DSLR - Amateur - 350 quid maximum! HELP!

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I have been looking for a while, for a nice DSLR camera to get into some photography during the summer.

What i really want to do is take photos of waterdroplets (original i know :D) / macro photography

Now i have a maximum price of 350. I really cant go over that - which is a shame because i really like the canon 450d - but a tad too expensive.

I know nothing - about cameras. Anyone reccommend me a good camera with a nice starter lens good enough for the kind of photography i wanna do? If it can fit m42s with an adapter ( i think 450ds can) thats a bonus because dad has like a million of them from his old photography days :)

please help :D

cheers

Serby
 
Nikon D40 seam to be doing the rounds at £200 as now discontinued leaves 150 towards a macro if needed
 
look at the kit lenses you get with the cameras, as this is a major part of the price
the cheaper nikons have something about built in focus motors...or not...which I've never really investigated but worth looking at if you're into nikon land.
the sony's have decent kit lenses and the newer canon 18-55 IS is well received over the old pants kit lens I had to put up with!!
 
Have a look on www.camerapricebuster.co.uk.
Look at all the brands, all of them take good pics, you make them great.
If possible handle them all and see which feels right for you.
Read "understanding exposure" by Bryan Peterson

Oh and Welcome enjoy your photography :)
 
james_death said:
Nikon D40 seam to be doing the rounds at £200 as now discontinued leaves 150 towards a macro if needed
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Yeah possibly. Urgh its so hard. i wish there was just a definate deal! :(
anyone know what numbers i need to look for for a macro lens?
 
i say sony too
you can get a wide range of older minolta lenses to play with cosing less due to the body auto focus
 
Serby said:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/catalogId/1500001501/partNumber/5591875.htm

can get that for 360 quid. good deal? good camera? lens good enough for capturing water droplets ?

so many questions :P
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Considering your tight budget I'd say a Sony A200 is a better choice then the A350 (a few more megapixels, but same sensor, and live view).

The Sony A200 can be had for less than £250, and maybe as low as £200 if you get lucky. With the kit lens of 18-70mm which could be you 'regular' lens. Then you have £100-150 for a starter macro lens.

Don't forget to allocate a little for a bag and a memory card. :)
 
D40 pick them up for second ahnd aroun d 180 mark for the camera and the kit lens. then buy a 60mm macro or 80mm macro or 90mm macro (take your fancy) second hand but you might need to stretch that 350 a bit to 375...
 
I'l just add that since you want to do macro photography you'l almost certainly need to factor in a speedlight as well.
 
Why does everyone look over the Canon EOS 1000D? It just like the 450D just more plastic.
 
Serby said:
aha. i was looking at that one. Looks like a steal? but im wondering why it is so cheap? Because to me - seem to get more in that than a d40? not heard much about sonys in the dslr market either.
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The Sony 200 is a cracking camera i forgot about that, the cheap price is taht it was replaced by the 300 but on test there is no real world improvement in picture and the 200 handles noise better. The sony 350 i think is a special and is essentially the 300 but could be corrected but prety sure on what ive said.
 
a300 and a200 is very similar, but the a300 has live view which i feel is 21st century ;-)
 
A300 didn't replace the A200, they run alongside each other. A200 has better optical viewfinder, A300 has Liveview with tilt screen but worse ovf.
& the A350 is just the A300 with a 14Mp sensor instead of 10Mp.

Sony are approaching 15% of global DSLR sales - clearly now the #3 manufacturer in that market & the 1 with the fastest growing market share.
 
heidfirst said:
A300 didn't replace the A200, they run alongside each other. A200 has better optical viewfinder, A300 has Liveview with tilt screen but worse ovf.
& the A350 is just the A300 with a 14Mp sensor instead of 10Mp.

Sony are approaching 15% of global DSLR sales - clearly now the #3 manufacturer in that market & the 1 with the fastest growing market share.
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Hmmm... must be competitive pricing trying to get a nice share.

I am now drawn towards looking at buying either

A canon 1000d or a nikon d60.

Pretty much same price of 300 quid. Which one should i be going for ? and again can u fit m42 lenses to new nikons?

thanks for all your help so far guys :)
 
the best thing to do is go to a shop & try handling them.
There isn't a bad current production DSLR but they do vary in their ergonomics/UI etc. & some will feel more natural for you than others.

afaik pretty much every system will let you fit M42 mount lenses with an adapter but of course it's going to be manual focus & metering.
 
Everyone is going to recommend what they like to use, I am no exception, but, i got very good results with a Nikon D50 and a Sigma 70-300 APO Macro lens. You should be able to pick up both within your budget, maybe have enough left over for a good used flash from Jessops or Sigma or Nissin.
A D40 is a good bet too at the right price, you dont really want to use AF when doing macro, so you have a good choice of lenses, bearing in mind the D40 has no inbuilt focus motor.

I took this with a Sigma 70-300 APO at 300mm on the "macro" setting using manual focus. Camera was a D200, but the D50 gave me similar results.

2359527416_08396ec4b6.jpg


Just gives you an idea of what is possible

Allan
 
allanm said:
Everyone is going to recommend what they like to use, I am no exception, but, i got very good results with a Nikon D50 and a Sigma 70-300 APO Macro lens. You should be able to pick up both within your budget, maybe have enough left over for a good used flash from Jessops or Sigma or Nissin.
A D40 is a good bet too at the right price, you dont really want to use AF when doing macro, so you have a good choice of lenses, bearing in mind the D40 has no inbuilt focus motor.

I took this with a Sigma 70-300 APO at 300mm on the "macro" setting using manual focus. Camera was a D200, but the D50 gave me similar results.

2359527416_08396ec4b6.jpg


Just gives you an idea of what is possible

Allan
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thank you so much! really helpful. Think im gunna go for the 450d tomorrow :)
 
Good glass is more important get a cheapest body what feels good to you
 
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