First camera, what to go for?

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Chickadee

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Hi
I've asked my parents for a camera for my birthday, i'm putting money in aswell. I don't really know what I'm looking for to be honest. I think we have at the most £200 to spend but if I could find something for £150 i'd be alot happier.

I'm quite happy to get second hand as long as it looks like its worth it.

I would like a DSLR as i'd love to get into photography and learning how to take picture properly etc but if this is stretching my budget then i'd also look at a compact.

At the moment I use the camera on my nokia N97 phone and although i've got some great out door shots with it anything indoors or that requires a zoom is rubbish.

I will be using my camera to take picture of small items that I've made to list to sell like crochet and knited stuff so being able to capture detail is important. I would also like to take pictures of birds etc and take it to gigs and festivals.

I've seen a olympus E500 listed local for £150 with two lenses. Looking at older reviews this looks like when it was released it was a good camera. Is there anything similar to this that anyone can recomend.

Also good places to look? i've been looking on ebay, london camera exchange and in the local press at the moment.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
To be honest that is not much cash for entry into the world of DSLR. I would save for a bit and get something like a secondhand Canon 30D + kit lens for around £300.

Phil
 
Thanks for your reply. Could you elaborate a bit please? Is there anything in particular wrong with the olympus that I have seen?
 
ok other option... what about a Fuji S1730? I was a bit put off when I first saw it in argos £139 for something that sounds like it has alot of functions. I wondered if it was just something made to look a bit flash but looking around at reviews it sounds pretty good.
 
I have an E500, its a good camera but the 'kit' lenses let it down. Don''t get me wrong, they aren't bad, but you pay for what you get, and the image quality does suffer a bit. I have a couple of OM lenses that I fit using an adaptor and the image quality is far better. Ebay has a few E500's with lenses for around £120, second hand OM lenses are very cheap and an adaptor is about £12 to make them fit. Decent DSLR lenses start from around £200 for better quality than the ones that come in the kit. Having said that, I think I might have knocked one of my kit lenses as it only seems to be the 17-45mm that suffers.

You can always sell it all on if you decide you want something else in the future...
 
greylensman said:
hi check this out on this forum might interest you
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=217995
you might be able to just buy the camera and standard lens very good starter camera
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good starter set up, but for i would say £200 is a more realistic price for the older tech your getting, you could also consider a second hand Nikon D50 body for a around £130/£150ish or a Nikon D70s around £180ish, again older technology but very capable cameras, you could probably pick up a kit lens for both Nikon 18-55mm kit lens for about £40ish, i think for the money you have second hand is your only option for a DSLR, unless you look at a bridge camera ie Panasonic FZ30/FZ50 or something in the Fuji range :)
 
Thanks for the replys, i'm still totally confused though. I think I have camera blindness from looking at to many!:thinking:

Turns out my sis has an older version of the fuji and loves it. But as the one i've seen is so new its hard to find many reviews or sample pictures online anywhere.

ugh! I don't know, I am going away at the end of the month and would love to have something by then.
 
Hi Chickadee, your £200 budget is really a little tight for a DSLR, you would certainly be buying secondhand and there are certainly risks involved especially for someone new to photography.

I think your best bet might be a decent pocket camera, after all it's a camera you can always carry with you and pocket cameras are generally very good for shooting small items close up.

Perhaps the Panasonic DMC FS-10 could be a good starting point, It's a beautifully made little camera and costs about £120. You might be able to start your DSLR fund with the change!

All DSLR shooters need a compact as well just to tuck in the pocket when a DSLR is too big to hulk around so your compact will be a long term investment.

John www.phototuition.net
 
Thanks John, well all the DSLR's that I was watching on ebay keep going well above my budget so I have knocked that idea on the head.

I have now been looking at the fuji range in more detail. This really apeals to me for the zoom capabilitys and HD video (my sis says that the video on hers is actually better than the video camera my parents got her last year!)

I'm torn between this one ( can't seem to post the link but its the fuji S1730 from argos for £134.99)

which seems to be a great price for what it does
or this one http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...379|Digital+cameras+and+packages|14419441.htm
Which has an 18x zoom where as the other one has a 15x zoom.
There is also a model in the middle but I can't see any big difference between that and the cheeper one.

Is the S2500 worth the extra money?

If I got the cheaper one it would leave me plenty of money for a good memory card and the battery recharger pack and any other bits I might need. If I get the more expensive ones I might have to wait to buy somethings.
 
I started with an old Canon 10D for £100 with an 18-55mm kit lens. This did me fine for a while with some good images. Nice and sharp. It was only when I started to get more and more interested that I upgraded to a 50D.
 
£200 should see you ok with a Nikon D40 or D60 with kit lens (Just budget a few extra pounds for a SD card and bag). Word of warning though, you'll soon fall in love with it and want to upgrade :D
 
PMed you regarding a D70s for sale :)
 
really just super confused now :(
I really think I am going to forget about an DSLR for now. I really just don't think I have the time or money right now to fully appreciate it.
I do still need a camera though. Can anyone advise me on the cameras I listed above or anything similar?
 
i think a second hand fujifilm s9600 would be perfect for you, it is a bridge camera so its better than an average compact but not as good as DSLR, there about the best camera you could get without entering DSLR territory and would be perfect for you until you can afford a DSLR.
 
I would totally go for a dSLR over a compact.

You can stick it on auto for now until you are ready to learn the ropes (which is actually quite fun!)

I started out with a Nikon D40 with the standard 18-55 lens. This is an excellent starter camera and is more than capable of getting some amazing pictures. I paid £205 for the camera and the lens from ebay.
 
Dman said:
£200 should see you ok with a Nikon D40 or D60 with kit lens (Just budget a few extra pounds for a SD card and bag). Word of warning though, you'll soon fall in love with it and want to upgrade :D
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more - and if you're patient (and lucky?)a memory card & bag could also be included.

Keep an eye on the classifieds and be prepared to haggle!

Fancy this one?
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=218463
 
Shabby said:
Couldn't agree more - and if you're patient (and lucky?)a memory card & bag could also be included.

Keep an eye on the classifieds and be prepared to haggle!

Fancy this one?
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=218463
Click to expand...

Thats only £25 from a new one when they was out. But still, a good deal none the less with the extras.

Heres a another great little camera, the canon 350D. Its getting on now a days but im sure many will back me up when I say its still a great first camera. It has 2 more mega pixels than the Nikon D40, plus you won't need to have a motor powered lens for auto focusing like the D40 needs.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EOS-350...lCameras_JN?hash=item3efecdac7f#ht_7317wt_939

For the lens you could try a 50mm f1.8 for around £60 second hand or £75 new. Another otion is a kit lens 18-55mm from the same seller - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EF-S-18...sFilters_JN?hash=item45f235174f#ht_4894wt_939

Buy together for cheaper p&p I think.
 
Don't feel like you have to go for a DSLR - you could definately get a more than capable entry level DSLR within your budget but trust me, you will end up spending more money once you've got it. You will find the limitations of only having the kit lens and you'll want to buy extra lenses for more versatility.

Looking at your budget you could well be better off with a bridge camera - it will let you dabble in lots of things without having to fork out for extra lenses and if you really get bitten by the phography bug you can start saving for a DSLR. It is what I did and my Panasonic FZ8 bridge camera taught me an awful lot and helped me understand the kind of photography I enjoy. It cost me £150 new compared to my current DSLR kit which including the bag has cost approx £650... and I havn't got a lot of kit!!
 
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