive given her a 28 to 300 Tamron which I used... but the results that lens produces are only ok... but thats due to the lens not the camera... but for nothing she is not grumbling as a starter lens!

M
 
Have a look at the Sony a200/350. These are great beginners camera's and the Image Stabilizer is built into the body rather than the lens which can work out quite expensive. At 10mp, 3fps and both Jpeg and RAW, they are worth a look. The a200 at the moment is about £269 with the kit lens 18 - 75mm which would leave you with enough to go for a good to middle range zoom for the doggie shot. Which ever way you go, enjoy the world of DSLR and watch the money just disappear from your wallet :)
 
Thanks for all the advice guys - i can see my camera list slowly getting longer!! i quite like the canon eos 450d and have seen it for £300 body only - i might sound stupid now but im assuming "body only" just means it has no lens but that the camera is ready to use? is that correct?
 
Susane said:
One of my brothers is a long time DSLR user and he bought this camera for when he doesn't want to take out all his kit, he's very impressed with it.
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I've just ordered a refurb one from the fuji shop for £293 delivered using the 10% discount code P24OCTOBER, I didn't pay the extra for next day delivery but it's still being delivered next day as i ordered after 2pm, I think the extra £4 charge is for them to ship it the same day before 2pm.https://secure.fujifilm.co.uk/shop/consumer/digital/digital-cameras/d-slr-long-zoom/finepix-s100fs
 
hi mell...i'm relatively new to photography(although i've been registered here for over a year)and can recommend the sony alpha range,although to be fair i have no experience of either canon,nikon etc...

as been said,go and try them all out for feel,comfort,menu's..etc...then base your decision on that.i've noticed jacobs are doing the sony A200 plus 18-70 and 75-300 lens for £379,which will leave you some dosh for accessories like a bag,some memory cards etc...

http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/index.php?target=products&product_id=10734

good luck :thumbs:
 
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