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FireAnt

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Hello everybody.
Another newbie here from Manchester UK, but currently over in the US. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to photography, but joined here to read tips, advice and well get to know people with a similar interest.
I currently use a smartphone (Note 10+), for mainly black and white photos which I mainly upload to Instagram. I did have a profile which had a lot more followers, but that was recently hacked and they deleted it, so I'm starting from scratch.
I'm looking at getting a proper camera in the New Year, so any recommendations would be fantastic. For now, I'm going to have a look around the forum and start reading up.

Thanks everyone.
 
Hello everybody.
Another newbie here from Manchester UK, but currently over in the US. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to photography, but joined here to read tips, advice and well get to know people with a similar interest.
I currently use a smartphone (Note 10+), for mainly black and white photos which I mainly upload to Instagram. I did have a profile which had a lot more followers, but that was recently hacked and they deleted it, so I'm starting from scratch.
I'm looking at getting a proper camera in the New Year, so any recommendations would be fantastic. For now, I'm going to have a look around the forum and start reading up.

Thanks everyone.
Welcome to the forum.

Camera suggestions: what do you photograph and what's the budget?
 
Hi, And welcome aboard TP. "Enjoy".
 
Welcome to the forum.

Camera suggestions: what do you photograph and what's the budget?
Hello
Thanks for the welcome and your reply. [emoji106]

Well, I photograph mostly buildings, street scenes and countryside scenery. A bit of a mixture really.
At the moment a majority of the pictures I take are edited into black and white using Snapseed.

An example below.

I know virtually nothing about cameras. So something say around or less than £350?
Can I get anything fairly decent with that?
View attachment 302258
 
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Hello
Thanks for the welcome and your reply. [emoji106]

Well, I photograph mostly buildings, street scenes and countryside scenery. A bit of a mixture really.
At the moment a majority of the pictures I take are edited into black and white using Snapseed.

An example below.

I know virtually nothing about cameras. So something say around or less than £350?
Can I get anything fairly decent with that?
View attachment 302258

OK, so buildings, street scenes and countryside: those would be covered adequately by either a 'kit zoom' - usually 28mm to 70mm or equivalent focal length depending on camera sensor size, going from a moderate wide angle to mild telephoto. The other alternative would be to pick a single focal length at a moderate wide angle - say 35mm - and learn to use that for everything before deciding on other lenses. If you like street photography then a lens such as a 35mm prime can work very well indeed, because the lens is generally small (so doesn't make the camera stand out) while not being too wide to give an un-natural perspective.

For £350 you'll need to be looking used, really. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it's worth mentioning that DSLRs are a going to become less supported opver then next few years as everything heads mirrorless.

Camera body 'as new' https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equi...-digital-slr-cameras/nikon-d5200/sku-1096693/
Lens to match in 'good' condition https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equi...lenses/nikon-af-s-35mm-f-1-8g-dx/sku-1092907/

Here's the same camera body with the better version of the kit lens, only £249 https://chiswickcameras.co.uk/products/nikon-d5200-18-70mm-f3-5-5-6-g-ed-dx/



If you can go to around £400-£500 then you could acquire a mirrorless camera:




Also have a look through this thread: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/best-dslr-for-under-£500-what-would-you-recommend.719458/

Hope that's useful.
 
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OK, so buildings, street scenes and countryside: those would be covered adequately by either a 'kit zoom' - usually 28mm to 70mm or equivalent focal length depending on camera sensor size, going from a moderate wide angle to mild telephoto. The other alternative would be to pick a single focal length at a moderate wide angle - say 35mm - and learn to use that for everything before deciding on other lenses. If you like street photography then a lens such as a 35mm prime can work very well indeed, because the lens is generally small (so doesn't make the camera stand out) while not being too wide to give an un-natural perspective.

For £350 you'll need to be looking used, really. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it's worth mentioning that DSLRs are a going to become less supported opver then next few years as everything heads mirrorless.

Camera body 'as new' https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equi...-digital-slr-cameras/nikon-d5200/sku-1096693/
Lens to match in 'good' condition https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equi...lenses/nikon-af-s-35mm-f-1-8g-dx/sku-1092907/

Here's the same camera body with the better version of the kit lens, only £249 https://chiswickcameras.co.uk/products/nikon-d5200-18-70mm-f3-5-5-6-g-ed-dx/



If you can go to around £400-£500 then you could acquire a mirrorless camera:




Also have a look through this thread: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/best-dslr-for-under-£500-what-would-you-recommend.719458/

Hope that's useful.
Thankyou very much for that info and the links [emoji106]

If I upped my budget to £500 (hoping my Mrs doesn't find out) [emoji23] What mirrorless camera would you recommend?
 
Hi and welcome to the forum, enjoy yourself here :wave:
 

I can't open that from here, possibly because they have a block on non-US viewing. That's the E-M10 III I linked here for £419, except this has both 14-42 AND 40-150 lenses, and is a fantastic price for very versatile kit:

 
I can't open that from here, possibly because they have a block on non-US viewing. That's the E-M10 III I linked here for £419, except this has both 14-42 AND 40-150 lenses, and is a fantastic price for very versatile kit:
Thanks very much. [emoji106]
I'll have to keep a look out for the same model whilst I'm over here.
 
Just a quick one,
What's your thoughts on this

Sony - Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Camera with 16-50mm Retractable Lens - Black

It's advertised for £480 at Best buy

Or on amazon

 
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Sorry not to reply sooner. The A6000 is now a 6 year old design, and although I've seen at least one recent review suggesting the sensor is still competitive, I suspect they're being generous.

However at that price it's definitely good value (though many of the extras in that 'kit' you linked are likely junk) and would make a fine entry into the Sony mirrorless system.
 
Thanks for the replies.
My Mother in law actually went ahead and bought me a camera for Christmas.
It's a Nikon Coolpix B600, not a dslr or anything professional like what you guys have.
I've just tried playing about with it, and all the photos are blurry.
Any suggestions? Is it faulty, will they exchange it for a dslr? Here's hoping [emoji1696]


Happy Christmas everyone [emoji318] [emoji319]
 
I read a review here that suggests it's OK but limited for a superzoom compact: https://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon-coolpix-b600-review-33538

Were your blurry pictures taken indoors? This will be a camera that needs plenty of light because of that superzoom lens, which will mean shooting out of doors mostly. The advantage of this type of camera is the incredible range of the zoom, that will enable you to pick out birds in trees or take pictures of the moon (if you know how) but otherwise it's a very limited tool. If you could exchange it for a DSLR or mirrorless without causing your MIL offence then you might get a better photographic tool, but OTOH this will still take OK photos, enough to learn if you have an eye for a picture and could justify buying a better camera.

Happy Christmas. :)
 
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