New DSLR

simmo

simmo

Suspended / Banned
Messages
658
Name
Lindsay Simpson
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi Folks,

I am just about to make the leap to a DSLR and being new to photography would like you more experienced photographers opinions on what to get. I have looked long and hard at the Nikon D40X but am a little concerned about lens choice.

My budget is in the region of £500, any advice gratefully received:).
 
Lens 'choice' is not the problem, lens quality is more important.

Thats why i always suggest the Olympus E410 / E510 twin lens kit.

Digital Depot are usually good for the oly stuff.

The two kit lenses are fantastic quality, and will more than suffice until you decide you need more
 
The Pentax K10D offers everything you will ever need at a very affordable price. It is not to be under-estimated.

Also as Chillimonster points out the Olympus system is worth a deeper look as the lenses are fantastic.

King.
 
You could perhaps consider something like a canon 400d for that price range. Will get the body + kit lens and money left over from that budget. Or maybe a 2nd hand 30d. The best thing is probably to go into a camera store and handle a few bodies and see which ones you like best. Then of course think about what types of photography you will be doing which should then tell you what specs to look for :thumbs:
 
Thanks for the advise guys, I will be doing a mixture of landscape, macro and sporting events. Does this have any bearing on what I should be looking at?

Nobody seems to fussed on the Nikon whys that?
 
The Nikon D40x is a superb little camera.

The type of photography you want to cover is very broad and most of the budget cameras offer 3fps shooting speed as it is so not much in it at all.

Like has been said, go out and test them in your hand.
 
You have a very low budget to enable you to buy kit to cover all the subject areas that interest you. I've used Nikon since 1971 and wouldn't look anywhere else. Just don't expect to do it all for £500.00 no matter which system you decide on. One step at a time.
 
You won't find much bias here for one camera make or another as the forums are more about getting a good picture than who made the camera. Hence the good advice to start out by handling the different makes and see what feels good in your hands.

Buying a compact camera you read reviews and try to find the best camera. With DSLR you do the same up to a point but the lens is more important than the camera - and often costs more.
 
Thanks for some good advice I have read a few photography magazines, but I don't think you can beat first hand expierience. Many thanks.:D
 
this weeks amateur photography has a guide to the different camera systems available, probably quite a good read as to whats available in the various different systems
 
I love my D40 - the only frustrating thing is that I can't get a nifty fifty for it (well, I can but it wont auto focus) and I really want one :(

There is actually a massive choice in lenses for the D40/D40x and the kit 18-55mm lens is meant to be a lot better than the cannon counterpart. A list can be found here:

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=358229&postcount=7

Remember, when you buy your camera, the body is actually only going to be a small part of what you buy, you really are buying into a system and you lenses are most likely going to outlive a fair few camera bodies (especially when you get upgradeitis).

Go have a play with some cameras and see which one you like the most!
 
Foggy said:
Remember, when you buy your camera, the body is actually only going to be a small part of what you buy, you really are buying into a system and you lenses are most likely going to outlive a fair few camera bodies.
Click to expand...

I cannot stress how important this point is :thumbs: The quality of most consumer DSLRs are about the same, as are enthusiast DSLRs, as are Pro DLSRs (just compare like with like). The expanse of DSLR systems however aren't alike.

Simmo,

I would suggest that during your considerations you think abut where you'd like to go with photography, say in 5 - 10 years and look at what sort of kit would be required for that. Think about how you'll get there and how much it would cost now. Look into things like what the availability is second hand and if you wanted to hire a lens could you?

I would also suggest that you should look at the DSLR body as a consumable item as within 3-5 years I suspect that if you've caught the photography bug you'll be looking at replacing. In contrast you should look at lenses as investments especially if you get the better quality ones as if you've bought a good lens you will be using that same lens in 5 years.

On this basis spend as little as you need on the body and save for the lenses.

Applying this advice to your situation:

IMO the Nikon System is a good choice, especially if you think you might ever want to go pro or hire lenses (Canon is equally good for both of these BTW).

I would not worry too much about the lens choices as there are plenty of good lenses that do work on the D40X - most Nikon Pro lenses are AF-S and will work.

I would ask why do you need the extra 4MP that the D40X has over the D40? If you could be happy with the 6MP D40 you will save a bit of money that you can put towards a good lens. TBH I doubt you'd notice the difference if you only print to A4

Also have you considered a S/H or refubished D70s or D50? These are similar(ish) spec to the D40 and and can be found for about the same price. Both of these have the screw drive AF motor the the D40/D40X doesn't so can be used with a wider range of lenses.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top