DSLR <£500 with video capture for amature

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cassiep

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Cassie
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Hello,
im a budding amature photographer and looking to buy my first DSLR.
I would like it to be sub £500 and have video capture too.
I will be using it to shoot maily portraits and events as well as personal use.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i have read tons of reviews but would rather hear from experience, i think i have narrowed it down to either a cannon or a nikon.
Thankyou :)
 
Well ur gonna need a lens a s well so look at the nikon d3200 with kit lens.
 
In all honesty. it's going to be a 50/50 split between people here. Canon and Nikon have a good used market, So I'd say you're onto a winner there. You say you've read reviews? What Camera's have you been looking at specifically. Are you looking to buy new or used? Would there be a Bundle you are looking at giving you additional gear(Tripods, bags etc)

If looking to buy new, Look at the Canon 600D (My suggestion) It's a decent camera to get you into photography and will set you back £489 from wexphotographic.com.
 
Have a look on eBay, canon have a refurbished sales channel, their user name is canon_uk1.I have bought a few bits from them, they have a 600d on there for £379.
They all come with a guarantee, and menu people say they are better than new as they have been fully checked over..
 
Dont listen to them Canon scumbags :lol: Go Nikon......
 
Find somewhere that's has then on display (hard now to find a high street shop, try John Lewis or a camera shop if there is one near you) and have a try at holding them to seem which feels best to you in your hands. You can't go too far wrong with one of the entry level dslr's from either cannon or nikon. Have a look at www.camerapricebuster.co.uk for new prices.

I use nikon and they have updated the dx range recently, the older versions are only a year or 2 old so still pretty new technology. there are cash back offers on at present. I don't know much about cannon so I can't say anything about them. If you could save a little more you could maybe push for a better lens rather than a kit lens, maybe something like a tamron 17-50 f2.8. The cannon range is just as good as nikons (I don't want to push you to either) and both have a great supply of both their own brand and third party lenses (sigma, tamron etc).
 
Wow thanks for all that :)
Im liking the sound of the nikon d3200, mainly because of the 24 megapixel whereas the rest have 18.
Is there anything else i need to look at for the camera to have?
 
Have a look at the nikon d5100. In most reviews ive read it comes out on top over the d3200. I've just managed to bag myself 1 from eBay. Mint condition with 18-55 kit lens and a 55-200mm zoom lens for £401 :).

There's a good review on the snapshot website between the 2 of them :)
 
Mega pixels aren't everything, like some have said, if you can stretch to getting a better lens, it'll make your images alot sharper.
 
For movies on a budget- Canon 550D is a very good choice. It's cheap, Body only can be bought for around £200. It has full controls and external mic jack, and produces just beautiful footage :
http://vimeo.com/10314280
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Nw8SiG-OM

If you plan to use AF at all, neither Canon or Nikon are up to the task. For that have a look at Sony A33 / A55, their translucent mirrors have a much faster AF than contrast detection used in Canon and Nikon dslrs.
 
A new Sony A37 with kit 18-55 is under £300 & an A57 with 18-55 is under £500 (if you are happy with a refurb under £400).
 
Go for the Canon 550D and shove magic lantern on it. That's all the video DSLR you'll need, then stock up on EF lenses and you're done :). Get a good rig whilst you're there actually.
 
I think Sony should be on your list as their SLT's can auto focus during recording.
 
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