DSLR for £300?

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Hello. Its my 21st Birthday in August and im looking at getting a camera. First of all I will just be using it as a hobby and get my own site up with the pictures on then ive been looking at doing it commercially at a later date. May not be to pay living expenses but something extra which is also fun. I have looked for DSLR's but I notice you need to pay over £300 and this will be my 21st Birthday present. As my family will be putting money towards it they don't want me going second hand because it will have no warranty and the fact I don't know if/when something will go wrong with it. I do read things about compact camera's producing very high quality photos as technology is moving forwards. My main concern is if I was to do it commercially would a compact camera produce high enough quality photos? Please post up any cameras worth getting for my requirements.

PS. I did create a thread a bit ago but I didn't have the idea of going commercially or settling for a compact camera

Possibly one of these will be down to £300 by August!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Digita...9944501&sr=1-3

(Canon EOS 1100D)
 
I know last June time, a brand new Nikon d3000 with kit lens (18-55mm) was going for £305 on amazon but watch the prices on amazon as they change frequently. Its a cracking beginners dslr too!
 
SThornton said:
I know last June time, the Nikon d3000 with kit lens (18-55mm) was going for £305 on amazon but watch the prices on amazon as they change frequently. Its a cracking beginners dslr too!
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Yeah the 1100D is something like £354 with the lens and £352 for just the body :lol: Im hoping it comes down to £300 with in the next 5 months so ile keep an eye out.
 
Have you considered mpbphotographic ?
Used but at least that will abate your warranty concerns....

It would allow you to get a lot more camera for your money!
 
adamdavi3s said:
Have you considered mpbphotographic ?
Used but at least that will abate your warranty concerns....

It would allow you to get a lot more camera for your money!
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I will take a look, thanks. The main problem is my family are all chipping in and my Nan would not give me a lot of cash in hand to buy a camera online but if I was to go in to Jessops ide imagine she would put more towards it. Weird I guess but its how she works, lol. She keeps saying have a look in Jessops but arn't they way over priced?
 
Jessops have interest free.... Panasonic have cash back...
GF3 Plus kit is 350 (if you are lucky you may get the memory card thrown in).
The 20mm f1.7 is around 280, with a bit of negotiation you may get a bit off, pay the majority and spread cost interest free for 6 months.

Its small, has the auto functions that the PnS have.
You can get adapters for bigger lenses/leica etc.


Otherwise, get to the store handle as many as you can from beginner upwards. The one you like the most is the one to buy, if its out of your budget, look at the entry models to that and upgrade the body at a later date.


Essentially you can choose whatever you like as you aren't tied to anything. Handle those in budget first though.

Good luck!


*Edit: Set Pics that my wife took using the GF3 and kit.
 
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I recently bought £350 worth of gear in Jessops and haggled them down to £300 so it can be done but be firm with them and keep trying for that little bit more
 
Thanks ecniv. I need to read up about the commercial side of things. I can't do family portraits etc as I don't have a studio and the lighting. I was thinking about possibly creating a few calenders and have photos from around the town/area I live in to start of with.
 
I certainly not a pro, just an enthusiastic amateur who would love to be better at this photography game than he is, but from my experience I would think you will find a compact camera limiting as time goes by, especially if you have plans to shoot commercially.

It really depends on what you intend to shoot but anything fast moving (sports, kids, animals etc) can be really difficult on a compact as they just are not fast enough - many compacts wont focus quickly enough and there is too much delay between pressing the shutter and taking the picture. Depth of field on a compact is really big and it is much more difficult (than with DSLR) to limit DoF if you want to in e.g. portraits. Low light perfomance is generally much poorer than with a DSLR.

I have a Sony A580 (and my old A230 which I still think takes great photos in reasonable light, a Canon S95 (compact), and an older Panasonic TZ3 (compact with longish zoom).


Both compacts are capable of lovely photos but I would never use the TZ3 for commercial work - it is really noisy in anything other than bright light (great for taking on holiday when you dont want the bulk of an SLR) and you have very little control over it - set it to auto or a scene mode and that is about it. The S95 is much better in that regard (allows full manual control if you want to create your own look to a photo, or when the camera just misjudges a photo) and has much less image noise. It really takes superb photos in a lot of situations, but the main reason I got it was for manual control in a small size. I struggle taking photos of my 2 year old with it - it isn't quick enough. Thats when the DSLR shines through. I still have much to learn with it, but there really is a difference in image quality - not enough to matter much in family snaps but in my opinion it would matter for commercial stuff.

Hope that helps. I haven't suggested a particular camera, but in my view all the lower price DSLR's are capable of great things in good hands; don't worry about having the latest tech and make sure you handle it before buying - it has to be comfortable in the hand.
 
2nd that - you don't want a compact. if it must be new any dslr in your range will be fine for now.
 
For a new entry level dslr I think the Pentax K-r offers a lot for the money - currently at £399 with kit lens, but has been as low as £329 (on 09/01/2012 according to camerapricebuster). Price may drop again though as it's been discontinued.
Link here for some user reviews: http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0042RTQO8/1567/ref=nosim

Also, the EOS 1100D body is £285 at SRS by the way, http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/6433/Canon-EOS-1100D-Digital-SLR-Camera-Body.html

Or if you want to go the micro four thirds route a Panasonic GF2 or GF3 with 14mm lens is £280 / £320 or an Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42 kit zoom is £306 after the £50 Olympus cashback (but that ends on 29th Feb).
 
I just advised a friend to buy a Canon 500D from the canon outlet store on eBay.
Believe they are currently £329 plus £3 delivery.
She was VERY happy with it.
For the money it's a great buy.
 
looooong time to wait :)

good luck!



Oh and when you are in there, dont feel like you have to buy. Handle loads and ask the sales people to note down deals on the different cameras. If they start pressuring you, just say you will think about it n leave. Search online for reviews and on flickr for pictures oh and post back on here too nearer the time. might be more cameras on offer to consider!
 
If it helps I got my canon eos 500d with kit 18-55mm lens, canon 70-300 mm lens with 4 Gb memory card and 2x UV filters for about £500 from jessops few months ago.

They have good deals online and if you reserve and collect at store you don't pay the higher store price. The deal I got was Internet only,so I went in and checked it out, then went out for a coffee sat and reserved it on my mobile and went back 30 minutes later.

They have the canon eos 1100 with kit lens now for £370.
 
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ecniv said:
looooong time to wait :)

good luck!

Oh and when you are in there, dont feel like you have to buy.
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I nearly got a camera for Christmas but it wouldn't have been a dslr. I brought a new graphics card for my PC instead.

AdamcMWCK said:
They have the canon eos 1100 with kit lens now for £370.
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Yeah I did see this the other day. Such a shame my 21st is so far away. Long summer nights will nearly be over. Planning on getting some biking shots as my mate is 21 in March and hes getting a new freeride bike.
 
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