Gift Purchasing advice - Entry DSLR vs Prosumer

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Broric

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My sister's husband is looking to buy her a camera for Xmas and asked my advice what to get and I'm can't decide what to suggest.

She primarily wants it for (up close but not macro) animal/wildlife/pet stuff but also for family/holiday photos etc.

Budget is £300 max but less would be better.

I'd be tempted to suggest a DSLR which I have more experience with but think a "prosumer" might be more appropriate. I just don't know that market well enough.

Any suggestions?
 
You won't get a new Prosumer DSLR for £300.

You might be able to get something like an entry level Canon 1000D/Pentax K-x/Sony A290 for around £350.
 
tz... 8 9 or 10... Wide and long zooms, image pretty ok, easy to use.

Second hand dslr, d70 or d80 (if nikon ) with 50mm f1.8 lens or 60mm micro or 30mm f1.4 sigma (perhaps). But second hand for a gift :/

Possibly look at the panasonics new, but I think their entry is more in the range of 500 ukp. GF1 or GF2 perhaps...

Lots of choices.

Try looking on dpreview.com - they have pretty much all cameras and reviews on most.
 
I was thinking maybe more bridge/prosumer. How about either the Nikon Coolpix P100 or the Canon SX20?

(She has quite small hands if anyone is able to factor that in as well :p)
 
Broric said:
I was thinking maybe more bridge/prosumer. How about either the Nikon Coolpix P100 or the Canon SX20?

(She has quite small hands if anyone is able to factor that in as well :p)
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I think your use of the term "prosumer" is confusing people, that normally applies to dslrs like the Nikon D300s or Canon 50D, being short for professional/consumer.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
I think your use of the term "prosumer" is confusing people, that normally applies to dslrs like the Nikon D300s or Canon 50D, being short for professional/consumer.
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I was under the impression that it was used for bridge-type cameras, below entry-level DSLRs. That's certainly how I've seen the term used in reviews, etc before.

For example, http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q408enthusiastgroup/ differentiates between entry-level DSLRs and prosumers and in the "prosumer group test" is has the likes of the G10, etc.

Either way, I hope it's clear what I'm talking about now :-)
 
Broric said:
I was under the impression that it was used for bridge-type cameras, below entry-level DSLRs. That's certainly how I've seen the term used in reviews, etc before.

For example, http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q408enthusiastgroup/ differentiates between entry-level DSLRs and prosumers and in the "prosumer group test" is has the likes of the G10, etc.

Either way, I hope it's clear what I'm talking about now :-)
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It must be a glitch on the dpreview site, as the G10 is a compact bridge, not a DSLR. There are standard compacts, bridge cameras, entry level DSLRs, prosumer DSLRs and then professional DSLRs like the EOS 1D seres or the Nikon D3.

If you're after a prosumer DSLR for £300, then a good option would be a used EOS 30D with a 50mm. It might go over budget by about £50-75 though.
 
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How about u4/3 like Panasonic G1 + 14-45 lens? The G11 is a great package also.
 
The Chillinator said:
It must be a glitch on the dpreview site, as the G10 is a compact bridge, not a DSLR. There are standard compacts, bridge cameras, entry level DSLRs, prosumer DSLRs and then professional DSLRs like the EOS 1D seres or the Nikon D3.

If you're after a prosumer DSLR for £300, then a good option would be a used EOS 30D with a 50mm. It might go over budget by about £50-75 though.
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I know and as far as I'm aware, prosumer doesn't refer to a dslr but a bridge. I guess people have different definitions but i've always associated prosumer with sub-dslr cameras and that seems to be how the review sites do as well. I think then talking about prosumer dslrs then confuses things further :)

Anyway, a decent bridge camera for sub £300? The panasonic lumix fz45 seems to get good reviews...
 
Broric said:
Anyway, a decent bridge camera for sub £300? The panasonic lumix fz45 seems to get good reviews...
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I'd certainly recommend a G11, or the G10. The G11 is going on Amazon for about £330, which I know is over your budget but it's worth every penny.
 
Broric said:
I know and as far as I'm aware, prosumer doesn't refer to a dslr but a bridge.
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Hmm, prosumer is one level below "professional" and all literature I've ever read always relates prosumer to the likes of the D300s/D7000, but then I don't read anything to do with bridges or compacts.
 
Panasonic do the fz100 (£330 ish) which is 14mp and offers 25-600mm zoom range. Fuji also do the HS10 which is even longer in the zoom but image quality doesn't seem as good. That's a bit cheaper and it looks better. Olympus do one which an 800 ish zoom but images I've seen look poo. It's very cheap at £200 though. They are all bridges but the fuji and panasonic offer manual modes as well as auto modes. They are also going to be a lot lighter to carry round than most dslrs with lenses.

Photography blog have good reviews. I'd check them all out as their handling information is very helpful.
 
The fz45 is good too. The fz100 just offers more bells and whistles :)
 
redddraggon said:
Hmm, prosumer is one level below "professional" and all literature I've ever read always relates prosumer to the likes of the D300s/D7000, but then I don't read anything to do with bridges or compacts.
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Google prosumer camera. Like I said, I imagine that the confusion is over prosumer camera vs prosumer dslr.
 
Cheers guys, I've recommended the G11 if it's in budget, it not to look at the FZ45 and the P100.

Sorry again for any confusion over terminology :-)
 
I think the confusion stems from the fact that a few years back when SLRs were very expensive, bridge cameras tended to go by the name 'prosumer' as they sat between the compact cameras and professional SLRs offering a range of more serious semi-pro features. Now however the SLR market has changed completely with a vast market of DSLRs available below the top end pro-spec DSLRs which means the equivalent of the older prosumer bridge cameras is now the upper-middle of the DSLR market with the Nikon D300s, Canon 60D/7D etc. Modern bridge cameras have been pushed down the market with the 'prosumer' bridge cameras having been killed off entirely now by DSLRs hence the term prosumer no longer really being in use for bridge cameras. 'Enthusiast' seems to be the term for the more serious compacts such as the LX3/5, S95 and G11 with superzoom or bridge camera for the large zoom cameras with small sensors like the FZ45.

The fixed lens options you're considering look good choices as I think the budget is too tight for an DSLR which could end up being quite limiting.

John
 
Broric said:
My sister's husband is looking to buy her a camera for Xmas and asked my advice what to get and I'm can't decide what to suggest.

She primarily wants it for (up close but not macro) animal/wildlife/pet stuff but also for family/holiday photos etc.

Budget is £300 max but less would be better.

I'd be tempted to suggest a DSLR which I have more experience with but think a "prosumer" might be more appropriate. I just don't know that market well enough.

Any suggestions?
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For the budget an ideal option may be Olympus PEN with 14-42mm (about £310) even sony NEX-3 £329 or for a compact a panasonic TZ10 or canon sx210is which would come at about £200.

All really quality cameras
 
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ecniv said:
Possibly look at the panasonics new, but I think their entry is more in the range of 500 ukp. GF1 or GF2 perhaps...

Lots of choices.

Try looking on dpreview.com - they have pretty much all cameras and reviews on most.
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If it's a xmas gift, the GF2 may not be available in time. The GF1 could be a little bit over budget. There are a few choices on Prosumer level within £300, such as Panasonic Lumix LX3, FZ38, and Canon S95. :)
 
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